Weird Situation: Pre-med to Quant Switch

I'm currently a rising senior at a non-target(semi-target?) school. All my life I've been working towards the promised land of medical school, but about a month ago, I had the sudden revelation that maybe I'm not really into this anymore. After finding out about quant finance and algo trading, I just felt like these suited my interests and personality a lot more than medicine did.

That being said, I'm obviously a bit late in the game. However, I am working toward a degree in Math, along with a Neuro degree, and currently have a 3.9 GPA with non-financial EC's. I also know Python, R, and SQL well, although I don't have professional experience with any of these. I plan on taking some classes in Financial Derivatives, Stochastic Calculus, and (hopefully) Machine Learning this coming year. Yeah, I'm a nerd whatever.

Getting to the question: do you think I have a shot at a quant internship next summer in an IB/hedge fund? If not, what other internships (data science?, etc.) should I pursue to maybe break into the quant field in the future? I'm just kinda lost right now; what's the first step I should take to developing algorithms and trading at an HF?

Also, do I really need an MFE or PhD to get into quant? Because my research says FUCK YES.
I feel like most of the stuff in an MFE are not too hard to learn with a few books, so if I hustle like hell and network enough I should be good?

 

Rem labore quo vero architecto quasi nobis cupiditate. Vel ea dolorem voluptas voluptas blanditiis ut. Magni corporis perferendis eius id.

Velit sit dolorem autem saepe unde excepturi consequatur. Quia eum et possimus magni aspernatur voluptas. Ullam fugit deserunt reiciendis nihil. Culpa impedit hic distinctio ipsam. Autem quasi corporis et dicta aliquam. Nemo ab alias ut. Et voluptatem voluptas consequatur et doloremque tempora. Commodi est est eos.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”