Am I Good Enough for a Masters?

A subscriber asked a few questions.
"Am I good enough for a masters degree?"
"How do I overcome imposter syndrome?"
"Is understanding a textbook quickly important?"
Getting a masters degree is a big decision as it takes 1-2 years of time and typically costs $60k - $100k. A good masters degree should stretch your understanding of the topics being taught but they should also be reasonable. Most masters degrees will be reasonable for those who did fairly good in undergraduate studies.
Imposter syndrome isn't as common as many make it out to be. If you do suffer from imposter syndrome just realize most of your graduate students are just the average 3.0-4.0 GPA students. You might run into a few super smart people but it won't be as many as you expect. If you do your homework on researching programs that fit your undergrad education, you should do well. Also as a note for quants, most firms don't care about your GPA. Just focus on learning the materials.
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[@kemalafi1698]

The impostor's syndrome in my master was nothing compared to the one I had (and still have) during my PhD

[@karag4487]

How are you doing bro?

[@6kbps]

Thank you so much for this video

[@DimitriBianco]

No problem. I know it won't be a super popular video but I hope it will be helpful for a few.

[@ABSTRACTSHNITZEL]

Thank you so much for making this video. This makes me feel a lot better about pursuing a master's degree. I had this idea in my head that a master's degree would be super hard and be full of smart people or that I would struggle without having a tutor, but now I see that I have the prerequesit knowledge that I need and I just need to figure out new ways to figure things out without a tutor.

[@DimitriBianco]

If it is math, checkout @Patrickjmt. If it is ML checkout @StatsQuest. For statistics checkout @BenLambert.

[@ABSTRACTSHNITZEL]

@@DimitriBianco Very helpful, thank you!

[@jasdeepsinghgrover2470]

@@DimitriBianco These are really amazing channels. Why not do a colab?

[@jasdeepsinghgrover2470]

In Ms CS we generally take courses which will balance our time. Like 1 extremely hard with 2 extremely easy or 2 a bit hard and 1 easy. That's how me and most of my peers are managing it.

[@Hmmmmmmm02]

@@DimitriBianco thanks for this!

[@elijahcherweznik3505]

Omg.. this story is giving me flashbacks to when I decided to take UCB Math 54 over the summer and we went through an entire 500p Linear Algebra textbook and 400p of a 900p DifEq textbook in 7 weeks. If I remember correctly I figured out that my final percentage grade in the class was around 38% and it was the first time I took a curved class and so for the two weeks after the final before grades came out I just figured I had wasted my summer... and then I got a C+... not great... but... not an F-... Needless to say I'm still re reading those textbooks to try and get a better grasp on Linear Algebra and DifEq.

[@ABKW119]

Sort of a particular question but I got offered a full ride on a 1 year masters from a state school in computer engineering, would finishing the program then applying to a second grad school be better or just applying out of undergrad with the same bachelors?

[@charlesmcdowell9436]

Dimitri doesn't pull his punches lol ouch. Also I think the life style of the person may matter too. For example if they have kids, and how much money do they have saved. Also do they have a village of people around them they can talk to and depend on when they get lonely or down. Sometimes it's just better to go into the work force for a minute.

[@BiscuitZombies]

Interesting, im in my first year doing a major in Statistics and Stochastic Processes planning to do a masters afterwards. Apart from that im taking other maths and computing classes (real analysis, vector calc, differential equations, algorithms and data structures etc). Would you recommend also taking some more pure maths electives? (Currently taking group theory). For example I was thinking maybe Metric spaces, complex analysis or something like that

[@joshuajacobs6481]

You're taking all of that your freshman year? That seems incredibly intense

[@BiscuitZombies]

@@joshuajacobs6481 Ah I shouldn’t have written it like that. Those some subjects I plan on having done in the whole course. This year I will have done Linear algebra, python class, introductory finance, algorithms, calc 2, real analysis and group theory (+ another elective).

[@DimitriBianco]

I would try and take more applied math or statistics.

[@6kbps]

I'm currently in my 2nd year in bsc statistics and kinda struggling through some classes but I truly love it. I was afraid that I wouldn't be good enough for a master's in the future since I'm hoping to move countries and maybe get into quant finance or data science (I'm not sure which yet) but your video made me feel a little better about it although I still believe that I need to work harder to achieve my goals

[@DimitriBianco]

Just remember it is a journey and there is always time to learn and grow. I started in finance for an undergrad and had to learn a lot during my masters and career to catch up. Most people stop learning as much after a few years in the industry but for those who keep growing, there are a lot of opportunities.

[@karag4487]

Did you choose your path yet?

[@6kbps]

@@karag4487 i ended up transferring to the major i originally had a passion for because i kept on failing calculus and the thought of calculus in general ruined my mental health. i switched to geology

[@desaint9469]

Great video sir, I was thinking the same when making a transition from Finance to lean toward more on the STEM side, it would be difficult. And do you have some times next week, I would like to have a small meet online with you to ask for opinion on what I should do next and now. Cause after meeting you at Chicago I and went back to Florida I am kinda lost and now since most stuff I do still linger with the finance side more than the quant side, which I try to avoid. I am wanna know how you made that transition and what topics you focus most on ?

[@tybaltmercutio]

Did I understand you correctly that you wanna shift from finance to STEM? I guess, this transition might be significantly more difficult than the other way around - mostly independent of the STEM field you choose. If you have a strong math background, you could theoretically try to get into theoretical physics or theoretical chemistry. Maybe, I got your entire point wrong. 😅

[@desaint9469]

@@tybaltmercutio I do have a mathematic background back in high school mainly core major in Physics, Calculus and wrong decisions led to finishing a corporate finance undegrad. However, I am making the change by attending a second bachelor in econometric, quantitative economic right now but I know there are more to break into the quant side. I started following Mr Dimitri youtube and learn statistical concepts and applications, Lucky to meet him in Chicago too !! Self learning to code in Python also, but right now I am sort of lost and need directions on what other skillset, what I need to do I to even get an internship for quant side Physics was cool as hell ngl !!! But I self doubted myself and didn't pursue further in math and physics. I learnt my lesson and now I am trying to make a change to this field. Finance lack mathematical logic for me which is why the I want to shift to the quant side where the the math make more sense and more accurate. Sorry for the long answer, but appreciate your thoughts !!!

[@tybaltmercutio]

@@desaint9469 I am a bit confused by your reply. I thought you wanted to shift to STEM but in your reply you talk mostly about finance. What exactly do you mean by „quant side physics“? Could it be that you are mixing up quantum mechanics and quantitative finance (quant)?

[@desaint9469]

@@tybaltmercutio Sorry for the confusion, I meant Quant Finance. I did not know Quant Finance exist and thought traditional Finance was the right one. Poor choice from my end, attended a non-target school also.

[@dziugaschvoinikov4440]

8:50 Financial engineering degree from europe is not worth for american emoloyers? Well I’m from eastern Europe and I dont expect to get my masters outside of it because of how high it costs in in US. What should I do? Aren’t UK ones decent?

[@DimitriBianco]

Get the degree in the country you want to work in. Europe is more flexible but even then you are still competing with students who are viewed as local.

[@prod.kashkari3075]

Did your stochastic calculus class require a measure theory prereq?

[@DimitriBianco]

No

[@cba46]

Hey Dimitri could you do a video on QTEM

[@DimitriBianco]

I'll look into it. I've never heard of QTEM.

[@cba46]

@@DimitriBianco thanks, I’m sure you’ll find the program interesting.

[@prod.kashkari3075]

Does the pedigree of masters matter?

[@DimitriBianco]

It does add value but the term pedigree is usually not understood. There are "pedigree" or top rated programs in quant finance that are not well known in other areas. Baruch is the best example of a no name school in the US but has a stellar name in quant finance. You can also get a job with a less well known degree but you need to do more career work yourself (networking, resume writing, and interviewing).

[@prod.kashkari3075]

@@DimitriBianco have you made a video regarding the value of phds in the quant space right now? I’ve been seeing lots of undergrads at firms like citadel/2sigma/Jane street hiring undergrads straight out of college. Is the value of a phd in something quantitative deteriorating in quant finance?

[@HunterGallagherGL2]

Am I good enough for something Dimitri

[@vaibhavmalviya6160]

Sounds like the NYU Prof. who got fired !!!

[@DimitriBianco]

No this guy had other issues. For example, homework that was identical received different scores based on race and he was inviting females students to his house when his wife was out of town.

[@prod.kashkari3075]

@@DimitriBianco that’s very wild

[@spem7390]

@@DimitriBianco 😢