Do You Need an Ivy League Degree?

A common question I get for quantitative finance careers is, "do I need an Ivy League degree?" The simple answer is no. Ivy league name brand does help in general as it helps to indicate you are smart however not all ivy league programs are specialized in quantitative finance or financial engineering. There are many great graduate programs in quantitative finance which are not ivy league.
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[@ThomasFoolery8]

I’m sorry. You’re just wrong. Maybe it works like that at your big bank, but I work at a well respected hedge fund, and we get notified on where our new hires went to school and what they studied. The primary filter they’re screening for is raw IQ as it relates to quant fields. This correlates most tightly with prestigious schools with very low acceptance rates. I haven’t seen a single quant hired from Baruch but we have plenty of Harvard grads who studied CS, etc. This is because when both types interview, the Harvard guy can solve the complex white board questions better than the Baruch guy even though the Baruch guy has done more relevant coursework in theory. The politically incorrect truth is that raw IQ matters more in life and career than what you studied- at least in the more capitalistic domains of the economy. Channels like this will downplay this fact because they want to grow an audience and also appease the sponsors (MFE grad programs), but statistically, 90%+ of the viewers of this channel who are aspiring quants will never make it past the rigorous interviews and formally become a quant. At least not the type of quant they want to be, which is the sexy quant who builds trading models for hedge funds and makes millions of dollars like Taylor Mason in the show Billions. Maybe they’ll barely get into a job at some sleepy bank where they generate risk reports for the risk management department and nobody will ever look at them but they’re necessary for compliance.

[@andresrossi9]

If it helps as additional tip: 1) take a look at the job you're willing to land (for example let's say credit risk model validation) 2) look at many credit risk model validation vacancies at top firms and see what they're requiring (let's say here IRB models for PD, EAD, LGD and statistical modeling) 3) consider taking the master's covering the most those topics, regardless of its ranking

[@travisfubu9053]

Thank you very much for the detailed answer, didn't think you were gonna answer it with a whole video. Appreciate it :)

[@nyeahhhhhh1008]

I think it mainly depends on skillsets you develop or highlight on resume. I recently graduated from a bottom tier MFE program and have received interviews and offers from companies that are relatively school agnostic. However, me and a classmate got interviews/rejections from different fields. While he had no issues getting interviews for quant roles at big banks, I often wouldn't even get interviews. But for QR roles at hedge funds and trading firms, it was the opposite. Also, I think many people outside the US blanket any top school under the term Ivy. I think the better question to answer is target vs non-target school. My opinion is a target school or top program like Baruch can give you an edge in getting interviews, but generally once firms have a pool of interviewees, it comes down to knowledge and interview performance.

[@booonnoob7950]

What quant program did you attend?

[@stevecheng3522]

Could you do one video on how to choose between UChicago MSFM and Columbia MAFN? I believe these two programs are the hardest to pick one out of, and this is actually what I’m facing! I would be super grateful if you can talk about these programs!

[@prod.kashkari3075]

What do you think of phd degrees in specifically mathematical finance. And if given the choice of attending a phd in statistics vs a phd in mathematical finance, which one do you think is the better option or has more mileage?

[@saarthshah]

What do you think of UC San Diego for breaking into quant?

[@dovi77]

Baruch also has a Bachelor's degree for Financial Mathematics

[@raneena5079]

If I do an undergrad at my state school, which isn't a horrible school but barely any quants come from there, but then do a masters at a school where lots of quants come from, would that be an issue? Would my undergrad hold me back?

[@DimitriBianco]

Nope. I did that exact path but not on purpose. I went to Washington State University for my undergrad and then went to the University of Michigan for my masters.

[@AdvocateOfJamaica]

What do you think about the Certification in Quantitative Finance (CQF)?

[@choppd.4695]

good question. even though it's almost the only certification option I've found, it doesn't seem to be appealing to the market (Brazil). moreover I've seen some people going through the course, but as it's an online course it didn't seem to help cultivating a good network. at least that's my impression as a distant observer.

[@navycruise]

Is there a study or resource that aggregates where in the industry specific program graduates head?

[@DimitriBianco]

Unfortunately I have not seen one. Some programs such as CMU do post this information in an employment report.

[@shonkylovesgaming1766]

Is MSCF from CMU good for Quant jobs ?

[@DimitriBianco]

Yes. I actually have a video on their program. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3qyeWmjoKd9rpI

[@shonkylovesgaming1766]

@@DimitriBianco Thanks for your response, Sir.

[@kemalafi1698]

What are good schools in continental Europe?

[@vaibhavmalviya6160]

Paris-1 Panthéon-sorbonne and Université Paris Saclay, I guess 🤔

[@Welcome2TheUnknown]

Baruch?

[@elitecoder955]

🐐

[@A_H9217]

The answer is YES. The best job postings will have : advanced degree from top 10 universities

[@cannonpalms4249]

No, Duke worked for me.

[@DimitriBianco]

What did you like about their program? I don't know too much about it.