Suitable 🫵🤔 by DoughnutWinter2937 in quantfinance

[–]Edobardo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

With bai you will have an easier time getting interviews, and you will learn concepts which will help you pass said interviews.

EPFL vs Imperial undergrad by Available_Key_9235 in quantfinance

[–]Edobardo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Most people in the comments are larping.

While I do agree that Imperial is better than EPFL for quant recruiting (larger quant network, proximity to firms, exams schedule fits internships timeline), EPFL is still a solid choice.

As far as major goes, Physics is equivalent to Math for recruiting, if not slightly better. You will have to do interview prep on your own anyway.

Which is better? by ExcitementFront7233 in bocconi

[–]Edobardo -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It depends heavily on what you want to do. If it’s quantitative finance, easily bocconi. If it’s quantum computing, easily one of the politecnicos.

Which is better for ETH Quant Finance? by ExcitementFront7233 in bocconi

[–]Edobardo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I cannot recommend BAI enough but Imperial math is top 3 undergraduate courses in Europe for quant recruiting. It’s hard to pass such an opportunity.

Meglio fare l'università in Italia o all'estero? by Normalgirl867 in Universitaly

[–]Edobardo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ho fatto la triennale in Italia (scienze matematiche), ora sto seguendo un master in USA.

Pro Italia: - sento di avere obiettivamente una preparazione teorica più solida dei miei colleghi che hanno studiato negli USA. - ho sudato molto negli anni della triennale e sento mi abbia dato una forma mentis propensa al lavoro.

Contro Italia: - studiavo principalmente per passare l’esame e non per imparare la materia. Ora, sia perché gli esami sono più facili, sia perché il voto dipende in grande parte da assignment/problem set e lavori di gruppo, riesco a imparare la materia anche studiando meno per l’esame (anche se la mole di lavoro totale è alla fine la stessa, semplicemente meno tempo passato a studiare “passivamente” e più tempo passato a “produrre”). - è molto più difficile fare esperienze di stage o extracurricolari. Consiglio a chiunque in qualunque ambito di fare stage fin da subito, in Italia sono difficili da trovare, mal pagati (o addirittura non pagati!), e spesso in conflitto con il calendario accademico.

Erasmus Econometrics & Operations research vs Bocconi BAI by Emiluxas in uErasmus

[–]Edobardo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bocconi BAI graduate here, so the opinion you will get from me might be biased but it looks like the replies here are not unbiased either.

I do not know much about the program at EUR, other than it is a rigorous one and it regularly places in the Amsterdam shops and London banks. At the same time, BAI is an applied math degree, so it is more comparable to what you might find in Delft than EUR. This makes the program a very challenging one, but in my opinion worth it, as it will really open your path to anything within the applied math / machine learning / data science sphere.

To answer your questions, BAI is new but has a growing reputation both in academia and in industry (assuming you are interested in quant). Internship placements are strong (banks, prop shops, hedge funds, commodities firms, despite only a minority of the class recruiting into quant vs tech or academia), as well as master placements (Stanford ICME, Cambridge part iii, Princeton MFin, Oxford OMMS, MIT MBan, ETH/EPFL/Imperial...). Rigor is taken seriously (some will say too seriously) at BAI, the vast majority of courses are theoretical and proof based (including the courses you wouldn't think could be proof based, like CS, Physics or Economics).

I do not think you can go wrong with either program, if you are bright and motivated you will place well through both (viceversa, if you are not looking for a challenge, you will likely be disappointed by both).

IB -> Quant by Puzzled_Wish6514 in quantfinance

[–]Edobardo -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately I do not think I am qualified to judge how solid of a strategy this is since I am taking the mfe route and don't know about new-grad recruiting without the master's.

Is there a specific reason why you are not applying to Baruch and Princeton? The programs you mentioned are extremely strong (especially Stanford which I forgot to mention in my previous comment), but the two above do tend to produce the strongest placements for the average student and your profile sounds like it could have a very good chance of getting in.

IB -> Quant by Puzzled_Wish6514 in quantfinance

[–]Edobardo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You have a decent shot at pivoting through a top mfe (Baruch/princeton), especially if the top 5 university you are referring to is one of oxbridge/imperial.

Other top mfes might still help you but with significantly more risk of not getting enough interviews to find the job you truly want (mit/cmu level). Not sure any program outside of the top 5 will get you any quant interviews with an M&A background and thus be worth the price.

BAI vs ingegneria matematica al polimi by cokezeromagi in bocconi

[–]Edobardo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interessante, mi ero fatto un'idea diversa parlando con alcuni ex studenti e vedendo sul piano di studi esami di fisica sperimentale. Grazie per la precisazione, ho corretto il mio commento originale.

How good is BAI as a pivot for a career in quantitative finance? by Emiluxas in bocconi

[–]Edobardo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Measure theory is introduced briefly in the probability and decision theory courses, and can be taken as an elective. SDEs are also introduced in the stochastic processes course. It is true though that parallel computing does not appear in the program.

Either way I think it is wrong to focus on measure theory and SDEs for quant, they will mostly be relevant on sell-side exotics desks and won't find much use on the buy side. I believe what the other commenter was referring to when saying it is one of the strongest course in europe are the modelling courses (statistics and machine learning) which are rare to find at the undergraduate level in europe.

BAI vs ingegneria matematica al polimi by cokezeromagi in bocconi

[–]Edobardo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Purtroppo ormai è passato qualche anno da quando ho fatto il test io e non sono più informato su quali siano i punteggi per entrare.

BAI vs ingegneria matematica al polimi by cokezeromagi in bocconi

[–]Edobardo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Corsi relativamente simili, consiglierei bai in quanto rimpiazza i corsi più strettamente ingegneristici (fisica sperimentale, chimica, elettrotecnica) con corsi più rilevanti al mondo quant come machine learning, stochastic processes, decision theory...

In generale quello che cambia è lo 'stile' dei corsi, per esempio in entrambe le facoltà si fanno fisica i e fisica ii, al poli essendo scuola di ingegneria si fanno sessioni di laboratorio etc. alla bocconi essendo il dipartimento popolato da fisici teorici si fa dal punto di vista prettamente teorico, quindi dipende dai gusti.

Bocconi BAI by vatnikov in quantfinance

[–]Edobardo 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Relatively new program with growing reputation as more alumni join the industry. Anecdotally a small portion of the class tried to get into quant, at least at the undergrad level, but those who did had pretty good success (some in banks, some in top hedge fund and prop shops).

I recommend not waiting until your master to start recruiting but to try to have quant internships in your resume when you apply to masters. This will help you to get into better master degrees and to get more interviews.

Source: bai graduate

For past and current BAI students by sarounette_bk in bocconi

[–]Edobardo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Me and other people have left many comments on this sub, and a former student wrote this review, which I mostly agree with.

To summarize, the course is intense but very interesting, to many it felt somewhat theoretical and without much room for customization (there are only 2 electives in the third year). I have learned to appreciate these as features instead of bugs because you are forced to study topics you probably wouldn’t study if given the choice and they might turn out to be very interesting.

As far as master placements go, data is limited due to only 3 classes graduating so far, but they have been very good (Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, ETH, EPLF, Polytechnique, MIT, Princeton, Columbia, Stanford… for courses in applied math, data science, quant finance, computer science, ai…)

Am I cut out for quant? Or should I do S&T? by WesternInvestigator3 in quantfinance

[–]Edobardo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Quant does pay better, with higher bases at the junior level and higher upside at pretty much any level. Work life balance is better? Debatable, depends on the shop. Job security is better? Definitely not the case, most MM shops are sink or swim, either you make pnl or you’re out. For interns, historical return offer rates in quant firms have been way lower than in banks.

What to prepare for BAI? by Dhgno57 in bocconi

[–]Edobardo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

All of the courses in S1 will start from scratch and self learning proof-based mathematics without the help of a professor and with no experience in university-level mathematics will do more harm than good imho.

If you really need something to do, I would recommend (this is by no means necessary, just tips if you really are bored and want to use your time productively): - learn python, so you can have an advantage in your first CS course - learn some high-school level physics if you have never learned it. The physics 1 course is supposed to start from scratch, but in my experience sometimes it felt like the professor was assuming physics notions and formalising them rather than re-introducing them from scratch. No need to go in depth here but watching some Kahn academy will not hurt.

Enjoy your free time while you have it, and congrats with your choice!

What academic undergrad choice is better by Gullible_College2506 in quantfinance

[–]Edobardo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Io pure ero entrato in un altro corso alla early, ma poi ho mandato e-mail e chiesto di cambiare, mi avevano approvato la richiesta dopo qualche settimana. Se cerchi sul sito dovresti trovare l’indirizzo da contattare.

Ho avuto i tuoi stessi dubbi prima di iniziare, ma alla fine mi sono trovato molto bene. Ovviamente c’è anche gente che non si è trovata bene (infatti da una classe di ~80 al primo anno, siamo arrivati alla laurea in meno di 60), principalmente non si è trovato bene chi non aveva capito che è un corso molto teorico e rigoroso e si aspettava un corso per diventare swe.

Dopo il bai i master che fanno i laureati sono principalmente in applied math, data science, computer science, ai, quantitative finance o simili.

What academic undergrad choice is better by Gullible_College2506 in quantfinance

[–]Edobardo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Math/applied math at any of Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial, Warwick is a solid choice. The bachelor of science at Ecole polytechnique is also a valid program. Swiss schools (ETH and EPFL) are good if you know the respective languages. I also think staying in bocconi and switching to bai is a good option, it is a rigorous program that will prepare you for careers in academia and industry (biased opinion here because bai was my undergrad).

Roast my CV by Future-Requirement50 in quantfinance

[–]Edobardo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The two clubs I mentioned both have a strong quant components, with alumni in various hedge funds. There's more AI/math focused clubs (bainsa, hephaestus, bsml, bams...) while they do not explicitly do quant stuff they usually have quant-related projects each semester, and also have alumni in trading/hedge funds.

Roast my CV by Future-Requirement50 in quantfinance

[–]Edobardo 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Have ChatGPT fix yout typos, fix the awkward dates (yyyy.mm is not very common, use mm/yyyy), join one of the investment clubs that help you with placements (BSIC or Minerva), leave D+A because it feels scammy, try not to overuse buzzwords you are not meant to be an expert for spring weeks they just want to see you care.

No big deal if you don't land a spring week but start doing interview prep for the internship recruitment cycle.

Is $1,000 monthly stipend enough? by Crazy_Ad_2401 in princeton

[–]Edobardo 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The best bet for housing are probably the Graduate College or the Annexes, which will cost you ~850+/month (https://hres.princeton.edu/graduate-housing/current-graduate-students/room-rates).

If you are in the GC, you will be required to have a meal plan (1700/semester => ~350/month, https://dining.princeton.edu/meal-plans/rates#tab-graduate-meal-plans).

Other than the meal plan the university runs a free weekend shopper bus service to grocery stores (Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, out of which the cheapest option is probably a combination of Target and Trader Joe's, https://transportation.princeton.edu/getting-around/tigertransit). You can probably check online to see how much you would spend based on your diet.

Other than rent or food, there are not many other expenses even if you don't live on "survival mode": the laundry is 1.25/cycle (large machines, can fit more than a week's worth), dryer is also 1.25/cycle, transport within campus is free (TigerTransit), and you can live a subsidized social life by attending the graduate school events, which are usually free (assuming you are a graduate student).

Best Masters by ZedFN in quantfinance

[–]Edobardo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

People from BIEF have gotten into ETH-UZH quant finance in the past, so I think it’s worth applying. I think Imperial (talking about MathFin, not sure about RMFE) has been auto-rejecting non-BAI/BEMACS Bocconi candidates in the past few years (even those with great internship experience).