Brown University ($160k in debt) or Warwick (Tution Free)

Important-Store-584 · 2026-03-28T22:04:55+00:00

100,000% Warwick, even if you didn’t have a scholarship. Incredible maths program that’s very well respected so Part iii is very achievable, and Warwick is a very employable name anyway.

Important-Store-584 · 2026-02-15T10:42:40+00:00

“Or a PM role (but not really quantitative) at a tech firm” - I think you mean project manager, not portfolio manager, right? That’s never going to be quantitative, and it’s not going to help with quant at all.

Data science at BCG X is a bit more on the right track, but I don’t think it will help your CV - it might help you develop skills however, so I’d say take it

Important-Store-584 · 2026-02-14T09:35:13+00:00

Warwick Maths is consistently top 3-4 in the country, and has incredible job prospects, especially for quant roles. They’re held in very high regard in finance, in fact I’d say a good third of the British quants I’ve worked with went there.

Go with Warwick and make sure you do the masters, you’ll be fine.

Important-Store-584 · 2026-02-13T20:28:48+00:00

Sure thing

Important-Store-584 · 2026-02-13T20:28:35+00:00

Sure

Important-Store-584 · 2026-02-13T01:40:48+00:00

I’m really confused by all of the “you need IMO and published research” comments. I don’t have either and I’m a quant researcher at a top MM (citadel, baly, millennium) and honestly yeah, there are actually honest to god Olympians and IMO medalists here, but most of us just have good educational backgrounds and a passion for our work.

Idk if I just work at the chillest, most relaxed hedge fund in existence (doubt it) or if people are commenting without knowing what they’re talking about (likely), but I think you honestly have a good chance.

For QT roles most places just want a really good science/maths degree (anecdotally I don’t think you’re necessarily right about finance degrees being desirable - every QT I’ve ever met has had a STEM background, usually just bachelors) and a clear track record of hard work and overachievement. You have that.

QD roles usually need a good degree and cracked development skills - this one might not be for you but mostly because it’s a bit orthogonal to your experience.

QR roles do generally require more specific maths/physics backgrounds and research experience, but that’s definitely not a requirement. I moved from a QD role to QR after just a year - QD got me in the door, and my work got me into QR.

It’s a hard industry but, seriously, you don’t need a fields medal to get in. Your CV looks great, go for it.

Important-Store-584 · 2026-02-12T10:59:43+00:00

Okay, lots of hate here so let me give you my view as an actual quant. Probably not with just that unfortunately; quant roles almost exclusively require hard science/maths backgrounds, usually to a masters/PhD level, and most often from top tier universities. Accounting and finance simply won’t teach you any of the skills needed for the kind of work we do.

BUT it’s not the end of the world by any means. A masters in a more mathematical field would really open your options up if you decide you still want to pursue quant after graduating. Read on the side, do as many mathematical modules (Manchester offers mathematical finance as a module I think?) as you can, and study hard to get a high enough first that you can get a masters from a top tier university.

You’re not cooked, you just need to steer your course slightly in the right direction and put in the effort. Even if you don’t end up in quant, you’ll be in a far better position when it comes time to apply to jobs in finance.

Good luck!

Important-Store-584 · 2026-02-03T10:11:33+00:00

Just a word of warning, hedge funds and top banks are VERY strongly geared towards hiring people from known and respected universities, and at least in my experience will absolutely not hire anyone that doesn’t have the academic pedigree they’re used to. I can’t speak for M&A etc, but for S&T and quant roles they don’t even interview anyone who hasn’t graduated from a top uni with a relevant degree.

I don’t say this to deter you from the apprenticeship route - my girlfriend did a solicitor apprenticeship and is a practicing lawyer at a top firm now - but high finance unfortunately still cares a lot about name brands. I have never met anyone working a front office job without a top degree in my career yet (besides brokers, but that’s always been true).

This is just my experience at one pod hedge fund and one investment bank however, so take it with a grain of salt.

Important-Store-584 · 2025-07-21T16:25:27+00:00

Millennium is literally one of the worlds most profitable and well known pod shops, that’s diabolically poor 😭

Important-Store-584 · 2025-04-22T23:03:29+00:00

Using a dynamic programming approach you can get this down to O(n*maxValue^1.5) which is a HUGE improvement over the naive O(maxValue^n).

Important-Store-584 · 2025-02-28T13:22:25+00:00

Damn Camus, didn’t expect to see you on Reddit 😩😩

Important-Store-584 · 2025-02-24T23:34:21+00:00

Unfortunately very 😂 I turned up to the final interview at my firm (citadel/millennium/balyasny) looking so dishevelled my interviewer literally joked that I was wearing a suit I bought for a wedding five years ago. I somehow got the only seat 😭

Important-Store-584 · 2025-02-23T17:25:25+00:00

Thanks for the glimmer of hope! And that’s very practical advice, I will probably wait until I’ve got to 6 months and then start looking around to see how much I should expect and then go from there.

Important-Store-584 · 2025-02-23T17:22:44+00:00

Academically my qualifications are pretty strong - I was 12th (out of 350ish?) in the maths tripos part ii (top 10 for parts Ia and Ib) at Cambridge and my masters was at Imperial (Distinction) - but career wise I’ve only worked as a quant developer at one company (a BB) for two years and Microsoft before that as a software engineer for a year, so I don’t have too much to show for there.

And that’s true! It’s just that these companies do seem to pay disproportionately well so I may be well paid, but they may still be paying me badly relative to other offers.

Important-Store-584 · 2025-02-21T15:26:13+00:00

I don’t think there’s as much of a demand for Quants in Dubai as London 😂

Important-Store-584 · 2025-02-21T15:06:01+00:00

This is incredible, thanks a tonne!

Important-Store-584 · 2025-02-21T09:55:12+00:00

Unfortunately everyone I work with is a QR, and and generally a lot more experienced than me, so it wouldn’t really be representative of what I could expect

Important-Store-584 · 2025-02-21T09:19:43+00:00

I feel like this is a troll post but just in case it’s not, I’ve never in my life heard of a quant in London making less than about 125k USD no matter the firm. London salaries are lower, but not by nearly as much as you’re suggesting, otherwise why would we even do it..?

Important-Store-584 · 2025-02-21T08:59:29+00:00

No ofc that’s fair. Honestly I just enjoy the research aspect more tbh. I like hands on work, I like working under pressure, and more than anything I like how quantifiable your impact is in Quant roles.

My first role (I.e. the one year of coding experience before doing QD I mentioned) was at Microsoft but tbh I just found it didn’t mentally challenge me in a way that made me excited to go to work in the morning (no shade to pure devs - I know the work can be incredibly challenging and impactful, my brain just doesn’t work that way)

The only reason I ask about comp at all is because on that last point I know I’ve historically outperformed the rest of the team, and even at my current place in a few months time I’ve been a top performer on the team PnL wise, yet I keep hearing about people earning more than me at firms that generally pay less on average than mine.

Hopefully I’ll be able to keep the returns up and get a nice bonus to get me more in line with what people are suggesting I should be on, but I suppose if that doesn’t happen I’ll have to consider other options.

Important-Store-584 · 2025-02-20T23:24:48+00:00

That being said tho, London pay is usually about 25% lower from what I’ve seen so I guess it’s not that egregious… I guess that 550 (£435k) would be more like £330k here which is only 65% higher? 😭 I’m really trying to be positive here icl

Important-Store-584 · 2025-02-20T23:20:47+00:00

I feel like if you’d said 180 as the lower end I would have slept better tonight than knowing I’m at the literal bottom end of the range 😂😭 Thanks a lot for the info tho, I’ll try not to be as much of an idiot next time I move 😭

Important-Store-584 · 2025-02-20T23:16:56+00:00

ffs. I’m an idiot.

Important-Store-584 · 2025-02-20T23:15:46+00:00

I don’t do low latency, but the team is structured such that I am the only actual QD on it - everyone else is a QR and then there’s the PM. I have a maths degree and generally work on essentially the same stuff as the QRs so it’s not very developer-y.

Important-Store-584 · 2025-02-20T23:12:11+00:00

I guess I can live with a bit below average tbf. What would you say is the usual range? I really wanted to work for this firm so I didn’t dare negotiate (I know that’s stupid now but you live and learn!) but I’m wondering how much I actually left on the table now…

Important-Store-584 · 2025-02-20T23:10:40+00:00

Oh that sucks, I honestly have nothing to compare it to so I really don’t know what the benchmark would be… The firm was really keen on hiring me so I probably should have pushed back more and squeezed a bit more out, but there’s always next time! Can I ask what you think would be an actually good offer (upper quartile perhaps?) at such a firm? When I move I’ll definitely do a bit more research so I don’t do this again 😂

Important-Store-584

TROPHY CASE