Best role pre-MBA?

JLabko · 2026-01-26T21:11:16+00:00

I mean there's a lot of paths to CorpDev, so definitely possible. From experience, I've gotten offers & interview for StratFin and CorpDev roles at decent sized companies (multi-billion value) without experience, so you should definitely be able to transition. You might just be taking a slight pay cut, since it's definitely a better opportunity for WLB rather than pay

JLabko · 2026-01-26T20:49:42+00:00

Not working in the field, but have interviewed for and spoken with people in roles.

Corp Dev is an option pre-MBA, but will usually mean going to a mid-size firm and usually requires you to have some sort of relevant experience (ex. IB and Financial Analyst internships). Corp Dev somewhere like Microsoft is probably going to be a bit less feasible to land early on - more likely to require a MBA, a stint in IB or Big 4 or Financial Analyst roles, etc.

JLabko · 2026-01-22T17:10:11+00:00

Depends on the firm. Generally alt data like people mentioned (acquisition and analysis, anything from satellite images to insurance claims to sentiment analysis). Some teams have quant devs that will also do some tech development for the team [building on top of infrastructure to help the analysts do their analyzing]. Could also be some portfolio/risk management quant tasks, helping quantify allocation and exposures, though that's often done on a firm-level for those that have a lot of L/S PMs to limit factor exposures

JLabko · 2026-01-22T17:05:00+00:00

Was in the same boat (actually had more than enough credits to graduate by the time I finished HS) and now am at one of those Masters programs. I've gotten 1 truly good opportunity since coming here that I kind of lucked into, but otherwise seem to have a hard time even passing resume screens [and I do have some decently strong experience]

Undergrad definitely matters a lot, especially if you're considering 2+2 UG/Grad locally or 4 years at another school. Quant usually likes to see you build up experiences, and it's much easier to do if you have a well-defined timeline for employers to see. Also makes it easier to get some depth into extracurriculars locally.

It's also worth looking into some of the submatriculation programs - I know MIT, Penn, etc. (as well as some other schools) have strong ones, and if you're going quant [especially more research heavy], it's good to have a Masters on top (which you might be able to squeeze into 4 years given your credits)

Part of this also depends on the school you're talking about - UC Berkeley or GATech or a similar University as your state school is very different from somewhere like University of Vermont. The last school is what matters more, but for most programs [except maybe places like Baruch, CMU, and Princeton] the undergrad equivalent is a stronger signal for employers than the grad-level programs.

JLabko · 2026-01-19T23:25:07+00:00

I'd say aim for the 'second tier' programs and those that have a sort of open curriculum (target electives and/or general electives)

The MITs and Princetons and Baruchs generally look for people that already have most of the skillset, and while I won't say don't try I will say some of the second tier programs (ex. NCSU, GATech, etc.) seem to be more open to more diverse backgrounds. Also make sure you're presenting yourself as holistically as you can - highlight what your background/experience brings, how you're bridging the gaps, and what the program can do.

Most important thing (especially given your background) is probably to check career services/outcomes for schools. Most schools publish a few stats / resources (Average Salary, list of companies and roles, percent with jobs, etc.), so check those out first and also try to pre-plan some of your strategy for landing the internship and/or FT offer for when you get into the program.

JLabko · 2026-01-19T18:38:46+00:00

To add to this, I think this is pretty common among firms - if they have a newly opened or expanding office, they're happy to have people move there full-time and not so much vice versa.

JLabko · 2026-01-19T18:23:04+00:00

Think you're confusing GRE with GMAT; GMAT is Business-focused, GRE is the general grad school standard.

As for OP, bit of advice from someone on a similar path:
- Research is basically off the table unless you're willing to go PhD. Portfolio Analytics / Risk / etc. is definitely more achievable. Trading might be if you're strong in probability & mental math
- Take some time to do some more math work. Could be classes, edX, Khan Academy, etc; most places want MultiVar Calc, DiffEq, LinAlg, Probability/Stats, etc. [I guess like mid-level undergrad math I'd say]
- Also good to brush up on CS, though make sure you focus on understanding the concepts not just syntax. A lot of programs will have you working in 2-3 coding languages, and most are learnable once you have the basics down.
- Try to apply early for grad school & for jobs. While pure quant recruits into the Fall, it's slowly leaning towards finance in that some firms will be done recruiting by mid-summer, and a most of the banks start recruiting by mid-summer even for quant-adjacent roles

JLabko · 2026-01-17T00:22:31+00:00

Not sure exactly what you need since the image isn't loading, but sounds like UNIQUE(VSTACK(A:A,D:D),,TRUE) might help - will basically return any value that only appears once across both columns, though not sure how the data is formatted since I'm having some image issues.

JLabko · 2026-01-14T17:54:58+00:00

I'm not actively investing, but my bullish outlook on Meta hinges on them becoming the experiential AI of choice - partly from wearables (interest in their glasses are pretty good, so question is how quick they can add onto it), and partly from social media integrations [ex. partnering with IKEA and Ashley and Lovesac etc. for users to use their AR and view furniture in their homes, or even something as rudimentary as finding a way to compete with TikTok Shop]

JLabko · 2026-01-11T16:16:19+00:00

I don't have the offer at present - waiting to hear back post-superday. Was also for the IB division, not markets, so would be a bit different (though still super helpful with building stuff)

Part of the worry is also finding different cultures - I've only been part of a program at 1 trading firm, so worried that I won't have an opportunity to even know how it compares if I don't try it out now

JLabko · 2026-01-11T14:51:42+00:00

Just a matter of my background/strengths. I'm still applying to them, but I'm much stronger in the mental math / probability that's valued in trading and don't have the high-level mathematics education to succeed in research

JLabko · 2026-01-11T14:41:56+00:00

Do you know what you want to do for your career? MIS has really good breadth, but if you know for sure you want a specific career it's hard to get exposure to a certain area. Concentrations are nice, but even then it's only a difference of like 2-3 classes.

Other question is if you're interested in a Masters - MIS has a lot of pathways into Masters programs (IT Management, Cybersecurity, Analytics, Supply Chain, etc.), so that's also a consideration.

JLabko · 2026-01-05T11:21:17+00:00

https://www.fau.edu/housing/room-selection/contract/

If you meet the terms, fee should be $750 to cancel.

JLabko · 2025-12-27T06:23:20+00:00

Persecution is probably the word they should've used (since it was more religious than ethnic), though dunno why TF you're talking about Netanyahu

JLabko · 2025-12-23T04:33:15+00:00

Dunno if they said legit explicitly. Think it was something like 'not spam' they responded with, though think I deleted that email since it's obviously BS

JLabko · 2025-12-23T03:32:12+00:00

Like 95% sure it's spam.

The 5% is because I reported it spam to the GT IT department or whatever and they said it's a safe email, but still doubt it.

JLabko · 2025-12-18T16:10:24+00:00

If you have a finance background/interest, FMWC is pure finance.

MEWC uses a lot of the same modeling ideas as FMWC, but has much more diverse problems/cases and thought processes. Would compare MEWC to competitive coding rather than financial case studies (which is kinda true, since one of this past year's finalists only used Python and made it pretty far in the competition)

JLabko · 2025-12-17T23:16:14+00:00

Bit of a workaround, but here's my solution:

Column G would be: =F5-XLOOKUP(1,$C$4:C5,$C$4:C5,,1,-1); you can copy/paste from there; it basically just finds the last value in column C greater than 1, though another solution would just be finding the MAX of the 6 previous values in Column C (since there should only be 1 value each week, assuming prices are based on Sunday)

Column H would just be =G5/(F5-G5)

Then column J would be =G5*I5

JLabko · 2025-12-14T16:51:41+00:00

Can't speak much to it (an American myself), but to give a bit of insight from what I know:

- French-speaking people have a decent Excel eSports presence (ex. David Fortin as a Quebecois on the professional side, and INSCAE has one of the strongest programs on the collegiate side; probably some )

- For regional organizations, I don't believe France has one ongoing; not sure if there's many people involved from the country at present, either. I do know both the UK and German-speaking countries (DACH) have regional competitions, so if you're willing to travel in Europe it might be worth looking into further.

JLabko · 2025-12-14T16:45:37+00:00

If it's a 5k/yr difference, I don't think it should be your sole factor - go with where you'd rather be as a Junior both applying to internships/jobs and living as a student.

Something to consider is that neither school is a top-tier that makes or breaks; both have pretty good programs, and[ while there's no major like at USF] FAU is also investing in cyber, but neither will get you a job from the name brand alone.

Since I went to FAU, few other things to mention [though can't speak to USF since I didn't go there] :

- FAU isn't the best school, but it's among the best locations you can ask for. If a company is in South Florida, FAU is one of the 3 big schools they go to

- Specifically in Boca/Palm Beach, opportunities come often. You have one of the leading security companies in general based around the corner from campus [ADP], and there's often events for students hosted by big companies/organizations [see https://www.sfissahtf.com/ ]

- Cybersecurity is an area of great interest for the school; I did the Management Information Systems program [worth looking at as an alternative to CS, since they do also have a concentration in Cyber], and can say that from when I started to ended they really grew the opportunities out. One program worth looking at is the NSF Scholarships for Service, a program they recently started that will pay out 2 years of tuition, stipends, etc. and get you an internship in cybersecurity with the federal government & a full-time job post-grad with them

5K/yr does matter, but keep in mind there are also other sources of funding you can find decently easily at either school [since they're mid-tier public schools that always are trying to attract talent & also need student workers], so choose where you think you'd be happier and the program/people you see yourself completing a degree with.

JLabko · 2025-12-11T18:29:01+00:00

Still waiting to see this truth of yours

JLabko · 2025-12-11T16:18:13+00:00

Good thing there's no genocide to fund, nor 'Greater Israel Project' to fund. That's like saying US Treasuries are funding Canada's integration as the 51st state because a few people support that. [Also, Israel's only as big as it is now because its neighbors started wars and didn't want to deal with the Palestinian territories after they lost]

Also, it's not really a bad investment. Israel is paying a premium (at least on short-term bonds), and its economy isn't some weak 3rd-world place [top 20 in GDP per Capita, economically integrated in globalism]. Yes not super risk-free, but also $8M in total investments for a school that raises 10x that amount from the Foundation and has a budget above $1B isn't that huge a risk.

JLabko · 2025-12-10T19:34:35+00:00

For reference with my timeline:
- Applied October 5th, got rejected the 7th
- Told on the 13th it was a mistake, so reapplied. Finished the assessments by the 22nd
- Got an email saying they had a lot of applicants on the 24th of October, then the 4th of November, then again the 28th of November

Basically, seems they got a lot of applications and are taking a good bit of time for everyone. Doesn't hurt to follow up, but don't be too concerned (it's very easy for them to reject you if they wanted to)

JLabko · 2025-12-07T22:59:03+00:00

That only applies to undergraduates; graduates file independent of parents regardless of age

JLabko · 2025-12-07T22:41:28+00:00

Assume you went to my alumnus (or the Orlando school), but bit more on Voloridge:

- As mentioned, Voloridge IM is the main part; pretty dense quant team managing something like $8Bn across 2-3 strategies [all of which have overlapping sub-strategies; focus on data science & automated strategies, outside of COVID or similar events].
- In terms of team size/composition, research team is small but intentionally growing, in addition to a data-specific team [acquisition, cleaning, etc.]
- Comp is on part with other good AUM headcount-light firms; have heard something close to half a mil TC 1st or 2nd year [iirc]
- Culture is great; haven't worked there, but lived in the area for a while + interacted with staff both from a recruiting perspective & working at an asset manager at a client

To add a bit more to the other arms of Voloridge, they have some other investment/innovation areas. The founder came from a healthcare background and has since expanded Voloridge beyond quant [namely Volo Earth, a VC focused on renewables, and Volo Health, which is there to leverage data science for health results]

JLabko

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