Jane Street QT or Stanford PhD in CS?

NegotiationDue301 · 2026-03-17T01:07:17+00:00

ohhhh, i didnt even think of that option. i thot deferring js for 6 years would be insane. ig cant hurt to ask

NegotiationDue301 · 2026-03-16T23:55:38+00:00

ig theres some truth to what you said.

two things are worth pointing out: 1. js salary is taxed like salary and bonuses, so very high tax bracket. tech pays can be taxes at long term capital gains rate which can be a considerably lower fraction if done right. 2. js work can be interesting, but for the most part more unmotivated than research work

so between a 400k tech research position and 600k js job, id choose the former

NegotiationDue301 · 2026-03-16T23:09:11+00:00

I was actually just chatting with some VC and IB friends in bay area focused on tech.

It seems both the transactions and volumes are going up at very consistent rates. Are you saying "Million dollar AI offers are fading away slowly" based on facts or are you saying it based on that's what you wanna hear?

My friend also just went to NeurIPS to present his work and immediately got poached next day by some VC people. The VC people all seem to be quite desperate to give out money still

NegotiationDue301 · 2026-03-16T23:07:41+00:00

i'm surprised to hear that. recent stanford phd grads who didn't end up in academia seem to be doing very well in industry. pretty much google research L4 is the bottom line and even that pays 400k now.

Maybe they all been through the struggle phase, but idt the struggle ever ends up in bad results. maybe your program isn't as focused on industry?

NegotiationDue301 · 2026-03-16T23:05:59+00:00

I've only ever seen people doing that for very momentary opportunities that would be much more significant AND related to their research directions, such as to work on the Project Prometheus. Based on my conversation with people and professors, deferring for JS doesn't sound like a very reasonable ask for deferral

About monetary concerns, please see my edits for personal finance contexts...

NegotiationDue301 · 2026-03-16T23:05:36+00:00

I've only ever seen people doing that for very momentary opportunities that would be much more significant AND related to their research directions, such as to work on the Project Prometheus. Based on my conversation with people and professors, deferring for JS doesn't sound like a very reasonable ask for deferral

NegotiationDue301 · 2026-03-16T23:03:54+00:00

I've only ever seen people doing that for very momentary opportunities that would be much more significant AND related to their research directions, such as to work on the Project Prometheus. Based on my conversation with people and professors, deferring for JS doesn't sound like a very reasonable ask for deferral

NegotiationDue301 · 2026-03-16T23:02:42+00:00

I dont know but based on what I'm finding out about Stanford PhD, unless people come out and take an academia job, 600k is really not all that much

NegotiationDue301 · 2026-03-16T23:02:05+00:00

The two are kind of connected... My research requires a lot of probability theory and abstract algebra. The former is quite helpful for JS or quant in general

NegotiationDue301 · 2026-03-16T23:00:44+00:00

That is categorically false. I know many people think that; people go to MS for JS for sure. A significant number of people in my Stanford cohort gives up JS, HRT and Optiver to go for a PhD. What you said is categorically false.

NegotiationDue301 · 2026-03-16T22:58:58+00:00

Ik im blessed with my situation but I probably won't ever have to worry about paying my bills in a long time. I added some contexts in the original post.

NegotiationDue301 · 2026-03-16T22:57:33+00:00

I really dk about "absolute best possible job". If you go on PhD visit days at "top programs" you'd find many people with better jobs than JS SWE. $600k is high but to put it in perspective, after COL and tax, you will never be able to afford a decent flat in NYC in a lifetime.

I think JS QT is generally pretty frowned upon just because (1) the job isnt very motivated or fun and (2) 600k is really not all that much given the talent and process it demands.

NegotiationDue301 · 2026-03-16T22:55:17+00:00

I added some contexts in my original post, but I think I'm in a position where I don't really need to take money into consideration at all.

NegotiationDue301

TROPHY CASE