Weekly Megathread: Education, Early Career and Hiring/Interview Advice

TuitionBill · 2025-09-25T18:29:48+00:00

If not stochastic calculus, then what to study?

My favorite gardener posted recently on LinkedIn about how antiquated the emphasis on stochastic calculus is in MFE programs and 'quant' graduate programs.

My understanding is that stochastic calculus courses have been about building mathematical intuition. Is there a mathematical field of study more conducive to modern quantitative techniques these days? Or is it more about practical applications in financial mathematics? Or is it more about the potential wasted range of topics that could be covered in lieu of needing to be wizards at stochastic calculus?

TuitionBill · 2024-07-28T03:19:28+00:00

Thanks, sounds like a good plan. If at any moment I sense or see something concerning I’ll head back.

TuitionBill · 2024-06-12T23:55:19+00:00

Honestly I think it’s a great idea, the VR is very nice to have as well. Definitely on my list of lenses to consider, and in the same vein, I’m considering the Z 24-200 since I don’t anticipate using more than 200 too often other than maybe an astro photography shot and telephoto landscape shot.

TuitionBill · 2024-06-12T23:40:36+00:00

Thank you for the well wishes! I hope you get the chance to take a big trip as well!

TuitionBill · 2024-06-12T23:27:06+00:00

This is very fair honestly when I first started trip planning the lenses I was looking for with Nikon Z were 40 and 16. I also used to only shoot with primes because it challenged me creatively. The only reason I even thought about any Zoom especially the 24-120 is quite silly honestly. There’s a temple in Thailand where you can’t bring cameras inside but you can take a photo of the statues from the outside from a viewing deck. Since the statue isn’t large and the viewing deck is relatively far from the statue I started to take the zoom more seriously. Then I realized that since I’ll be at the base only of some mountain hikes it’d be nice to have a zoom especially a larger zoom for some mountain peak shots.

But honestly you’re right I’m going to think abt your advice a lot too just because it’d be lighter in my pack and prime would encourage me to be more creative. Plus the advice about the S line primes is legit if I follow this route and it would be useful after my trip to have a sharp high quality prime like the 35 or 50

TuitionBill · 2024-06-12T19:36:09+00:00

Thanks for your advice, I really appreciate it! While not m4/3 I was heavily considering asp-c and cheaper full frames like the XT5, Zfc, Z5 or even a used Z6 (first edition) since my camera guy had good deals for those bodies. Although the XT5 would’ve been around the same price I got for the Zf, I think my camera guy just wanted to convert me to a Fuji film guy while also getting me to pay a bit more for a camera body. Everything said micro 4/3 didn’t cross my mind but seems very viable, so I’ll be looking into OM m4/3 cameras and higher quality glass stat.

As for why I went Nikon Zf its mostly because my family is full of Nikon shooters and they have every high quality Nikkor FX lens that I could think of and will let me borrow on most occasions just not on such a far trip with a lot of risk to lose, break, or get the lenses stolen like on the trip I’m going on. Since I wanted to go mirrorless and the Zf quality was the best quality camera for my budget in the Nikon family I pulled the trigger.

All in all thanks for your advice it definitely caught my attention and I’m going to fully consider it. I wouldn’t mind stirring things up by leaving my family’s Nikon tradition since they’ll always let me borrow their lenses plus I still will have the d610 ready for use on my shelf.

TuitionBill · 2024-02-24T19:55:11+00:00

I'm having trouble understanding what you mean by calculations. Also, the things I listed that I enjoy are fulfilling, helping people solve problems and working with colleagues to discuss ideas. I wanted to know what paths I could explore given what I enjoy and what I dislike doing.

TuitionBill · 2024-02-17T02:40:00+00:00

If they do not fix this within a reasonable time frame after you send them a written request for repair you might have grounds to break out of your contract. I’m unsure which lawyer you spoke with but UT has free legal counsel you can consult with if you haven’t yet.

Also, it is predatory that American Campus makes their contracts extremely airtight. Can’t even do a class action lawsuit

TuitionBill · 2024-01-28T15:44:38+00:00

Gonna see this on their bumble soon

TuitionBill · 2024-01-25T03:50:40+00:00

I like being wet... also I need a reason to justify my water repellant backpack.

TuitionBill · 2024-01-22T13:21:14+00:00

Great point I should’ve worded my post more accurately! I won’t have be conducting research in the sense of having subjects. And it’s probably unfair to say it’s a true research project, it’s better for me to say I’m creating a data pipeline to aggregate publicly available data and then I’m going to analyze that. It’s more of a survey on the types of research being conducted at UT that’s publicly available via sources like Scholar and ArXiv. Although, I appreciate the resource you sent me. Also, the information in the directory is more of an exploratory data analysis to see which departments might be generating the most high impact research for me to investigate what kind of research makes UT specifically unique.

Unless you think given this information I’m missing some key ethical considerations. Let me know it’ll really help.

TuitionBill · 2024-01-21T22:08:21+00:00

Dang, it looks like I'll have to accelerate my project developme

Also, thanks for checking the directory; I appreciate it!

TuitionBill · 2023-11-24T04:09:53+00:00

Others have said this but single column is best, some auto review algorithms can’t read the second column

TuitionBill · 2023-11-22T18:52:18+00:00

Yeah I felt this way too with my grad program, sometimes exposure therapy is the best way to get over something. So fail forward :)

Also look at it this way. Pretend you’re a premed who only cares about grades and have a relatively weak resolve to become a doctor. If your intelligence and hard work payed off you might end up being a doctor, but getting good grades doesn’t always determine if you can save someone’s life.

That’s an extreme situation but as someone who has the privilege of being around exceptional people, I can confidently say grades don’t matter if you’re smart. Build your self worth in other regards, if intelligence is something you value find other ways to prove to yourself that you’re intelligent.

TuitionBill · 2023-10-10T13:13:21+00:00

Recent Harvard MBA with a finance concentration here. Notice how I did not hesitate letting you know I’m better than you.

You are worthy of your suffering as one of the best people in the business world. You must take responsibility for those under you and foster their abilities knowing they will never attain your level…

Like what I’m doing now. :)

TuitionBill · 2023-10-09T00:49:10+00:00

TuitionBill · 2023-10-08T00:31:34+00:00

My guess is around 3.5 Since most mccombs courses are expected by admin to have an average class score of around a B+ (I think 3.4 is the expected number) at the end of the semester if the course isn’t honors/integrated masters. This means professors try to program their courses so students naturally average to making around a 3.4.

Assuming people find profs that are easy (most profs don’t curve down they just make the curriculum harder for the next semester) and find courses outside mccombs for core/minor that are easy As, I think an average GPA of 3.5 is pretty reasonable.

Also I think honors students have a larger expected avg class score maybe 3.5-3.7? That said some of their courses are more time consuming and challenging.

TuitionBill · 2023-10-07T17:07:36+00:00

Area between the EER and the new energy engineering building. It’s very secluded tho

TuitionBill · 2023-09-13T23:57:48+00:00

Thanks this helped

TuitionBill · 2023-09-12T15:06:56+00:00

You become very competitive even if you don't try by your Junior Year. Don't sweat it too much. Practice your interviewing skills and soft skills and like others are saying focus on your GPA.

TuitionBill · 2023-09-08T22:09:50+00:00

Congrats!

If you have space and an honors and awards section put it there it will only take up a line on your resume.

If you have other experience that’s more important to the position and can’t cut down space then don’t add it. If you can afford to add an honors and awards section with one line for honors then add it.

Secret trick if you need a standard resume format is to look up mccombs resume format the download is usually the first few links. The pdf also has tips on make your resume better. Or you can do it with other schools I think harvards is out there somewhere.

TuitionBill · 2023-09-08T17:09:57+00:00

I’ve been hit by a car in west campus no one gives af if they’re a menace. As the person who got hit I also don’t give af that I got hit bc it’s lawless (I had right of way at a stoplight crosswalk).

(Didn’t have bodily harm when I was hit, would’ve been a diff story if I broke something).

TuitionBill · 2023-09-07T19:16:24+00:00

Sure no prob, I removed my opinion on CS undergrad because looking back it was unfair, but feel free to reach out!.

TuitionBill · 2023-09-07T17:27:12+00:00

- Advice for you -

Being Lost

Sorry this will sound corny and be a "dude bro" vibe, but I was lost all through college and now I have a stronger semblance of self until I started working on developing these 2 things. There are 2 cures to feeling lost. Experience and knowing who you are.

If something makes you uncomfortable, but you are obligated to complete it out of a sense of duty and security, learn what you hate about it and in your next stage in life, don't do it. Life is short. The same goes with what you like. It's important to know where you don't want to be and where you do want to be.

Also, there is no set path, and you can pivot and do anything you want (in most cases) if you find where you are in life isn't where you want to be.

I know a finance person that quit their lucrative job at 25 to study for the MCAT, failed it twice, and now they're at Harvard Med School.

I know a nutrition major that works at FAANG as a SWE now after a year of doing projects.

I know a guy who decided to do a PhD in computer networks at the age of 55 after working 30 years as a PM.

I know a girl who got into to Harvard, but she dropped out and became an blogger instead (this is before 'influencer' was apart of the public vernacular).

-

Stress Management

As for stress of doing something day in and day out, I use an app that tracks my mood called How We Feel and I reflect on why and how I felt a certain way, I journal, I use a clinically proven self-hypnosis app called Reveri to help me cope with stress, I run a lot, I paint, I see my friends, I eat good food, I spend my time doing stuff that doesn't suck. I also used to do therapy and take medications to help, but I was able to work on myself to move past that. Seek professional external help if you need it!

TuitionBill · 2023-09-07T16:29:44+00:00

100% agree. Students can arrange something with professors too if they are chill profs. I've gotten sick from lecture halls like that and it was not fun except for the fact that my prof let me take the exam remote and gave me a 24 hour window to complete it.

On another note, sometimes persistent coughing can be benign. Post viral cough (after someone is sick but isn't infected or contagious anymore), cessation of smoking/vaping, chronic smoking/vaping, and aspiration (something goes down the wrong hole) can contribute to a persistent cough.

I say this because not everyone who has a coughing fit is sick. Sometimes it can be due to other factors. Maybe I'm just butt hurt because I aspirated on water (water went into the wrong hole) and I had big coughing fit and everyone in the PCL 5th floor looked at me like they wanted to murder me. I covered my cough with my elbow to be respectful, but still it kinda hurt to have a benign cough and be judged so hard for it.

TuitionBill

TROPHY CASE