r/quantfinance

I realize this might be a slightly odd place to ask this question, but I am genuinely interested in hearing opinions from this group. Currently working in a very toxic environment where the management approach is to pressure and scare employees into conformity rather than support and reward performance. I have an offer from IMC and the culture sounds too good to be true. I understand that no place is perfect, but would you say it is decent and fair? Thank you for your feedback.

Hello, I got off some waitlists for Undergrad, and I've been accepted to Cornell, UIUC, and Georgia Tech for Computer Science. I want to go into Quant Research. How would you rank these schools, and what are their pros/cons? I'm leaning on GT.

Hello world I'm studying 2nd student I have no experience in finance or economy there alot of courses online but I don't know where to start and what to take first if someone can recommend a path of courses or books or advice for someone haven't studied economic before

For some reason there is a coding part in the 1st interview, has anyone been through this exact process this year? Are the coding problems still hackerrank style or more towards ML pipelines like the questions that come up nowdays? Especially since they said the 1st part of the interview would be a ML discussion.

Hi everyone,

I am in a very peculiar place this year. I have been contacted over LinkedIn by a bunch of headhunters that recruit for T1 funds / commodity trading houses (the best being Citadel/Jump/Vitol) as I am currently a risk quant dev for a risk role.

We get on a call for half an hour, everything is great amd aligned, and the headhunter ask me for me CV so he can send it to the hiring manager. Just before we get off the call, the same question always pops up:"Oh btw, what grade did you get from your degree?" I then have to say I got a 2.2 (UK Russell group), they nervously laugh and in half an hour I get a text that they won't send my CV over in the end as these companies are very selective based on grades (which I am aware of).

My question is: When will they finally stop asking? Clearly my experience is a great match as this isn't a singular incident, and I have 4YOE at this point (mostly at 50/50 prop/util commodity house). How many years our of uni does one have to be for this to finally not be a black and white criterion?

I have tried to improve on this by completing a FRM (as I only have a Bachelor's degree and this is, among other things, independently benchmarked to be on par with a UK Masters degree) which is something that is graded and not everyone has it but noone seems to care once they learn about the grades.

As I obviously can't change my Bachelor's grade, is there anything I can do to get over this hurdle?

Thank you

EDIT: I should clarify I am looking at and being contacted about Risk QD / Risk roles

Should I go for a placement firm like Wall Street Quants (very high fees) or Target an MS? The current economically feasible options for an MS are in Germany: Kiel's Quant Fin or the LMU Theoretical and Mathematical Physics (going by the logic that Quant firms are interested in taking Phy grads with a good programming background)

Hey everyone, I'm having a tough time deciding between two totally different full-time paths and would love some perspective.

I interned at a Mid - Upper trading firm and have been struggling to choose the following options.

The first option is a Junior Quant Trader role at a smaller prop shop. The first year comp is better but I'm a bit worried about getting pigeonholed into trading, and not entirely sure how hard it is to lateral to bigger shops.

The second option is doing ML Eng at an AI startup. They're focused on video generation and VLMs. I find the actual day-to-day work here way more interesting than trading. But the whole vision/video space feels insanely crowded right now and being commoditized. However, I feel like joining this would close doors to trading while being a trader would keep them open.

I'm also more interested in entrepreneurship and taking advantage of the AI wave, but a bit worried about closing doors for the future.

Would appreciate any thoughts!

I’m high key washed at chess (know my elo isn’t good enough to place) is there any recruitment value from just playing but dudding? I do have other plans which I would much rather be doing but if there is any benefit, I’d be down to play. Any insights?

Edit: for context I’m 1750 rated on chess.com and haven’t played in a hot minute.

So my sem 2 exams are over and i have about 36 days before my sem 3. Where do i get started from with 0 coding knowledge. since sem 2 started i’ve only been doing Competitive Programming on Codeforces and LeetCode in C++.

I need a proper structured roadmap on how i should start and a bit about how y’all started your algo trading journey. That would be really very very helpful🫶🏻🙏

https://preview.redd.it/ok6moo6q5i1h1.jpg?width=1674&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=165acbd231342c7a81f754f0e84301e2f62ec6c1

https://preview.redd.it/emq1xp6q5i1h1.jpg?width=1441&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7b5f3adf8bccc2b17df04fbae75be840bc4db8f4

https://preview.redd.it/efiolo6q5i1h1.jpg?width=1384&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c140e0ff4800156527ca826bb5e46226fad77f22

https://preview.redd.it/ciovxs6q5i1h1.jpg?width=2462&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d1040505bac17ef28a7009a630c199a18d32103b

I’ve been building a project called MeetProba for students preparing for quant interviews.

The idea came from a frustration I had while preparing myself: probability resources are often either too theoretical, poorly structured, or not really aligned with what gets asked in quantitative finance interviews.

And even when you find good exercises, the solutions are often not detailed enough or skip important reasoning steps.

So I started building a platform specifically focused on:

• combinatorics
• random variables
• stochastic processes
• Markov chains
• Brownian motion
• and other probability topics commonly used in quant interviews

The main idea is to make preparation more structured and interview-oriented through:

• carefully selected exercises
• detailed step-by-step solutions
• roadmap/dependency graphs inspired by NeetCode
• progression between topics

The platform is currently free to use.

I attached a few screenshots of the current version and would genuinely love feedback from people preparing for quant roles or probability-heavy interviews.

https://meetproba.com

I've been working at the same company for 6 years in an admin role. My manager is the business owner, and a few weeks ago he told me he wanted to talk to me. He had printed out some papers and was explaining to me in general terms that if they paid me more, the company would pay more taxes.

Honestly, I was surprised, because my salary hasn't changed in 6 years, and everything around me is getting more expensive. I honestly don't understand how that means he can't pay me more. Should I start looking for another job?

Most quant firms I’ve heard of like Jane street, hrt, Akuna, Citadel, Jump trading, etc. seem to only hire from top universities like Stanford, MIT, Berkeley , and the ivies. For reference I’m studying physics at UCSB, which firms do I reasonably have a chance of getting into?

Background : CS Engineering (Tier 3) + MBA Fin (Tier 2)
Academics : 7/8/7
Country: India

How do I start preparing for Quant Research Internship / Full time roles.

Would be happy if some one guides me. You can be honest with me if this profile can land a role.

Thanks in advance

In an incoming Data Science freshman at UC Berkeley. (Its to my understanding that data science isnt a very respected major, so i will be trying to transfer to cs or math)

I wish I had learned and competed in tournaments like AMC USAMO etc. . . But I found out too late in my high school years. I wish not to have the same regrets.

It is my intention to put much effort into my studies, and try to join this industry.

How shall I go about this? What do you advice I should do, both regarding curricula and extracurrcula?

What do you regret not doing at my age? Any advice for me? It is very much appreciated.

Thank you in advance

Hey everyone here

I’m talking on behalf of a friend of mine who currently works in tech , on a salary of £ 50-60k , GBP and has gotten a place at this spot

Myself I’m at a Hedge Fund recently transferring from a boutique IB firm , he’s asked me if I knew anyone from my contact if anyone has done it for the UK although I am aware quant firms do hire from there state side

He said he wouldn’t mind taking any role but would prefer Quant Trader or SWE , Pre existing education is at a university with a CS degree which has non existent reputation in finance