放弃PHD还是不放弃，恳求帮忙 - ChaseDream

本人来美国3年，现在的专业是计算物理（PHD），还有两年毕业。

现在已经拿到了哥伦比亚fanancial engineering的OFFER，一直都在考虑去不去读。

不去的理由: 1.哥大读书需要6万的贷款，经济压力很大，并且以前又没工作经验，也担心能不能顺利找到工作。读完以后，如果能顺利找到工作，大概一年半应该也能还清贷款。

去的理由： 1本人自身实在不爱好物理，目标就是毕业能去华尔街找金融方面的工作。

这里的N人很多，本人现在实在是很迷茫，想请N人们帮忙分析一下我的情况。

Actually, the title PhD in physics is not important to me at all. What I am considering here which way give the best career trends in finance.

Also I have considered Highwaystar's three choices before. For top finance PhD,I can not take the risk of waiting for another year for they are so competetive.

For second choice,I have good math and programming background, which my major of computational physics focus on. Also I can pass the CFA exam for I already have some background in finance.

For the first choice,it may lead to my career plans directly. You are right, I should stand out in the class and find some internships to locate a good job.Actually I even think about to apply a MBA degree in Columbia or NYU after 4 to 5 years' work experience.

Now the concern for second choice is that my graduate school's(Georgia Institute of Technology) physics is just so so. Also according experts in Wall Street(Columbia professor who used to work in Goldman Sach),it is kind of hard to find a job by PhD in physics there.So many FE students each year and who knows the economy in two years.Though I don't have to worry about Postdoc position, but that is not I want.

The concern for your first choice is that loan is always a burden.Moreover,some students may find a job with starting salary $6K.Then it will be a real problem for me.

In the end, you are right, my instinct push to jump out the Physics major. I never thought of other ways for I am always naive and busy to get married.

以下是引用missing在2006-4-12 10:38:00的发言：

去的理由： 1本人自身实在不爱好物理，目标就是毕业能去华尔街找金融方面的工作。

“本人自身实在不爱好物理”——完全可以接受；但不能得出“本人自身爱好金融”的中间结论；更不能明确“目标就是毕业能去。。。的工作”而不是“学校教金融或做研究”。

如果真的是渴望那街的风景，说明你是个风险偏好的人，完全可以在现在开始启动你的冒险之旅。

以搂主的条件都拿不到finance phd的offer，我也就可以感到安慰了。呵呵。

现在数学、物理博士想找金融工作的多的是，相比他们，金融工程并不占什么优势，这是我在华尔街工作的前同事说的，她本人有一个金融工程硕士和纽约大学的数学硕士，成绩和英文几乎无可挑剔，但是刚毕业的时候也只能找到做金融资讯、交易系统的工作，而不是真正的金融工作，虽然那家公司非常著名。不过如果楼主真的那么厌恶物理，那还是转了吧，否则的话我觉得还是不要轻易放弃。我另一个同事哥大金融工程毕业后直接回国了，不过不知道是因为找不到工作还是因为想回国，可能是后者吧，因为她家里有钱。

LZ好好做决定吧，相信最后无论选择哪条路，只要努力，一定是没有问题的。

It is a good idea to get a Phd if you need to face some VISA problems such as H1B.Since you do not have experence ,it is not easy to find the entry level job or intern on the street .I have same experence and do not expect too much on Columbia's master . Also ,the tuition is a big deal.Think it ove and do it when you are ready!

Go to GIT's MQCF Program (I guess that's not hard at all based on your location and background.) and get a TA/RA (That's the wonderful part of GIT's program). Then you have two choices:

1) Take as many as required finance courses to apply for PHD IN FINANCE the next year.

2) Stick to it and find some finance jobs after graduation. (I heard that's also not hard if you did preety well). Then when you have some work experiences and a sh*t of money, go for a MFE or MBA program.

以下是引用stokowski在2006-4-13 9:10:00的发言：
Since you said you have CFA level I, you got a point to defend your non-business background.

Do you have difficulties in finishing your Physics PhD?

If not, stay there finish it and looking for a finance job right now.
Why?

What a MSFE can offer is a briefly introduce of FE industry, the survival technics, and the job seeking network.

However, it cannot change your weakest point -- zero work experience.

Your backgound is not that bad for a quant job, if you do have a good sense about the job market and nice communication in English, you do have a chance in a typical quant job.

Would a MSFE degree help you to get a quant job?

Maybe, but you will find out you placement still base more on your background before your MSFE program than simply where you have your MSFE training.

The weakest part of your profile for a quant job is still the work experience, without any previous experience, the best you can shoot is still entry-level quant, and I do not assume that the MSFE training could help you a lot since you said you are good at those tools.

So if you really want to be a quant, given your background, what you need badly is experience in the market (and English communication), as long as you can self-study those MSFE curriculum without difficulty.

Good point! Try to finish all the three levels of CFA by the completion of your Physics PhD, and start looking for a finance job right now. That may be the most effective and economical way of achieving your goal.

Another way is find a co-advisor in EE at GaTech, then try to get an EE PhD, assuming the essential stuff you'll be doing won't be much different from what you're doing now. With some finance courses and possible CFA, you will be in a better shape at the time you start your job hunting.

My point here is a physics PhD from a 35-44th school has much less chances of getting interviews compared with a top 10 EE PhD, given that you already have strong math/programming background.

IMHO, a PhD from a top program is better than a MFE graduate in almost every aspects in the long run. I do feel those MFE programs only cares about money. You can easily take most of those relevant mathFin courses from your own school, no big deal,even learn them all by self study, then why bother to pay more to go for a MFE program? It's relatively easy to get in those MFE program,though.

Why so many students want to be a quant? salary? dont think so, a fresh EE PhD from a top 10 program can get a industry position with starting salary from 85k-120k plus a good lifestyle. If you really wanna pursue big money, then go for a top 5 MBA after a few years of industry work, which definitely gives you a real edge to make tons of $$...Quant opennings are so few, and you won't go too far up on the career ladder unless you plan to open your own hedge fund in the future.

Of coz try to get in a top finance Phd program if you really love finance and plan to be a faculy in a research orientd university.

如果年龄允许，建议还是把眼前的PhD修完。当然，在最后两年中，也可以考虑修些金融相关课程。