Cambridge MPhil Finance Entry 2014

Congratulations I saw your strong profile on another thread and that you allready have quite a few offers, do you know which one you are going to choose?

Thanks! I applied in December.

I am also very interested in LSE MSc Finance and Eco (I have an offer). I dont know which one to choose.. Any recommendation?

Thanks for the advice! After, I want to do a finance phd (if I get a first) or otherwise work as quant. analyst in a bank/ insurance.

Both programs have very interesting courses. Hard choice..

My background:
- Bachelor in Economics, University of St. Gallen (5.75/6.00)
- Currently working as a research assistant + 1 internship in an insurance company
- GRE 160 169 3.5

I did not apply to the MPhil F&E because of my low score, 3.5 , in the analytic part of the GRE..

I really didn't get why they don't inform the people that they are on hold like I have heard from other people they do in the the MPhil F&E program.

Thanks for the advice! After, I want to do a finance phd (if I get a first) or otherwise work as quant. analyst in a bank/ insurance.

Both programs have very interesting courses. Hard choice..

My background:
- Bachelor in Economics, University of St. Gallen (5.75/6.00)
- Currently working as a research assistant + 1 internship in an insurance company
- GRE 160 169 3.5

I did not apply to the MPhil F&E because of my low score, 3.5 , in the analytic part of the GRE..

Research assistant with a professor? in what field?

for quant work I think the mphil is better in terms of courses

but really you need a lot of maths, it is hard to acquire that + programming skills in 1 year, and you will have interviews before december...there are a lot of maths phds struggling to get quant positions... I wouldn't count on getting one good position.

If you are sure you want to stay in finance for phd (instead of economics) then I would say go for the cambridge mphil, especially if you want to stay in the UK.

Thanks for your comments! Very helpful. I didn't know the competition was that high for quant. positions. I have some knowledge in C/C++ but maybe not enough experience because I usually code with Matlab or R.

Yes I work for a professor, in the faculty of mathematics and statistics. I do mainly research on variance risk premia.

just one final comment: from my limited experience with quant recruiting (I interviewed with 2 of the big american banks, think GS/MS/JPM and know some people who ended up working there) the Judge business school doesn't have a very good reputation (then again, it might just be true for my data points) on the other hand Part III of the maths Tripos is considered the golden standard when it comes to masters. I would recommend trying to take as many maths modules as possible if you end up in cambridge, and stressing the fact you are doing so in your applications!!

Do you mean that JBS has a bad reputation in general in the private sector or are you just referring to quant positions?

I got accepted by JBS a few days ago, for a different MPhil though. For my course, the application deadline was Feb 15, I got accepted 3 days after that. I think - with few exceptions - JBS usually waits until after the deadline (if it is in Feb/Mar) to give out offers. Good luck to everyone anyway, hopefully see you there in the fall

Edit: OK, I'm taking that theory back, just read the rest of the thread and saw that there were plenty of offers coming in before the 1st of March

When did you send your application off?