Help Me Choose Cornell A&S or UChicago for Quant Finance (Math + CS Major)

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I was fortunate enough to be accepted to UChicago EA and I also applied to Cornell A&S with triple legacy and a connection to a faculty member (I am expecting an acceptance, especially given the historical data from my school, but obviously nothing is guaranteed). I am highly interested in a career in Quant Finance, and would ideally like to work at a top firm out of undergrad (JS, Citadel, HRT, etc.). Obviously I know that this is extremely difficult regardless of the school, but I was wondering which would give me the better odds (assuming I also get into Cornell). I would major in Math and CS at Cornell and probably take advantage of some ORIE and Dyson courses as well. At UChicago, I would major in Economics and Math, and take CS courses alongside that.

Some other things I would prefer/like to have in my college experience (comparing the two schools):

  • Startup culture/general entrepreneurship opportunities

  • Connections/networking with alumni

  • Grade/GPA deflation (I know both schools are known for being extremely rigorous and difficult; which of the two would be easier to maintain a high GPA)

  • Prestige/reputation in specific fields of study (Math and CS departments’ strength at Cornell vs. Econ, Math, and CS departments’ strength at UChicago)

  • Overall prestige/reputation with employers

  • Campus-like feel and entertainment opportunities with friends (Greek Life, night-outs, etc.)

Thanks!

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Your best odds for a very, very difficult career path is majoring in physics and math at Chicago and excelling in every possible way. Be the student who professors say “I want this person on my research team” and the student who is always coming up with innovative solutions to complex problems.

Nobody can “gun” for a career in Quant finance. The odds are too low. So figure out what you are looking for intellectually– go do that. If any of us were smart enough to predict the job market five years from now, we’d be on a beach in the Cayman Islands.

Nobody can predict what type of student Quant will be hiring in five years. But math and physics is a very good start.

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To me they both sound like very good options.

My bachelors degree is in math. My master’s degree is in Operations Research. I think that these are very good majors, that can be potentially useful in a wide range of careers. Some knowledge of Computer Science will be very useful (or even necessary) in combination with these subjects. Physics is one example of a science that uses a lot of math to solve a range of problems. Actually as a math major my first job was at a physics research facility. They used a lot of math. There are a lot of things in this world that only work because someone did the math. Apparently cyclotrons and radio telescopes are included on this list of things.

This is a very good combination of subjects. I have referred to OR as “its great fun and they pay you”.

And Chicago and Cornell are both excellent in these areas. Neither is going to be easy. Both are very well known for being excellent and for academic rigor.

I might be tempted to look at the graduation requirements at both schools. You might want to consider both general education requirements, and major-specific requirements. I would want to see if there is any significant difference between the courses that you would be required to take.

You could also think about where you want to spend four years. Of course both of these locations are going to have real winters. Personally I like the location for Cornell quite a bit, but personal preferences may vary.

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Two wonderful schools so there is no right or wrong answer. Pick the college with the environment/academics you want to spend the next four years at.

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Yeah, I am leaning towards Cornell at the moment (obviously dependent on whether I get in), but what I am hearing so far is that either of these choices would not leave me at a disadvantage in terms of outcomes when compared with the other.

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These are two excellent options --congrats! Your post-graduation success will be dependent on what you accomplish during your college years rather than which one of these fine schools you choose to attend.

I do agree with @blossom that Quant Finance jobs after undergrad are few and far between so you may need to eventually expand your options.

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@hebegebe

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Both are fantastic schools, but why didn’t you apply ED to Cornell? (In the old days, if you wanted the legacy bump, you needed to apply Early. Otherwise, the school would logically conclude that its not your first choice, particularly if that school meets full financial need.)

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That ship has sailed so it doesn’t really matter at this point. Not everyone is ready to commit in the ED round.

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I wanted to keep my options open. I was still considering a few schools, like UChicago, and didn’t feel ready to make a binding decision at that point.

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I second this. At Cornell you need to take 100 credits in CAS and there are a number of graduation requirements. It may not be possible to graduate in 4 years and have room to take courses in ORIE and Dyson. Majors and Minors

IMO, the biggest difference between these two schools for your intended major and career is simply location. One is in the middle of a big city. The other is a very rural campus. I would think you’d have a strong preference for one over the other?

I will also add that you don’t have a decision to make yet. There is no legacy bump at Cornell in RD. I would wait until you have all of your acceptances in front of you and see where you’ve been accepted.

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Agree with this.

But keep in mind that Quant Finance is not the same as other branches of finance. You don’t need ANY finance/business related courses to get hired to do Quant finance. They are hiring for theoretical math, applied math, abstract thinking and problem solving, etc. There are outstanding quants who majored in philosophy, physics, geology, agronomy, all the branches of engineering, etc. Taking courses outside the major/minor to be well rounded in business isn’t necessary.

Will it be necessary for Plan B? Who knows. We don’t know if the OP has even thought about Plan B.

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Really? Because your previous chance me thread mentions “no legacy” at any school. And your SAT score went from a 1590 to a 1550 a few months later. If you’d like some advice, please don’t embellish the truth. I hope you were more truthful on your college applications.

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I worked in quant finance prior to retirement and I have a child who recently joined a top NYC quant company.

Putting aside the difficulty of quant recruiting for now, between the two, UChicago is an easy choice. It is nationally recognized for both pure math and statistics. You probably already know that NYC and Chicago are the top two cities for trading, and UChicago certainly gives you a big advantage in recruiting for Chicago companies. A degree from UChicago will also give you serious consideration for NYC companies.

But as others have said, getting recruited for quant companies is already difficult now, and may get worse in 5 years. AI has made it easier for existing quant employees to be more productive, reducing the need for new hires. My child’s company has reduced hiring despite having one of their best years ever.

In summary, don’t go in with a “JS/Citadel/HRT or bust” attitude. Even if you have the innate talent to be hired if you were graduating now, the situation could be very different when you are looking for internships.

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Just trying to temper the applicant’s enthusiasm, as any legacy bump has also ‘sailed’.

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Just seeing the thread - use these links to see career outcomes of past grads at Cornell. Chicago does not seem to be as open with their data. Best of luck to you.

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I clicked on the link and kept torturing the data to see if I could find some quant firms.

I found that by limiting the majors to CS, Math and Stats, and limiting the industry to Financial Services, there were indeed some well known quant firms that hired Cornell grads.

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All right, so I’ll preface that I lost interest in CC after entering college. But I am Applied Math/CAAM at UChicago.

Economics and Math isn’t the most common trajectory for quant. It’s more so CAAM, Math+CS or Math alone. You can discover this once you get here. Also I do CAAM+Stats but note that I am not going into quant or even something that high schoolers dream of - most probably analytics or a Master’s at this point.

Startup culture: not strong, some people do it in CS-y spaces but I wouldn’t say it dominates

Connections: There’s a good presence in the financial and consulting industry, for both quant, traditional finance and consulting. However, you have to be proactive about using it and reaching out to alumni, though you can still do some coffee chats with finance/consulting firms through Handshake/Career services (I was passive and did so).

Grade deflation: Not insane but it’s not easy to get a 3.8+. And you can often sacrifice resume building if you go too aggressively on GPA. The hard math classes are very challenging but the regular ones are managable. Average GPA is around a 3.6-3.7 I believe, probably closer to the former.

Cornell has stronger placement/reputation for CS hands-down. Chicago’s curriculum is somewhat more theoretical and challenging, so you have to proactively develop skills beyond the program. Math is probably stronger at UChicago but you should note that this difference is marginal unless you want a PhD, it’s mostly different at the graduate level and for hyper-advanced students. But if you have signs of that (I mean beyond 7 in IB Math/5 in BC Calc, like say, Intro Analysis already completed) and are interested in Math PhD’s it could be worth it. I think Chicago is better reputed for Econ.

Prestige/reputation: Strong for quant in Chicago, though you have to train and do well on the tests/OA’s. Good for finance/consulting but you have to prep and pass the interviews. Not sure how Cornell compares, but I think it would be similar.

Campus-like feel: exists, but can be quieter if you choose. There are Greek Life scenes I am not involved in. Math/CS takes up a lot of time, so you need to be excellent at time management to have more than a minimal social life. Mine is closer to minimal, but I am satisfied with it.

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Quant firms that hire from UChicago know about these challenging math courses, particularly the Honors Analysis series. It’s UChicago’s equivalent of Harvard’s Math 55, and helps get a resume noticed.

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Cornell’s counterpart to that is the Math 2230/2240 series. It was created by John Hubbard, who had previously taught Math 55 at Harvard.

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