T

timwhite

2 karmaJoined Dec 2020

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Hi there,  new forum member here! I read through some of the thread here and gt inspired to post something myself. I’m not sure if it’s open or if people are answering but I thought I might as well post.

 I’m currently a medical student (first term) and I’m going to drop out in the coming weeks and start fresh on a new degree this autumn.

I’m considering studying Engineering Mathematics at KTH or Chalmers, which is a 3 year Bachelor’s degree with a focus on maths (almost 50% of the program) and programming (almost 20% of the program), with some additional engineering courses. My aim after that is to pursue a Master’s degree in Machine Learning or Data Science and AI. I’m very open to options in terms of what to study but this degree seems to fit the criteria of what I want from my career and what I’d enjoy most.

My main goals post-graduation would be to either work on AI safety in either technical research or policy, earning to give as a Quant at a trading firm, or doing a Machine Learning Ph.D. I’ll have to explore personal fit during my time at university as I really don’t know where I’ll fit the best, though Quant Trading seems like something I would really enjoy. I should also mention I’m pretty agnostic right now as to which priority area to focus on and am more focused on exploring, building career capital, and a financial runway. Therefore, I’m not ruling out working on any other priority path that I could have a better fit for working on.

Backup options include any jobs that’ll give me career capital to transition to a career in my top options. Both these universities are equally highly regarded to employers in Sweden so I think there won’t be any issues with getting a good job here.

The main problem I’m having is deciding which university to go to, mainly because KTH is higher ranked internationally and a lot of my ideal career paths seem to be abroad, notably quant trading. Yet, it’s “easier” for me to study at Chalmers due to it being close to my hometown and I already have a small social network there and it’s easier to find good housing. Therefore, I really want to understand how important school ranking is for my top options, AI safety work or a career in quant trading. If international ranking is important, meaning that if a degree from KTH almost certainly opens doors that Chalmers doesn’t and offers other significant advantages, I’m definitely willing to go there. Regarding Ph.D. options at either university, I’m not sure if it matters where I do undergraduate and graduate studies.

To anyone who has experience in quant trading, does my choice of university matter a lot for most firms? I know they look for “top university” students and graduates but that seems rather vague to me.