Does name of school or degree matter in trading??

[russianking]

Trading is my dream. I've been learning to trade for 6 or so years now... ... I've traded stocks and forex only. I'm good at what i do and i have a lot of passion. However, i'm not the best student. I'm transferring to a decent university like DePaul(top choice), PITT, or something like this for finance. I'm not good at math; actually, i hate it. I am good at probabilites and trading. My rish management and strategy took time to develope, but i have things down pretty good. Not to sound ignorant or anything, but yes i've lost money and blew up a couple micro accounts in the past. I was just too greedy. Anyway, after careful consideration i developed my new proven strategy that isn't really risky, but it works over the long run. I'm not sure what career i want to pursue. I mean yes i could just trade from home, but i rather work at a prop shop or bank. Perhaps, even something liek financial advisor and start my own firm... Does school name matter? Worst case senario is me going to the University of Pittsburgh where there is not much going on trading wise, however, my grades are good so i should be good to go.

 

[Rhody Trader]

If you're not good at math (and hate it) you're going to struggle in any Finance program seeing as they tend to be quite math-heavy (at least the good ones are). If you just want to trade, though, then where you go to school and what you study won't have much impact. Just trade. If your goal is a prop shop, the rest isn't likely to matter. If you want to land a bank job, though, it's a totally different story - and a totally different type of trading. The competition for bank jobs is fierce.

 

[amit1986]

What John has said is true, with the possible exception of prop shops. Some of the top prop shops in the world require strong academic performance if you want to qualify for their training programs. Others don't care much but want to see evidence of entrepreneurship.

The amount of math in a finance/econ degree depends on what courses you take...there is tonnes of math, but the level of math varies. You can take courses in policy and basic finance courses to avoid the hardcore math, but the more theoretical econ/finance courses are quite heavy in math. In fact, at certain times, you'll feel you're taking a math course.

You won't learn much about trading in university...their job isn't to teach you how to make money; their job is to teach you to think.

Find a subject you like and enjoy, do very well in it academically, join a few extra curricular activities on campus, keep trading part-time. If you can do well in all of these, there is no doubt you should be competitive for top firms like Goldman, JP Morgan, and even top prop shops like Schonfeld Trading.