Find your path

Did you arrive at college an wonder what the heck you were going to do with your life? Did you go to school for 4 years and continually meet people with majors that you'd never heard of? That always bothered me. I went to undergrad for 6 years...I'm no dummy. So I'm making a list of starter classes for people who may want a little bit of an idea of 'what's out there.' I took most of these classes a time or two. These classes are special though, they're the classes from which you can take something away directly- practical knowledge, preparation for, or an idea of a career path.

Almost EVERY one of these classes has an associated career path. If I were to advise incoming freshman or fresh RMs I would tell them to take as many of these classes as they could handle while taking their general studies classes so that they would have an idea of what to do after they finished them. I think I was kind of delusional to think that I was going to have a better idea of what I wanted to do with my life after taking American Heritage. Good class, very relevant to our lives, but to only a few careers.

I admit that these are all biased towards my interests which lie in the mathematics/business/engineering realm. But that's why it's my blog. I can write whatever (the) crap I want.


Accounting 200- Intro to Accounting
If you are considering EVER doing ANYTHING in business you should take accounting, "the language of business."

Business 371R- Entrepreneurship Lecture Series
Think you want to own your own company? Think again. Or just go listen to how these people 'made it.'

Business 320- Organizational Behavior
This is the basis of the whole Human Resources (a pretty sweet) profession. These are the people that do job interviews, plan company events, make sure that everyone is getting along in the company.

Economics 110- Intro to Econ
I love econ. Very analytical yet very practical. Ever want to know why the economy is always in the news? Another class that makes math interesting.

Engineering 595R - Patent Law/Intellectual Property seminar
I thought I wanted to be a patent lawyer. Good information.

Electrical/Mechanical Engineering 191- Seminar/Careers in engineering
I thought I wanted to be a mechanical engineer. This class made me want to be an electrical engineer

Sociology 112- Intro to Social Problems
This will give you a good idea of what types of issues researchers, governments and in general most women are worried about, and what problems they will make a career out of solving.

Physics 121 Intro to Physics
Newton, Einstein, velocity, motion, gravity, math, science. Modeling the universe. Amazing. Also a prereq for ANYTHING in engineering, and what makes math interesting.

Chemistry 105- Intro to Chemistry
If you want to do ANYTHING in the health profession you will at some point (probably early on) have to take this class. This class is what I imagine Medical school to be like.

Computer Science/Electrical Engineering 124-Computers
This class teaches you how a computer works all the way down from little electrical ones and zeros to writing code. Need to have a little programming background (CS 142)

Math 190- Mathematical Reasoning
Solid class. Will increase your 'mathematical maturity' which helps you as a logician, a scientist, LSAT taker, or whatever…and makes you a better human being

Statistics 221- Basic Statistics
If you plan to get a PhD in Sociology, Psychology, or work almost anywhere in business management, statistics will be your friend - or enemy. Better become acquainted now. Statistics is an awesome subject, and makes research meaningful (just a little dry done BYU style with the power points and online crap.)

Business 479 - Creating and managing new ventures
Hey, if you're serious about starting a venture you might as well get into the guts of it with smart rich professors.

Business 412 - Investments Academy
This will teach you about I-Banking. Think Michael Douglas in Wall Street

Computer Science 412 - Linear Programming and Optimization
Rigorous ways of doing supply chain, scheduling, and other optimization problems. Just think, how does Southwest find the cheapest way to get all of their planes everywhere they need to be and on time everyday.

Electrical Engineering 483 - Feedback Control
A must if you want to go into robotics. Start taking calculus and differential equations now to get ready for it.

Math 513R - Topics in Applied Math
Finance, Operations Research, Insurance, Modeling, tons of good stuff is taught under this class heading every semester. And its ALL math!

Food Science 191 - Intro to Food Science
Hey, free food almost every week (at least when I took it). A nice break from school.

Business 413 - Real Estate Finance and Investment
umm…it's real estate

Business 382 - Financial Services Lecture Series
People in financial services can make some decent money selling life insurance, financial planning for people, investing in mutual funds. Lots of common sense matched with sales.

Business 384 - E-Business Lecture Series
This is a 'wish I would've taken' class. The subject is fascinating to me.

Facilities Management 110 - Fundamentals of Facility and Property Management
This program has 100% job placement. Think of it, maintain business complexes, apartments, skyscrapers, college campuses…anything you want, and do repairs for your own real estate investments on the side. I want to do this career.

Plant and Wildlife Sciences 103 - Residential Landscape Design
You could major in landscape management. Who knew? I did. Because my friend is in this major.

Civil Engineering 100 - Civil and Environmental Engineering Seminar
There are more girls in Civil Engineering than probably all of the other engineering majors combined. Building design, concrete, soil, trusses, surveying, water treatment, roads, bridges, you name it. I think this field lends itself to having your own consulting practice after 10 years moreso than any of the other engineering fields.

Arabic 101 - Introduction to Arabic
I often went to the CIA, NSA, and FBI booths at the career fairs. Inevitably they would ALL ask me. "Do you speak Arabic?" These people need Arabic speakers in a major way.

Chinese 101 - Introduction to Chinese
Business is done in English now yes, but who doesn't want to tap into a market of over 1.3 billion people, 20% of the world's population.

Student Development 117 - Career Exploration
Student Development 139 - Introduction to Health professions
Student Development 198R- Prelaw Seminar
Student Development 229 - Preview of Dentistry
Student Development 239 - Preview of Medicine
Student Development 439 - Medical and Dental School Application
Student Development 329 - Dental School Preparation Laboratory Experience

And finally the list of classes I will take someday just because I want to:
Marriage Prep
Personal Finance
Writings of Isaiah
Graduate Econometrics
Robust Control
Matrix Analysis

The Brevity of Youth

The glory days are over, and it's a bit sad. So I decided I must pay tribute to days past by doing my new favorite thing- compiling a list.

Upon first read, although it may not seem like it, all of these are things I'm going to miss...yes, even the annoying ones. These are the things that have brought a smile to my face over the past, short 21 semesters. So farewell friends, and farewell P-town. (You are welcome to listen to Elton John as you read this list.)

Things I'm going to miss:

Bronco
Trying to figure out what to do with my life
'Ace' kicking Math classes
The word 'Ace'
The changing seasons: summer to fall and winter to spring.
Interviewing for internships every year in the Wilk
Lazy Fridays
How Coach Robert Anae looks like what I imagine Helaman did
BYU Economics
J-dawgs
#6 Library in the nation
Dr. Lu
Ward prayer
People hating on ward prayer
Cecil's goofy accent
"I'm so old, I've been home for 2 years now."
Liar's Dice
Sunday night firesides
The north-of-campus crowd
TA-ing
False doctrine
Being street contacted by guys wanting me to sell alarms next summer
Feeling a little dirty after leaving the Tanner building
People who remember the 80s
Seeing mission comps greet each other for the first time since the mission
Volunteering at the TRC
1984 (Not Orwell, LaVell)
The stigmas attached to apartment complexes
Oddly many chances to speak an obscure language
19 year old BYU girls talking about getting their mission papers from their bishop next month
"It's Pittsburgh not Philadelphia"
The restaurant formerly known as Beto's
Letters to the editor
The 6 hour line at scoreboard grill
The non-existent line at Teriyaki Stix
SoulForce preparations
Church fashion shows
Arrested Development-speak
Come on!
Final Countdown
After-hours access to the Talmage.
How all the cute girls reappear during reading days
Talking with people about life plans
Fruitless ward-hopping
Lazy Saturdays
Trying to convince people not to major in Engineering
BYU going PAC-10 rumors
Loving...AND hating the investment banking club
The Conference translation team
Park City
Eating lunch under the church office building
People who know everyone
The Campus Plaza pool
BYU Physics
Ward spotlights
'Freeing' up my schedule (a.k.a not going to Devotional) then wasting two hours
The Clyde Building's sole window on the ground floor.
Trumping Zoobies in the "Where did you go on your mission?" game
Lazy Mondays
Professor Stokes
Hating on Papa John's
Boating at Deer Creek
Residual American Heritage anger
The first Divine Comedy show I attended (none of the subsequent ones)
Everyone knowing who Raj is
"What language do they speak there?"
Medivial club sword fights
Sub of the day
A campus run by bitter middle-aged women
Feeling awkward at ward talent shows
Californians hating on Utah
Promising myself I'll go to the next Basketball game
Ending a relationship and feeling like you've dodged a bullet
Free food in Brigham Square
People playing frisbee the first day the sun shines
Making stupid dating theories
Parties for 'The Office'
Judging people
Justifying judging people
That Big guy that does Comedy Sports
New juice and ice cream places
The short lived four square club
Overly creative group dates
Professor Lang
Lazy Tuesdays
Two dates being serious for a BYU girl
Having 30 best friends freshman year...not remembering their names in two years
Being roped into volleyball games
Beating Utah
Lazy Wednesdays
Cougartails
Being introduced to new music, new shows
Kneaders all I can eat (i.e. 3 pieces) of french toast
Being chewed out by BYU Parking Enforcement
Paying someone's full salary in parking tickets
My research advisor/rabbi
Crappy Physics lab equipment
Fudging the numbers
Jones-fest
Asian TAs
The BYU Singers
The Math Lab
Campus construction
Wanting to inflict actual and lasting physical harm on the booter guy
Day dreaming of someday actually having the guts to do something about it
Breakfast sandwiches in the Cougareat
Calling it the 'cou-gare-ee-at'
Wanting to go camping just because the sun is shining today
Provo Canyon
James Tang stories
The 'gunners' in religion class
University Avenue at 2 AM on the 4th of July
BYU football becoming popular again
...and of course my friends!

A little too much Lost

I think I watched a little too much 'Lost' last night. I finished season 3 and I went to sleep at about 4 am only to awake after a gunshot to the back of my head from Ben, the leader of 'the others,' ended my visit to his Pittsburgh home.

You know those conversations in the show where Ben talks to Jack and you know he's just playing mind games with him? We were having one of those conversations, in his house and I was trying hard not to give anything away. You know, holding my cards close to the vest. At one point I even contemplated shooting him. Eventually I took the glasses, from a table, that I had come to pick up. (And I have no idea why these glasses were so important)

So, I said goodbye to Ben Linus, and right after I turned my back and was about to reach for the front door, BANG I felt my head jerk forward as a bullet hit me in the head. I fell to the ground and looked up at him and he taunted me with something like, "Nice try."

DANG IT! Why didn't I shoot him when I had the chance!? Stupid Ben Linus.

Top Financial Engineering Programs

Getting a degree in Quantitative Finance can be a great career
move. It can be very expensive as well. So I just want to call it from where I sit. I'm sure my opinions will change over time. Feel free to add comments.

I really like reading lists of things and so I'm going to publish a list of something that I actually have an opinion about: financial engineering master's degree programs.

Are you stoked?

1. New York University (NY, NY)

Masters of Science in Mathematics of Finance
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences

In the heart of Wall St. and housed in a really good math program.

2. Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA)

Masters of Science in Computational Finance
Tepper School of Business

These guys do it right, interdisciplinary, career services available, internship after 2nd semester, and probably the biggest alumni network (for their program, not school).

3. Cornell University (Ithaca/NYC, NY)

Masters of Science in Engineering (Option in Financial Engineering)
School of Operations Research and Information Engineering

Third semester is in Manhattan at their Broad St. campus, which is a big plus for networking.

4. University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)

Masters in Financial Engineering
Haas School of Business

Probably the best public university in the world, and a top ten business program. On top of that you have the option of looking for work on the east and west coast. The program is short, so it seems like it is most beneficial to those with some industry experience.

5. Columbia University (NY,NY)

Masters of Arts in Mathematics (Specialization in Mathematics of Finance)
Departments of Mathematics and Statistics

6. Stanford University (Stanford, CA)

Masters of Science in Financial Mathematics
Departments of Mathematics and Statistics

7. Columbia University (NY,NY)

Masters of Financial Engineering
Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research



This list pretty closely resembles how I would respond to each of the schools if I were admitted to all of them. Fortunately I only applied to 3 of them and was admitted to one so my decision wasn't too difficult. It represents my overall view of the quality of the program, including job placement.

The first three programs (NYU, CMU, CU) top the list because they have summer internships built into the system, which is a must for me, coming without prior financial industry experience. CMU and Berkeley rank highly because they are both housed in B-schools and offer a lot of career assistance. CMU is the oldest of the programs, I'm guessing NYU, Stanford, and Columbia MAFN are the most mathematically intense, and that NYU, CMU, and Columbia have the best reputations on The Street. Although, I have heard negative things about Columbia's MFE program from multiple sources.



This seems like a pretty good resource with some basic info on different programs.
Quantnet 2009 Rankings
Top 10 Quant Schools
Global Derivatives rankings

MIT: the new Harvard

I've been to a few movies this summer and I took notice that most 'genius' movie characters are MIT grads. So I did some investigating and compiled this list. It is laboriously entitled: 'Important fictional characters and the institutions which they attended.' But first, here are some of my general observations about how a school's brand is used to portray a fictional character.

Harvard grads are the crème de la crème of either doctors or lawyers.

MIT grads are geniuses in the sciences, or have large amounts of wasted potential.

Princeton grads have rich parents, or ties to politics.

Columbia grads are smart people, but mostly just cool New Yorkers.

Yale grads are rich AND snooty.

Harvard

Thurston Howell, III (Jim Backus, Gilligan's Island)
Major Charles Emerson Winchester III (David Ogden Stiers, MASH) - Medical
Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise, The Firm) - Law
Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon, Legally Blonde) - Law
Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess, 21) - Medical
Skylar (Minnie Driver, Good Will Hunting)

MIT

David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum, Independence Day)
Will Hunting (Matt Damon, Good Will Hunting)
Dr. Ronald Quincy (Jason Isaacs, Armageddon)
Rockhound (Steve Buscemi, Armageddon)
James Clayton (Colin Farrell, The Recruit)
Dr. Tobias Fünke (David Cross, Arrested Development)
Benjamin Gates (Nicolas Cage, National Treasure)
Dr. Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd, Fantastic Four)
Charlie Eppes (David Krumholz, Numb3rs)
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man)
Mickey Rosa (Kevin Spacey, 21)
Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess, 21)


Princeton

Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin, 24)
Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin,30 Rock)
Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale, Batman Begins)
Doogie Howser (Neil Patrick Harris, Doogie Howser M.D.)
Sondra Huxtable and Elvin Tiideaux (Sabrina LeBeauf, Geoffry Owens, The Cosby Show)
Uncle Phil (James Avery, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)
Mary Jensen (Cameron Diaz, There’s Something About Mary)
Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe,The West Wing)
Charlie Eppes, Larry Fleinhardt (David Krumholz, Peter MacNicol ,Numb3rs)
Joel Goodson (Risky Business, Tom Cruise) gets accepted to Princeton
Charles (Scot Baio, Charles in Charge) gets accepted as a Princeton grad student

In Family Ties Mallory's (Justine Bateman) French language tutor and ex-boyfriend Jeff went to Princeton after graduating Harding High. Mallory broke up with him when she saw him kissing another woman while visiting him on campus. She got so upset and inadvertently ruined Alex's (Michael J. Fox) interview.

Columbia

Alex Hitchinson (Will Smith, Hitch)
Eric Richman (Mike Vogel, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants)
Meadow Mariangela Soprano (Jamie-Lynn Sigler, The Sopranos)
Stanley Goodspeed (Nicholas Cage, The Rock)
Will Truman, Grace Adler (Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Will & Grace)
Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley, Saved by the Bell)
Carol Seaver (Tracy Gold, Growing Pains)
Dr. Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox, Lost) (Fox is also a Columbia alumnus)

William Forrester (Sean Connery) bears a likeness to J.D. Salinger, a Columbia alumnus.

Yale

Rory Gilmore, Richard Gilmore (Alexis Bledel, Edward Herrmann, Gilmore Girls)
Niles Crane (David Hyde Pierce, Frasier)
Sideshow Bob, Montgomery Burns (The Simpsons)

Bad Job Interview

A guy named Michael Lewis was fresh out of a Master's program at the London School of Economics and landed a job at Salomon Brothers in the early eighties. He wrote a book about his experiences called "Liar's Poker." Part of the training program at Salomon entailed listening to lectures from different traders.

'When [O'Grady] entered the classroom, the first thing he did was to have the video that usually recorded events shut off. Then he closed the door. Then he checked for eavesdroppers on the ledges outside the twenty-third-floor windows. Only then did he sit down.

He began by telling us how he had come to Salomon. He had been one of the firm's lawyers. The firm's lawyers, when they saw how good traders had it, often ended up as traders themselves. The firm had actually invited O'Grady to apply. He interviewed on a Friday afternoon. His first meeting was with a managing director named Lee Kimmell. When O'Grady walked into Kimmell's office, Kimmell was reading his resume. He looked up from the resume and said, "Amherst Phi Beta Kappa, star athlete, Harvard Law School, you must get laid a lot." O'Grady laughed (what else do you do?).

"What's so funny?" asked Kimmell.
"The thought that I get laid a lot," said O'Grady.
"That's not funny," said Kimmell, a viciousness coming into his voice. "How much do you get laid?"
"That's none of your business," said O'Grady.

Kimmell slammed his fist on his desk. "Don't give me that crap. If I want to know, you tell me. Understand?"
Somehow O'Grady squirmed through his interview and others, until, at the end of the day, he found himself facing the same man who had given me my job, Leo Corbett.

"So, Dick," said Corbett, "What would you say if I offered you a job?"
"Well," said O'Grady, "I'd like to work at Salomon, but I'd also like to go home and think it over for a day or two."
"You sound more like a lawyer than a trader," said Corbett.
"Leo, I'm not making a trade; I'm making an investment," said O'Grady.
"I don't want to hear any of that Harvard Law School clever bullsh--," said Corbett. "I'm beginning to think you would be a real mistake. . . . I'm going to walk out of here and come back in ten minutes, and when I come back, I want an answer."

O'Grady's first reaction, he said, was that he had just made a catastrophic error in judgment. Then he thought about it like a human being (what was so refreshing about O'Grady was that unlike the other men from 41, he seemed genuinely human). Salomon had invited him to interview. Where did these butt-heads get off issuing ultimatums? O'Grady worked himself into an Irish rage. Corbett was gone far longer than he promised, making O'Grady even angrier.

"Well. . ." said Corbett, upon his return.
"Well, I wouldn't work here for all the money in the world," said O'Grady. "I've never met more a------s in my entire life. Take your job and stick it up your a--."
"Now I am finally beginning to hear something I like," said Corbett. "That's the first smart thing you've said all day."
O'Grady stormed out of Salomon Brothers and took a job with another Wall Street firm.'


That was only the beginning of the story though. About a year later after O'Grady had become an excellent bond salesman Salomon called him again, apologized for the way it had treated him and amazingly he agreed to listen and was hired.

Southwest...?

So this is my question. Do you like flying on Southwest? Wait, think about it. Don't let me bias you at all but whenever I fly southwest I feel like I'm flying on a big yellow school bus with wings. Plus, the past few times that I've flown on Southwest I have failed to print out my boarding pass the night before, so I feel like an idiot when everyone else, eagerly holding their 'Group A' pass (like some kind of gold star) gets up and takes all of the good seats. I had to sit between....BETWEEN a husband and wife my last flight because neither would take the middle seat. So, does Southwest just suck? I'm guessing no, because in 2007 they carried the most passengers of any airline (101 million).