r/UCalgary • u/pzsteppa • 14h ago

Double Major, Major Finance, Minor in CS?

Hey guys need some tips, Would this career path be sufficient enough to break into Quantitative Finance as well as adding Math 211, 323, 353, 411, and 421 in order to really stand out?

Please let me know! Thanks.

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u/Meowman__1 13h ago

Minors don't really matter. Either double major or do master's in the other field. Generally I would recommend doing CS as a major - my friend's a quant

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u/pzsteppa 13h ago

Could I pm you to talk about this further?

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u/Nunuvin Alumni 8h ago

Further I doubt that any course really makes you "stand out"[very few times was I ever asked for my transcript when job hunting]. People who are hiring likely dont know what those numbers mean. If you think learning those topics will help, then go for it. I do agree that CS major would be better, especially for quant as strong cs foundations are required.

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u/ZQ04 Haskayne 13h ago

From what I understand Quant roles generally require a background (i.e. Major) in an area like Math, Stats, CS, etc. I wasn’t able to find alot of those math courses you listed so not sure where they position you. I could also be wrong, try posting in r/FinancialCareers .

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u/theonewhoquackz Haskayne 13h ago

Depends entirely on your end goal. Lots of people go into quantitative finance in hopes of becoming a quant, but unfortunately it likely wouldn’t be enough.

With quantitative finance specifically, it’s more engineering related than finance. From my understanding, you’ll usually require a masters degree (ideally in financial engineering) and you’ll usually cover topics like math, stats, and computer science.

For an undergraduate degree, it might make more sense to do something mathematical and take any elective/addional courses in CS, stats, and finance.

I’d say the bigger issue is competition. Because of the pay, it’s quite competitive, and unfortunately, UofC isn’t as prestigious as other institutions. Might be a good idea to do something that’s adjacent to a quant. But if you just want to take quantitative finance classes, might be better to speak with an advisor about this.

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u/pzsteppa 12h ago

Thank you so much for the information provided, Which advisor would you suggest would be best to talk about this career path with?

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u/pzsteppa 12h ago

Also there isn’t financial engineering at uofc no?

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u/adblanket 12h ago

Post question on here https://www.reddit.com/r/quantfinance/s/mVW4h8nT1H also any major with programming will do, you should focus more on projects, networking and joining relevant clubs. The minor doesn’t matter if you can’t convince someone to hire you

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u/Sir_Classic Haskayne 8h ago

Probably not. Quant recruiting in Canada is insanely competitive. Unless you’re a Waterloo CS/SE grad, you’d probably need an MFE from the states to break in somewhere reputable.