Smurfit Business School Msc in quant finance application

jcb1986

If anyone here has completed the application for MSC in quant finance in Smurfit, could they briefly describe how they went about answering this essay question. I am from a civil engineering background so I am having difficulty in answering it. Cheers, feedback will be much appreciated

What opportunities do you think exist for future developments of

computational methods in finance? (maximum 300 words)
Warning: Make sure your response to this question includes only publicly available information about any proprietary methodology or algorithms related to asset pricing, trading strategies, or computational techniques. Describe your experience, if any, using computational methods (e.g. Monte Carlo simulations or finite differences), either in academic courses or in your professional career. Emphasise applications that you have developed or helped develop, but also describe any significant experience with software provided by others. Financial applications of numerical methods (e.g.derivative pricing or portfolio optimisation) are of particular interest, but applications in other fields are also relevant

MarvinMartian

hey jcb,

I finished the MSc a year or 2 ago and came from a similar background as yourself.

Don't worry to much about the finance questions on the application form, you have to remember that they will take into account the fact that your from a non-finance background. I didn't have a clue how to answer these types of questions either. Obviously your experience of the methods mentioned will be limited, so they're not expecting anything major, in fact even students with a background in finance will really struggle with these questions.

As for your answer, if you did any structures modules you probable used some finite difference methods or more than likely you came across it in one of your maths modules. You could talk about that, most of the ideas are the same, tradeoffs between accuracy and speed etc. If not then maybe pick a broad topic such as high frequency trading, and finding out a little about it. But I really wouldn't be overly worried.

If you're still unsure maybe contact someone in Smurfit. The head of the course, Conall O'Sullivan, is bang on and very approachable.

Best of luck with it!

carr_e

Hi,
I have a place on this course for next year, I was wondering MM you could give us an idea about the course from your perspective, just what to expect and what you found most surprising or interesting/difficult about the course. Would really appreciate it..

Thanks

stephen369

hey just wondering have either of ye accepted a place on yer courses??

carr_e

Ya I have accepted a place..

stephen369

just wondering do you have accommodation sorted???