Master of Quantitative Finance (MQF)

A graduate of Waterloo’s undergraduate mathematical finance program, Tianyi was a natural fit for the Master of Quantitative Finance program. He knew many of his professors, and appreciated the computing facilities and the support of his department.

Tianyi found that more was expected of him as a graduate student. “As an undergrad, you take courses. You are just expected to know the stuff. But as a graduate student, it’s quite different. You need to know the ins and outs of things, and they test you quite rigorously in exams, and you’re expected to do research. It’s much more difficult, but much more rewarding, I would say.”

Numeric Computation for Financial Modelling was Tianyi’s favourite MQF course because it was useful preparation for his work in the industry. “It took the theory and grouped it with programming and all sorts of complexity analysis and asks you to get your hands dirty and do all these things.”

Tianyi appreciated the industry knowledge gained during his internship. He now has a better understanding of what’s popular in the field and the work people are actually doing. He also saw first-hand just how small the finance world is, and learned the importance of making personal connections to open doors.

The internship experience even helped Tianyi with his course work during the final term of his MQF program. “It’s really nice exposure to do an internship while you’re still at school, and come back and reflect on it.”

The MQF students are interviewing for full-time jobs as they wrap up their studies. Some have accepted offers to stay with their internship group, while others are exploring different opportunities in quantitative finance. Tianyi believes they’re ready. “MQF gave me excellent preparation; knowledge-wise and skill-wise.”