Student Life

The Quant Student Experience

With annual cohorts of approximately 30-40 students, the Quantitative Finance and Risk Management program provides a close-knit, deeply collaborative, and intellectually stimulating environment for students to master mathematical and statistical concepts and develop skills to build their careers. These relationships and experiences you’ll have in the Quant program enliven the graduate student experience and provide the foundation for the professional networks essential to long-lasting career success. We achieve this through the following activities:

  • Orientation – New students arrive in August before the start of classes for a three-day orientation. During this orientation, we introduce students to life as graduate students at the University of Michigan and cover essential skills so that students are well-prepared to start taking classes and applying for internships from August/ September. We also coordinate recreational activities to help students become acclimated to the area, our faculty, and each other.  
  • Classroom experiences – Our carefully structured curriculum means that our students take most of their coursework alongside fellow Quant students, giving them a built-in support system and team mindset. Of the master’s program’s 8 required core courses, 4 are restricted exclusively to Quant students.
  • Seminars – The program invites experienced quantitative analysts and financial engineers to speak with our students about their careers several times each semester for our Practitioners Seminars. Quant master’s students are also encouraged to attend these Seminars, which feature academic research talks from experts in the field.
  • Competitions – Our students are increasingly active in national mathematical modeling, investment, and trading competitions, including the IAQF Academic Competition, the Cornell Investment Portfolio Case Competition, and the Bloomberg Trading Challenge. 
  • Michigan Quant Lab – Our students convene weekly for a student-led workshop focusing on financial markets, programming skills, and technical interviews.

“The Quant program curriculum provides us with a deep understanding of probability theory, which is essential in pricing many kinds of financial contracts. Programming, up-to-date machine learning, optimization theory and algorithms, and other practical classes are also covered. All of these classes are quite helpful to solve the actual problems I have experienced in the finance industry. Meanwhile, the University of Michigan and surrounding city of Ann Arbor are highly supportive for all students. All the places in this city are beautiful and peaceful. The resources for international students and their families are excellent.”

– Masaya Tsukamoto, M.S. ’19, Analyst at Dai-Ichi Life Insurance

Life at the University of Michigan

Beyond our program, Quant students also benefit from the resources, experiences, and reputation of a world-class institution like the University of Michigan. Consistently ranked among the finest research universities in the world, drawing students from all 50 states and 124 countries, and boasting one of the largest alumni networks in the world, the University of Michigan is an excellent platform for Quant students to make professional connections that span the globe. Students experience all of this while living in the safe, friendly city of Ann Arbor – just a 4-hour drive or train ride to the financial hub of Chicago or 1.5-hour flight to New York City.

We encourage prospective students unfamiliar with the University of Michigan or the city of Ann Arbor to explore the university’s resources and to consider contacting us about scheduling a visit.