phd in quantitative finance/mathematical finance

[lordcretin]

Hi,

I am from India and i have B.Stat and M.Stat degrees from the Indian Statistical Institute. I am looking for a doctoral program in mathematical finance in the US that has a strong focus on quants. I have been working as an actuary in the Indian life insurance industry and have handled risk management prejects like QIS5, economic capital etc. I also have cleared 10 actuarial papers (the Indian/UK system requires 15 papers leading to fellowship) and thus have some exposure to finance.

phew.. that was a little long.. and that's because i'm totally at sea and have some very basic queries?

1. which are the top quantitative finance doctoral programs?

i'm looking for one that really focusses on quants..

2. what about scholarships? a lot of students from my institute go for stat/prob grad courses.. does the scholarship system work in broadly similar fashion?

3. i appeared for GRE in August 2008.. is it still valid or do i need to take it again?

thanks in advance!!

[fadeindreams]

I'll answer the only question I am qualified to answer. GRE tests are good for five years. TOEFL tests, however, are only good for two years.

[lordcretin]

I'll answer the only question I am qualified to answer. GRE tests are good for five years. TOEFL tests, however, are only good for two years.

thanks for that .. it means a lot less work for me.. can someone help regarding my other queries?

[hubris]

Well, there are no pure finanical mathematics programs. So, you will be looking at sub-departments etc.

So, there is CMU/FSU/NYU etc.

However, Quant Fin is basically dead now (cookie cutter).

[lhfields]

Just my quick two-cent:

- I could be wrong, but "quantitative finance" sounds like a tautology to me. As far as "finance" PhD students are concerned, the backgrounds of the students range from particle physics PhD to a bare minimum master's students with math or stats degree. So, to make your life easier, I think it is safe to say applying for "finance" phd programs provides you sufficient quantitative rigor!

LHF