M.S.Q.F. Success Stories

Sean Burke

M.S.Q.F. '17

Where are you working now?
I am a junior trader at Capstone Investment Advisors LLC.

Why did you choose the Gabelli School M.S.Q.F. program?
Fordham provided a well-rounded quantitative finance curriculum with the ability to take specialization classes in the topics I wanted to study more in-depth.

What was the most meaningful learning experience at the Gabelli School?
Solidifying the basics of correlation, covariance, and multicollinearity. These are still used in the world today as tests which need to be passed in order to move a trading strategy onto the next phase.

What was the best part of your experience at the Gabelli School?
Exploring the various aspects of finance, from options to machine learning. The industry runs a wide gamut of topics and they are largely covered within M.S.Q.F.

Bosco Lee

M.S.Q.F. '11

Where are you working now?
I’m a vice president in the institutional equity division at Morgan Stanley.

Why did you choose the Gabelli School M.S.Q.F. program?
Located in the heart of New York, the center of global business, the Gabelli School offers students easy access to world-class corporations to gain work experience.

What’s the biggest advantage you gained from the Gabelli School M.S.Q.F. program?
The program focuses not only on the technical side of modeling theories, but also on the business knowledge one needs to succeed in the finance industry. The skills and networking power gained by the Fordham M.S.Q.F. degree equips students for the next act in their professional lives.

Cynthia Liu

M.S.Q.F. '12

Where are you working now?
I’m a quantitative analyst at AIG’s asset management group.

Describe your experience in the Gabelli School M.S.Q.F. program.
I joined the program after earning a bachelor’s degree in computer science in China. It was really challenging keeping up with the intensive class schedule, especially when all my classes were being taught in my second language. I definitely suffered from those pains; however, with great struggle came great reward. Little by little, the challenges reaped an extremely rich and copious harvest.

What other skills did you learn at the Gabelli School?
The intensive schedule taught me good time-management skills. The various team projects helped me become a better team player. The well-rounded program design that included math, programming, and finance widened my career choices, and my brilliant and diligent classmates inspired and continue to inspire me in all aspects.

David Wachsstock

M.S.Q.F. '10

Where are you working now?
I’m a vice president of global portfolio strategies at Bank of America.

What did you enjoy most about the program?
What we learned was always applied to practical situations.

What’s the biggest advantage you gained from the Gabelli School M.S.Q.F. program?
In almost every class, we had to create a deliverable that would be presented to the professor at the end of the semester. It mimics the way work is done in the real world, where you have to present your ideas and defend them.