Hi /biz/, I'm a first time poster here. I'm looking for advice, hope someone will be willing to help me since I've no idea where to start
I'm looking to change direction in life
I'm in the middle of a two-year master's programme at Oxford in a useless humanities subject, and I hate it
My original plan was to go into academia. But I'm no longer interested in my subject since I don't believe any of it, and I'd never make much money
I don't want to sacrifice my life to a comfortable career making a mediocre amount of money, if I could try and do something great
Ideally, I would either get into some kind of high-paying career in the City/Canary Wharf, or acquire some highly sought-after knowledge (in computer science or something? I don't know) that would put me in demand and give me power, so another degree would not necessarily be out of the question, if it's truly useful
At the moment, I know little about finance/economics. I have good mathematical skills though, my undergrad degree was joint with maths
Am I delusional in thinking that the fact I'm at Oxford helps despite not doing a useful degree?
What advice would you give to me? I don't know how to begin exploring my options
>>1366871
Amerifag here. I admit I have no idea how it works at Oxford, but have you considered emailing the math, stats, finance, or comp sci departments? I did my masters in Mathematics in Canada while on a grant to do economic policy research, so I don't think it's impossible to multitask and work towards a second/different degree. It can't hurt to ask, and I would start there.
That said, graduate level mathematics can be brutal. You say you did well as an undergrad, but are you emotionally prepared for the toll thing like a mathematics colloquia takes on your ego?
The math degree had served me quite well, but it isn't for everyone. I'm sure the Oxford name is impressive, but not if you do a degree in something like underwater feminist dance therapy. Reach out to the department's you're interested in, talk to your current supervisor about your concerns, do some soul searching, and go from there.
>>1366901
How much would you say your maths degree expanded your career options? What kind of maths exactly did you study, and what field of work is that necessary for?
>>1367034
My thesis was in reputation effects in Bayesian games (game theory - John Nash is my hero), but I also did coursework in statistical modeling, stochastic systems, and probability. I used what I learned to develop a program to more accurately evaluate corporate goodwill.
Got offers from TD Bank, Citi, Deutsche, Booz Allen, and a few smaller firms, all at double my B.Sci. salary. I work in business intelligence and forecasting because fuck being a quant and working 100 hour weeks.
I would say the degree was absolutely worth it. I literally have more money than I know what to do with, and i never work more than 50 hours a week.
