Wenqi Zhou (‘16)

Degree: M.S. in Financial Engineering
Native Country: China

Why NYU Tandon?
I began my undergraduate studies in Shanghai as a chemical engineering student but found it wasn’t the right fit. I am more of an extroverted person and always enjoyed dynamic environments, so staying in a lab for hours every day was definitely not my passion. So I planned to make a switch and chose finance in my second year.

My father is a businessman, and when I was growing up, he often told me stories about Wall Street, so I decided that if I was going to be in the field, why not try to work in one of the most iconic places. Besides, I always want to explore new corners of the world, and I was curious about the differences between Shanghai and New York City.

Was it hard adjusting once you arrived?
Not really. Before coming, I used to hang out with my foreign friends very often — some of them are even New Yorkers. They shared their NYC stories with me, and more importantly, influenced me by their way of thinking. So very soon after I arrived, I adapted and started to establish local relationships. It was a lot of fun learning about my fellow students and my new city.

What has your career been like?
I did my summer internship at Citigroup as a Quantitative Trading Analyst, thanks to NYU OCR (On-Campus-Recruiting) services. At the end of the 10-week program, they offered me a full-time job. So I decided to accelerate my master’s program and finished up a half year earlier. I’m now very happy with the company and my job; my main work is to utilize computer technologies to develop sophisticated and theoretical mathematical models for securities valuation, structuring portfolios, and formulating trading strategies.

How did your Tandon education prepare you for success?
The Tandon Finance and Risk Engineering program really leveraged my skill sets, particularly my quantitative analysis and coding ability. In addition to the actual classes, some of my best experiences included participating in the University Trading Competition, a global event at which my team won in the category of portfolio management, and being the President of NYU Finance Club, advised by our department chair, Peter Carr, who brought in high-profile industry speakers and organized a lot of enriching events.

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