Advice for an unusual profile trying to break into quant
Hi everyone! I am interested in full time QT roles for 2027. I’m a 2026 grad coming from a non-target school. My profile is quite different from most students, so I wanted to ask how I could best position my resume for the upcoming cycle.
To give some context, I studied finance at a top 10 business school in the states. My GPA isn’t bad but nothing amazing. I did a year of exchange at a target university for quant in Hong Kong, where I got an opportunity to learn more about the field and do research focusing on applying AI tools to find advantages in M&A Arbitrage.
My math background is quite strong but it is all pre university. I have taken extensive math coursework, up to Calculus 4 in my junior year of high school and was a 3x AIME qualifier and 1x USAJMO qualifier. I also have Probability, Statistics, Linear Algebra, and a couple other classes that have helped me prepare for any potential interview.
I unfortunately was extremely burnt out with math following my junior year of high school and found interest in the consulting space, which is where a majority of my internship experience resides. I rediscovered my interest in math last summer and have really started enjoying it again, which combined with my finance degree left me interested in quant.
I know my profile is a little unprecedented. The recruiters I’ve spoken to have advised me to stack up on a couple projects, but I wanted to ask people in the industry what their advice would be. I'm confident I have what it takes to get through the interview process and do well in the industry, but my worry is my resume will not be strong enough to get me to the interview process in the first place.
I promise this is not a shitpost LOL. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!