u/Select-Angle-5032

Hey all,

Drop your resume's below in the following format:

Location: USA/UK/EU/etc

Graduation Date: June 2029

Degree + School tier: e.g. BS Math, target/semi-target/non-target (people can keep the school anonymous if they want)

Preferred Role: QT/QR/QD/QA

Targeting: internship or full-time, and which cycle (Summer 2027 etc)

Relevant coursework/skills: e.g. probability, stochastic calc, C++, Python

Experience/projects: 1-2 lines

What you want feedback on: e.g. "is my project section strong enough," "am I cooked for QR without a PhD"

Notes: anything else

Resume PDF/JPEG

Important: Please redact all personal info!

Hey all,

Drop your resume's below in the following format:

Location: USA/UK/EU/etc

Graduation Date: June 2029

Degree + School tier: e.g. BS Math, target/semi-target/non-target (people can keep the school anonymous if they want)

Preferred Role: QT/QR/QD/QA

Targeting: internship or full-time, and which cycle (Summer 2027 etc)

Relevant coursework/skills: e.g. probability, stochastic calc, C++, Python

Experience/projects: 1-2 lines

What you want feedback on: e.g. "is my project section strong enough," "am I cooked for QR without a PhD"

Notes: anything else

Resume PDF/JPEG

Important: Please redact all personal info!

Hey all,

Drop your resume's below in the following format:

Location: USA/UK/EU/etc

Graduation Date: June 2029

Degree + School tier: e.g. BS Math, target/semi-target/non-target (people can keep the school anonymous if they want)

Preferred Role: QT/QR/QD/QA

Targeting: internship or full-time, and which cycle (Summer 2027 etc)

Relevant coursework/skills: e.g. probability, stochastic calc, C++, Python

Experience/projects: 1-2 lines

What you want feedback on: e.g. "is my project section strong enough," "am I cooked for QR without a PhD"

Notes: anything else

Resume PDF/JPEG

Important: Please redact all personal info!

Hey all,

Summer's here and I figured it would be a good time to swap notes. Whether you're an undergrad just starting to get into this stuff, a master's student grinding before (coming into) recruiting season, what are you actually building right now?

I'll go first with what I'm seeing people do, roughly grouped by how deep you are, and then I want to hear yours.

The common ones are a:

• backtesting engine from scratch (everyone says build one and they're right, you learn an absurd amount about look-ahead bias, transaction costs, and why your beautiful strategy dies the second you add slippage)
• basic signal research on free data (momentum, mean reversion, pairs trading on equities or crypto)
• a toy market-making simulator (build a limit order book, then learn how fast adverse selection eats you alive)

For people deeper in or prepping for recruiting:

• options pricing and vol surface modeling
• implementing a paper you actually understand and can defend (Avellaneda-Stoikov, some stat arb paper, etc)
• order book imbalance / microstructure signals on real tick data
• an ML project that isn't just threw XGBoost at returns and got noise (think feature stability, regime changes, why your Sharpe is lying to you)
• C++ stuff if you're going the dev route (low-latency order book, lock-free queue, doubles as interview prep - i know Myntbit and LC has a few questions that you can check out for free)

If you have other projects that are great to learn quant with drop them below and LMK what you're building! I am trying to create a community for students/professionals to share some cool projects and help each other out where possible. If you have something cool share the Github link below and ask for help :)

This doesn't get talked about enough and frankly people overlook it. Everyone obsesses over which firm to target but the city you end up in shapes your career, your lifestyle, and honestly your take-home pay more than most people realize. I've talked to people working in all four cities and here's my honest breakdown.

New York

The biggest pond. Jane Street, HRT, Two Sigma, DE Shaw, Citadel (hedge fund side), Tower Research, and basically every major hedge fund has their main office here. If you want the widest range of options across all three tracks (dev, researcher, trader) NYC is hard to beat. New grad total comp at top firms runs $300K-$500K. Mid-level is $400K-$700K+. The ceiling is the highest here because this is where most PM seats live.

The catch is obvious. The cost of living is brutal. A one bedroom in Manhattan runs $3,500-$5,000/month. Taxes are rough too, between federal, state, and city income tax you're losing close to 45% of your comp at higher brackets. So that $400K offer shrinks fast. The city itself is incredible if you're in your 20s and want to be around everything. But a lot of people burn out on it by their early 30s and start looking at other options.

Chicago 

The most underrated quant city in my opinion. Chicago is the derivatives and HFT capital of the world. CME Group is headquartered here which means the entire futures and options ecosystem revolves around this city. DRW, Jump Trading, Citadel Securities, Akuna Capital, Wolverine, and Peak6 are all based here. SIG is technically in Bala Cynwyd near Philly but close enough that it's part of the same Midwest corridor.

Here's the thing that surprised me. Median quant comp in Chicago is actually slightly higher than NYC according to Blind data ($250K vs $240K median). But cost of living is dramatically lower. A nice one bedroom in River North or West Loop is $1,800-$2,500. No city income tax in Illinois either. So your purchasing power in Chicago is significantly better than NYC at the same comp level. The tradeoff is that Chicago is more concentrated in market-making and HFT. If you want to do stat arb or long-horizon systematic stuff at a hedge fund, there are fewer options here. It's also cold. Really cold. That matters more than people admit.

London

The European hub. Citadel, Two Sigma, Jane Street, and most major US firms have London offices. But London also has firms you won't find in the US like Man Group, Marshall Wace, Aspect Capital, Capula, and GSA Capital. Entry-level roles start at £80K-£150K total comp, mid-level is £180K-£350K, and senior roles at top prop firms clear £500K+. Those numbers are lower than the US but the gap narrows a lot when you factor in that the NHS covers healthcare and pension contributions are mandatory.

London's timezone is a real advantage. You sit between Asian and US markets which makes it ideal for global trading operations. The quant scene spans Canary Wharf (banks), Mayfair (hedge funds), and the City (mix of both). The downside is UK taxes are high (45% above £125K) and the cost of living in London is up there with NYC. Visa situation is also tougher post-Brexit if you're not a UK/EU citizen.

Amsterdam

The work-life balance capital of quant finance. Optiver, IMC, and Flow Traders are all headquartered here. The scene is heavily tilted toward market-making and prop trading so if that's your thing Amsterdam is elite. Graduate roles at top firms start at €110K-€200K total comp, seniors can hit €300K-€500K+.

The real draw is quality of life. 25 vacation days and firms actually encourage you to use them. 9-10 hour days are normal, weekend work is almost unheard of. The Netherlands also has the 30% ruling for expats which lets you receive a chunk of your salary tax-free, though this has been tapered since 2024 (now 30% for the first 20 months, then 20%, then 10% over 5 years). Even with the taper it's a meaningful tax advantage that can save you tens of thousands per year. The city itself is beautiful, bikeable, and very international.

The downsides: the comp ceiling is lower than NYC or Chicago. Career options outside of the three big firms are more limited. And if you ever want to move into hedge fund research or PM roles, you'll probably have to relocate.

My Take

If you want maximum optionality and don't mind the grind, NYC. If you want the best purchasing power and you're into HFT/derivatives, Chicago. If you want to work globally with access to both US and European firms, London. If you want to actually enjoy your life outside of work while still making great money, Amsterdam.

Honestly though there's no wrong answer here. All four cities pay well and have incredible firms. The "best" one depends entirely on what you optimize for. The one mistake I see people make is choosing purely based on comp without thinking about cost of living, taxes, and lifestyle. A $350K offer in Chicago can leave you with more money and more free time than a $450K offer in NYC.

What city are you all targeting and why? Curious if anyone's done the move between any of these and how it went.

Edit: The salary for European countries were too low, so it been improved for accuracy