Graduates vs non-grads in trading

Don't be so modest my friend.

Don't be so modest my friend.

Ok, I'll chime in. I don't believe the shingle on your office wall, that did not cost the university the better part of $10.00 to mass produce with different names, could possibly help you become a better trader. That piece of parchment or high-thread count weave is just a reminder to make your student loan payments and wonder where in the world you would be had you not gone that route. It can not teach you the emotions involved watching the market slip in the opposite direction nor teach you about EMA's. My belief is that unless you are going into Law, Medicine or designing Airplanes it's a wash. The emphasis on the degree, while important in teaching certain life skills, such as drinking, evading the campus police and taking notes from your friends for the next paper, is overstated. The Ivy gals and boys are there because mom and dad got them there and when they finish mom and dad will get them a career with a family friend. The old saying of not what you know, but who runs rampant on those campuses. I'm not saying there are not hard working people that didn't work there rears off to get there, but many are silver spoon kids. Whooa. Sorry. Anyway. What you learn in college and what you learn trading are different. As someone else stated. 4 years and what did you end up with. The money would have been better spent in the market. But the large diploma does look good and it's easy to point to the kids and say, "you'd better have one of those or life's gonna be tough!" If one is intelligent to some degree they'll be fine, if not the world needs more real estate agents.

IMHO Having a degree makes absolutely no difference to being a successfull trader.

I worked as a spot trader for a bank in London for 10 years, and I now trade for myself - during my time in Banking I would often see graduate trainees/work experience who expressed a desire to be Traders. A lot of these guys already had an arrogant attitude that said "hey..look at me, ive just got a first from Oxford..Trading is easy - buy low/sell high..show me the money"... Very few were actually suited to Trading. They may have been OK on the "Corporate Desk" talking to clients - but put them on the spot desk with a position thats gone tits up and they were like rabbits in the headlights - frozen by indecision with the attitude "this cant be happening to me... ive got a first from Oxford!" .

Having said that...having a degree may "open some doors" for people looking to get into certain careers/employers and its often the case of "who you know...Not ..what you know"... but trading is a job/lifestyle that is not suited to everyone. I think having the right personality traits (eg calm,disciplined,decisive etc) are far more important to being a good trader than a degree.

I think a significant part of why so many successful traders have degrees is because the degree helps them make more J.O.B. money to start trading with.

Stupid people need degrees to succeed. For smart and motivated people, a degree is a waste of time and effort.

I needed a degree

It helps if you have a degree... Especially math, computer sciece, engeneering... something like that.
I think you can lear easier, but still it's all about working hard, studing more and discipline.
You can have a degree and be a looser when it comes to trading.

I (being a non-grad, aircraft mechanic) believe that darkstar has hit the nail on the head. And here is why:

The people I work with for the most part do not have the "extra" money that it takes to start trading, they cant afford to lose ANY money so they don't even try it. For a guy who has a wife and kids making 50 grad a year here in colorado you are barely above the poverty level your just trying to pay all the bills.

On the other hand I have a close friend who is a college grad who makes very good money at his job and who trades in the stock market. But he has the "extra" funds to do this with, he is not just getting by paycheck to paycheck. He "plays" as he puts it in the stock market with more than I make in a year at my job and doesn't blink an eye.

So I think a grad has an easier time getting started and probably with a larger amount of capital to start, but after that I believe that it all evens out. So yes you probably see more successful traders that are grads but that is because there are more traders that are grads.

I went back to college at the age of 37 and spent 4 years full-time (including 3 summers) and came out with a degree and the best job I ever had. Before college the only jobs available to me were under $10 an hour.

A good paying job provides me with the extra time to learn how to trade (instead of working two jobs) and the extra money to fund a smaller account with money I can afford to lose. I can also afford a fast Internet connection, a few computers and a laptop.

I know people who spend their free time worrying about how they are going to survive. I used to live like that.

The most productive years I can remember was the 4 years of he11 I spent in college

And if I had to do it all over again...Hmm...Lets see...
Broke...Loot in my pocket.
Broke...Loot in my pocket...This is a no-brainer :

Ps: we can still study regardless we have degree or not.

degree is only a proof that we already study and qualified.

and we don't need to proof that we are a great trader, other than to ourself.

the market didn't hire us, we are the customer, and like old good marketing said, customer is always right.

I dropped out of college my sophomore year to trade forex fulltime. And so far, I think it's the best decision I ever made.

I'm about to drop out myself, thanks to forex trading. To be honest, the only reason I'm even in school is because everyone else (parents, family, potential J.O.B. employers) thinks that I should have a degree; and I love my fraternity too much to split from the chapter.

However, I must admit that the life experience and wisdom learned from going to school is worth every penny, but that piece of lambskin is just another frame to hang as far as I'm concerned.

How about the real question.....

Is spending 100k on an education a good investment ?

If you answer yes, you have most likely done the college thing and have a job that pays more than 250k a year. if you answer No, (and you are on this board) you probabally put the 100k into a forex account and while your buddies went to college, you bought a house and put money away for you childrens future. and you still make more than 250k a year but it compounds at a much higher rate than any annual raise. Plus you get to work from home in your underwear - my personal favorite

No wonder the Ed system is in decline.
"I only have to know the answers, Not WHY they are correct."
Here's your ticket. get on the bus. Destined to the Masses of Trading in all it's forms.

Yes you do. {perhaps annonomously but} Trading Great is profound. Until you do, you are still gleaning chaff.

Tell that to the Market and your likely to have a new vent ripped in your rear end.

my computer science degree did not help me in forex apart from mq4 coding.

i'm getting my bsc in forex trading right now at forex factory

Most people go to college to get a job. Some go to get an education. You can always get a job in life. You can't always be educated when you want. Sure, a few are self-educated, but they're so few and far between, that they stick out and we like to point them out and hold them up as role models.

Jobs come and go. Education lasts your entire life and it informs and guides you throughout it.

We all begin life as uneducated. The educated know what it means to be uneducated. The uneducated have no idea what it means to be educated. It's a simple fact that few like to admit.

If you went to college and felt it was a waste of time and effort, you're correct, it was...for you.

Trading and a college education have very little correlation. Quality of life and education have a very high correlation. Neither of my parents finished high school. My life is so different from theirs, I might just as well as be from another planet.

My guess is that success in playing poker is significantly more highly correlated with success in trading than holding a university degree. Having said that, there are some people who have parlayed an academic background into huge success in trading. David Shaw, a former computer science professor who founded the hedge fund D.E. Shaw, is probably a good example. Ken Griffin, who started his hedge fund (Citadel) from his Harvard dorm room, is another.

Some old man told me that the best part of college is the network. You need network to do business.

the best part of college is the women and beer

i miss college

I've got my masters in BS...I went to FU....