“I think there is general agreement that the most innovative minds in finance are in the U.S. So, it makes sense to study here, where you can learn from and be exposed to the top talent,” said Xiao Tian (Jason) Zhou, MFE 25.
Berkeley Haas, the number-one ranked Master of Financial Engineering program in the nation, attracts a fair share of international students. Indeed, the class of 25 is 85% international. The U.S. is the third country Xiao Tian has lived in. Born in China, he emigrated to Canada with his family as a child. “But coming to Berkeley is my first time away from my family in a new country,” he said. “And while Canadian culture has a lot in common with American culture, they still are separate cultures. It helps a lot that people at Berkeley Haas are so openminded and welcoming. My classmates in particular have helped me navigate this new environment.“
Two more culture shocks await Xiao Tian. In October, he will start an internship on the “algo trading team” at Morgan Stanley in New York City. “It is exactly the type of internship I wanted, aligned with my interest in market-making and my desire to improve my skills in an area that will become even more important in the years to come. I also am excited about being in New York City. For one thing, it is closer to my family outside Toronto. For another, as much as I am enjoying Berkeley, the energy in New York City is on a completely different level.”
Enjoying his time in Berkeley starts with his MFE classmates, who Xiao Tian describes as diverse and open to other cultures. “There are people with backgrounds in data science and coding. Some come from a business background and have only basic coding skills. But everyone is here to improve their skills in some way and to gain intuition into how math can be used in the real world to improve financial performance and financial markets. That applied knowledge is something that the professors and classes at Berkeley Haas are very good at.”
Two classes in the curriculum stood out for Xiao Tian. Derivatives: Quantitative Methods (MFE230D), taught by Dmitry Livdan, went “deep into the theory driving derivatives. But he also related the theory to how things work in the real world. We learned how to account for volatility in pricing derivates. We practiced Monte Carlos so we could see the results.” The second was Empirical Methods (MFE 230E). Although already familiar with the material covered, “I appreciated the practicality of the approach. We learned how to forecast and create models that will be useful in finance.”
Xiao Tian and his “study buddies” are awake and at the library early, eager to “talk through problems and approaches, to figure out what we’re missing and how to fill in the gaps.” They also know how to have fun outside of the classroom and library. He is part of a regular poker game. An avid rock climber, Xiao Tian was happy to introduce his new friends to the sport, and they convinced him to start playing tennis again. The varied Asian cultures represented in the Bay Area allow Xiao Tian to keep in touch with his Chinese roots. Apart from having an endless selection of Chinese restaurants to provide a taste of home, “I really like San Francisco’s Japantown, where I can buy the latest manga books and enjoy good ramen.”
Now midway through his degree, Xiao Tian looked back on how he prepared for entering the MFE program. He benefited from the Math Foundations and Statistics pre-program classes. “I also am grateful for the encouragement I got to participate in the Investment Portfolio Case Competition at Cornell before starting my studies. It took a lot of effort, but my team drove forward, and we all ended up classmates at Haas.”
One thing Xiao Tian wishes he had done more of before starting classes is talk with MFE alumni. With 1,500 MFEs and 450,000 UC Berkeley grads around the world, he would have had plenty to choose from in the Haas Alumni Network. “As a student, every Haas alum I have spoken with has been very open and willing to talk. They do not hold back their opinions, or their encouragement and they give the best advice,” he said. “I hope prospective students will say the same thing about me when I talk with them.”
