An update from Ilanit

Post by:
Ilanit Shtein
Mathematical Finance 2012

I apologize for not writing in so long – the first semester was very intense. Very. It flew by so fast, while I was solving tons of homework problems, preparing for exams, researching companies, and hanging out with my friends. I have a feeling this semester is about to pass by even faster.

Luckily, the winter break was a month and a week long, so I had a chance to rest and gather up some strength for the new semester. After an amazing two weeks home visit in Israel, I was ready to explore South America for the first time in my life. I spent some quality time tanning and going up the Corcovado and Sugar Loaf Mountain (the view was unbelievable) in Rio de Janeiro. Then, in Buenos Aires I enjoyed touring the city by walking all over it. The people were amazingly nice and welcoming, and their Empanadas were even more amazingly delicious… Last but definitely not least, I finished in Santiago, where I visited my best friend from Israel. Obviously that made the whole trip even more exciting!

I arrived a few weeks ago to a frozen Boston. Although that might sound a bit sad, especially considering my recent sunny vacation, I have to admit that the snow is not that bad. First of all, the snow is much less harmful than rain. Second, Boston is really beautiful these days –all covered in white. And third, it’s actually fun to play outside in the snow J

This semester I’m looking forward to learning more practical courses, like Fixed Income Securities and Statistical Methods for Mathematical Finance. The course I am most excited about is the Algorithmic Trading course, taught by Prof. Ahmad Namini, who’s actually a trader and strategist at Fortress Investment Group. His classes are challenging and fascinating, backed by examples from the real world. In the last session of the course we will have a trading competition against each other, employing our own developed strategies. Last year’s competition even caught Wall Street Journal’s attention - http://www.bu.edu/phpbin/news-cms/news/?dept=644&id=56004

Other than that, I’m putting a lot of effort in seeking my dream internship for the upcoming summer. The competition is tough, but I guess “without the bitter, the sweet ain't as sweet”. I hope my hard work in networking, researching and interview preparation will pay off soon.

About the author:
Ilanit is a first year Mathematical Finance student. Prior to studying in BU, she was designing and implementing voicemail applications as a software engineer at Comverse, a leading provider of telecommunication and billing services, in the Tel-Aviv branch. Ilanit holds a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Tel-Aviv University. She likes indoor cycling, experimenting in the kitchen, and traveling around the world.