Student Spotlight: Seleme Shoky Maakgetlwa

Seleme Shoky Maakgetlwa graduated from the University of Venda in South Africa with honours in Applied Mathematics, but she wanted to move more specifically into the financial sector. After earning a MSc in Data Science from the University of Witwatersand, she looked to WorldQuant University to equip herself with the relevant skills for the industry she had always wanted to be in.

WorldQuant Univerisity’s MscFE program enabled Seleme to understand key financial concepts, and it gave her an opportunity to practically expose herself to the global markets and use the skills she acquired in practice. Her desire is to earn a full-time opportunity where she can apply her data science skills together with the finance skills she learned from WQU’s MscFE, specifically within the markets area.

Her experience with WorldQuant University far exceeded her expectations. Seleme had expected a free online course to share content more focused on entry level basics, but was pleasantly surprised to find WQU’s content very relevant, not only for the current financial industry, but also for the digital environment in which we now work. She found that courses like machine learning in finance, and technology and data feeds, were particularly valuable in equipping students with the right financial skills and how to use advanced technology. She feels WorldQuant University provided the right combination of content to ensure that students were capable and relevant in today’s financial industry.

Seleme also appreciated the communication with the instructors, working with students every step of the way and making sure that the live classes could be focused on clarifying the material. She credits that support from the administrators and instructors for helping establish such a strong sense of community among her classmates.

Seleme is now using her degree to springboard even further, pursuing her PhD in Financial Engineering.

To learn more about WorldQuant University’s MScFE program, visit the Program page.