Jesse Smith ’25 earned his MS in Economics with a concentration in Data Science from Northeastern, studying on the Seattle campus. He took a co-op with Morgan Stanley as a Parametric using digital, rule-based software to create adaptive, flexible models in design or engineering, and he sat down to talk about what led him there.
Can you tell me a bit about your background in Economics? What interests you about it?
What interested me specifically in economics is that it’s pretty broadly applicable. You can use it in finance, consulting, and data science. Once you get that technical skillset, it gives you a structured way to understand the world around you.
Why did you choose Northeastern for your masters degree?
Before Northeastern, I got a BBA in economics from the University of Oklahoma, which was a bit more business focused. I thought it would be a nice compliment to add more hard skills and techniques. Also, the combination of the curriculum and co-op model was appealing. My previous university didn’t have a co-op, so the fact that Northeastern has specific partnerships with companies was really attractive to me and the Seattle campus felt like a natural fit.
Tell me about your co-op as a Parametric with Morgan Stanley.
I worked on the development services team, which focused on large software migrations. I was working on a lot of long, multi-year projects. We’re prepping for another migration right now, so I’m writing some python scripts to pull data on users within the program. We’re trying to address issues right now before they cause delays, so the company can stay up to speed. So there’s a lot of planning that goes into it, with stakeholder management and analytics.
Can you tell me about your team?
The team that I’m on is unique because they’re kind of like the consultants for platform engineering, and every other team uses the tools that we work on migrating. I’m not sure how much this job connects with my previous skillsets, but that’s what’s nice about co-op, I had the freedom to try something new. I’ve gained really good experience and made pretty long lasting connections with the people I work with.
Do you have a major takeaway from that experience?
A major takeaway is to always be curious and willing to learn. Sink your teeth into the new experience and ask questions. The people around you have so much more experience than you, so really try to sink your teeth into that.
What has been your favorite class at Northeastern?
I took Financial Econometrics with Professor Florin Bidian. I really enjoyed the structure of the class and the material. It was a really applied class with lots of projects, where we had to present our findings and iterations. It was really useful because that’s how business functions—you do have to get in front of people and talk. He had us work with real data sets, so we could add it to our portfolios. I’ve used stuff from that course in my personal investing, too.
Have you used any of the skills that you learned in that class at Morgan Stanley?
Not in the traditional sense of presenting a powerpoint to your class, but in other ways yes. I have to present findings to stakeholders all the time and justify them, and the class taught me that it’s always important to verify my findings.
Do you have any advice for students hoping to get a masters in Econ?
If I could talk to myself 2 years ago, I would say that you need to get uncomfortable and do things that you typically don’t do. The worst that can happen is that you don’t like it, but the positives outweigh the negatives most of the time. You never know when something in your life is going to change for the better. Also always be open minded and try new things. I came from a large institution for my undergrad, and Northeastern’s Seattle campus is a much smaller cohort, so it’s totally up to you what you get out of the program.
What are your future plans looking like?
I’m moving to Oklahoma City to start my job at Guernsey, a small multidisciplinary firm. I’ll be consulting and advising NGOs and regional power providers. I’ll also be doing power cost supplies studies and working in the utilities market. I’m very excited to get started, but I’ll miss Seattle and the friends that I’ve made here.
