Which Degree Should I get to be a Quant or Data Scientist?

As society is advancing quickly, skills required to be a quant or data scientist are needed more than ever. The real issue with being trained to do one of these roles comes down to trying to be an expert at 3 different skill sets which are math, statistics, and computer science. If you know a little of all three you aren't educated enough to make a real impact. However if you are too focused on one area you can't build unique solutions. Masters and PhDs are required in quantitative finance and definitely help in data science because the depth of education required to do the jobs. So the short answer to which degree should I get...it depends on what area inside of these industries you want to work in. Some jobs are more statistics focused while others require more math or computer science. There is also no perfect degree to work in either of these fields. I encourage people to start with one of the three areas, typically the one you enjoy the most. Get an undergraduate degree in that field with the plan to get a graduate degree afterwards. Along the way I would try and pick up the other two skill sets on the side by self learning or adding a minor or dual degree. The end goal should be to build a skill set that focuses on all three skills. So if you have a statistics bachelors, you would want to find a Masters or PhD that would continue to build those statistics skills while also adding in more math and computer science.

There is no clear path to these jobs. Focus on building these three skill sets and you should be prepared for a job in quantitative finance or data science.


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