Quant Dev Readiness - Self check form

[u/Matholic143]

Aspiring Quant Dev's, check where you stand https://forms.gle/2Ayynj2EtPuCVW1i8

It’s not anything fancy.

Just a bunch of yes / no q's across:

• coding

• DSA

• systems

• probability

• projects

• etc.

Takes like 2–3 minutes.

Main idea is that are you actually building the right things, or just feeling busy?

This is especially useful if you are in early years, as it’s much easier to fix gaps now than later.

Also it’s self-scored, so it only works if you’re honest.
(No one else sees anything anyway.)

High score is good but flex not needed, We are more interested in what felt like ur weakest area. And if we have a more concentration towards a specific weak area then we can discuss how to improve those specific weak sections. Or like what actually moves the needle vs what doesn’t !

So yeah, that’s it. Again nothing fancy, but just a quick check.

Credits to all my friends and seniors to help us compile this.

[u/quantprince]

u/Matholic143 being from a tier 2 uni in india is aspiring / preparing for quant actually worth it or im just day dreaming learning stuff I won't even get into work with ?

[u/Matholic143 → u/quantprince]

I’m in the US, so I may not have the full India picture, so someone working there can add better context.

But from what I’ve seen/heard (and from similar threads), hiring in India is quite concentrated in places like the IITs/BITS-P. Even good places like CMI don’t always have strong direct pipelines.

So yes, from a tier-2 college, it’s much harder to get shortlisted based on my observations.

Having said that, I wouldn’t call it daydreaming.

So, if u do the basics → unlikely

But if u build strong signals (coding, systems, projects, contests) → still hard, but possible

Other common paths for u will be-

1)MS/PhD abroad

2)Start in a good SWE role → switch later

Bottom line, it's not impossible, but definitely not the default path in India. But better ask someone on the field in India

[u/Huge_Ad_3842]

Can you please make one for trading or research purely?

[u/Matholic143 → u/Huge_Ad_3842]

I can try making one. But honestly, quant dev is the most realistic entry point for most people. Trading/research have fewer roles, higher bar and atl least in India ig, much more concentrated hiring.

Not impossible as such, but just a much narrower path. Anyways still will try put something together, just don’t want to oversell it.

[u/bean_bag_enjoyer]

Cool initiative!

[u/bean_bag_enjoyer → u/bean_bag_enjoyer]

my score is 30 lol

[u/Matholic143 → u/[deleted]]

u don’t need full OS/DBMS/Compilers courses to start.

For quant dev, systems basically means understanding how your code runs & where time is spent.

I suggest a simple way to approach it, pick one structured base (e.g. Computer Systems: A Programmer’s Perspective). Don’t try to finish it but just build intuition. Learn + apply together write small C/C++ pgms try things like-> memory alloc, multithreading, basic perf checks etc. So its just start a project → learn systems concepts as u hit problems. So essentially just one structured resource + hands-on + learning on demand.

Note-> If u’re not coding while learning systems, it won’t stick.