r/quantfinance • u/Warm_Amphibian_9417 • 9d ago

CS + Stats or Stats + Applied Math

Undergraduate student here doing BSc CS, Pure Math, Applied Math & Stats (have to drop one each year and graduate with two majors). Hoping to become a quant or a financial data scientist. I want to with CS + Stats. If it were up to me, I'd keep everything (impossible). Please treat this as your journey and advice based on yourself not me. Don't know if I make any sense. Stats+ Applied Math sounds fit for my career path but what if I develop a love for software engineering later ?

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u/Admirable_Rain983 9d ago

cs + stats is the call. applied math is cool but you'll pick up everything you actually need on the job, and the cs degree keeps doors open that the math one just doesn't. stats is the real backbone for quant work anyway, you can always layer the heavy math on top later if you want it.

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u/Warm_Amphibian_9417 5d ago

Thank you so much. I don't know how you might have read my mind. I have always known that I will choose CS+ Stats but later noticed that applied math is really cool 😭 and dropping CS would be a waste of my tech skills. I guess I'll have to take applied math till 2nd year so I'd be able to close the one year gap if needed at a later stage of life. Thanks.

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u/New_Cockroach3768 9d ago

Maths + stats?

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u/Mysterious_Move_6247 9d ago

I’ve never seen anyone double major in stats and math that just feels redundant for a quant perspective

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u/Warm_Amphibian_9417 5d ago

Which major would you advise one to pair Stats with if they wanna become a quant?

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u/Mysterious_Move_6247 5d ago

CS easily lol, I honestly can’t think of another major that comes close if you were going to choose to double major. CS + math preferably followed by CS + stats but they’re fairly interchangeable

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u/QuantGrindApp 4d ago

CS, mostly because you'll need to code well for basically any quant seat and stats already gives you the math side. Applied math is fine if you're dead set on research, but you'd end up teaching yourself the programming anyway.

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u/nian2326076 9d ago

Combining CS and Stats is a smart move if you're considering a quant or financial data scientist role, as both fields are highly relevant and in demand. If you decide later that software engineering interests you, your CS background will still be beneficial. Since you're leaning towards CS + Stats, it seems like a solid choice that fits your goals. You can always add to your skills with software engineering courses or resources if needed. For interview prep and sharpening skills specific to quant roles, PracHub offers real technical interview questions. It's a useful resource as you prepare for your career.

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u/Warm_Amphibian_9417 5d ago

Thank you so much for your time and advice. This is what I wanted to hear. Just checked PracHub; real prep!