Dilemma: Economics vs. Statistics
Hi I am a student at one of the top 3 public universities undergraduate(Berk,Mich,UVA) and I am at great dilemma of deciding either Economics or Statistics as a major.
My ultimately goal is Asset Management but I am also interested in Consulting, Sales & Trading.
I am not interested in becoming a Quant in any of the areas.
If I end up majoring Economics, I will take a lot of quantitative courses for my electives in addition to traditional requirements such as Mathematical Probability, Mathematical Statistics, Linear Algebra, Econometrics, Game Theory and International Finance. Since Economics major requirement is lenient to fullfill compared to Statistics, I will have freedom to explore a variety of different areas such as finance, accounting and computer science.
If I end up majoring Statistics, I will be taking courses like Multivariate Statistics, Time Series, Stochastic Process and Mathematics of Securities Derivatives but since Statistics major requires a tight course requirement I would not have freedom to choose a lot of variety of classes such as accounting, economics and computer science classes. By majoring in statistics, my courses will be more quantitative than Economics degree but certainly not by a large margin.
I am little concerned about the Econ degree itself since it may not be viewed strong or quantitative enough from getting interviews from certain firms/positions I might be interested in the future. I’ve heard that Propriety trading and Hedge Fund firms only hire Engineering and Math, Stat degrees and none from Economics degree.
So even though my econ degree would have good amount of quantitative courses, I would be at disadvantage compared to Statistics Major when it comes to recruiting verstality and flexibility just because my degree’s name is not Math/Stat/Engineering.
Is my concern a legitimate or Economics degree with careful planning and right courses can make it marketable and flexible as Statistics degree?
Thank you guys.
Why don't you major in finance or accounting if your school offers it? Stats and Econ are pretty similar in terms of the prestige of major if that exists, so pick the one which you interests you the most. Also if you want versatility, major in engineering not stats. Banks recruit a ton of engineers for finance
Do both.
Take Stochastic Processes and Time-Series as part of your electives as an econ major.
OP, if I were debating between majoring in Econ and Stats, I'd just do a double major.
Economics or Statistics? (Originally Posted: 03/30/2017)
Hey guys, posted this in another section or two... any help is appreciated!
So to give some quick background: I'm a sophomore non-target in the undergrad b-school CURRENTLY double majoring in finance and econ (with a minor in stats). I interned last summer in IB with a boutique shop, I interned in the winter at a L/S equity HF in an ER-type role, and I'll be doing a shadow type internship at an MM in NY in their consumer retail coverage group this upcoming summer post sophomore year. My question is do I stick with my current majors in finance and economics OR do I keep finance and take on statistics as a second major?
My long term goal would IDEALLY be to work in HF, obviously short term goals being to go somewhere in IB/ER and even S&T (which all have some level of opps to go to HF). Considering I'm from a non target and need to stand out as much as possible, stats seems appealing as well as the idea that it'll give me a quantitative edge in S&T type spots. Another pro is that the HF field is becoming far more "quant-natured" and while I'm not looking to be a full on quant/algo developer, people I've connected with across the HF industry have said there's substance to a more quant based degree.
That being said, the cons are: 1) Statistics major is harder than Economics, may take a toll on my GPA and 2) It may lead IB/ER guys to question why I studied statistics to which I probably won't have a great answer
Obviously, an easy solution would be to either target solely S&T jobs or IB/ER jobs BUT I'm trying to keep my search and networking efforts as broad as possible and I'm very interested in all 3. Considering there's only one or two BB's that do recruit at my school (for a VERY limited amount of IB spots) and how HF jobs out of undergrad are incredibly hard to come by (esp. from non-target), I figured a broad approach to getting to the long-term goal would make more sense. I'd love any insight! Thanks!
If I were you I'd do Finance + Stat and Econ Minor (if you've done enough econ already for the minor). It sounds like you've already done a good job building out your resume and getting internships, so I think it's a little less important to do econ/finance double to prove you want to be in finance. The key to doing stats, though, is that you need to make sure you know how to CODE. So whether it's through SQL, MatLab or R your value add can't be that you 'studied statistics.' It's that you've built code to make a quantitative data screen, done some modeling, built a basic trend following model, etc. With that being said, if your program will teach you stuff like that and not just theoretical statistics, then I'd say it's a worthwhile pursuit. Those can be incremental areas where you can be more valuable than the other guy because you have a statistics degree. The only caveat I would have to this is that a true quant hedge fund won't hire you b/c you have a BS in statistics... they are looking for PhDs, so consider this a good background and a slight differentiator, but don't bank your chances on getting into an HF merely because you did Stats. Could be good for sales/investor relations roles too because you are "quantitative" but can also dumb it down to explain to everyone else.
As to the GPA and other stuff I think it really depends on your capabilities - if stats is going to be a reach for you to hit 3.5 I wouldn't really say it's worth the hit - stick w/ a minor and learn to code and apply stats. As to the employers asking you questions, I don't see how you couldn't spin it as a value add - especially if you're using stats to apply things to finance - how couldn't ER use linear regression or big data to better analyze a company or industry?
I did stats in college though didn't pursue IB, so can't really apply to that specifically but that's my thought.
Undergrad Courses: Stats vs Econometrics (Originally Posted: 07/18/2017)
I'm going into my second year of uni where I'll be majoring in Finance and I have to pick between taking a stats course or econometrics. They're cover similar things, as they're anti reqs. Both go over simple/multiple regression, hypothesis testing etc. but I was wondering whether one looks better on a resume or gives an advantage with IB recruiting? I'm more interested in econometrics but it'd be a greater risk for my GPA.
Thanks,
Econometrics. Bring lube.
Thanks for the reply. If econometrics is much harder why would you recommend I take it?
I found it's a good talking point during interviews. You can point out that you are voluntarily taking on more challenging opportunities to broaden your learning.
The types of problems that you analyze in Econometrics will be more applicable (and interesting) to working in Finance, since it's all related to economic data. Depending on the rest of your course-load, it shouldn't be too bad.
Did you take stats in secondary? How did you do there?
I took a data management course in my first year of university and did really well, but it wasn't very difficult though. That's why I'm fairly confident I can do pretty well in the stats course I take next year.
.
Econ or Stats? (Originally Posted: 03/30/2017)
Hey guys,
So to give some quick background: I'm a sophomore non-target in the undergrad b-school CURRENTLY double majoring in finance and econ (with a minor in stats). I interned last summer in IB with a boutique shop, I interned in the winter at a L/S equity HF in an ER-type role, and I'll be doing a shadow type internship at an MM in NY in their consumer retail coverage group this upcoming summer post sophomore year. My question is do I stick with my current majors in finance and economics OR do I keep finance and take on statistics as a second major?
My long term goal would IDEALLY be to work in HF, obviously short term goals being to go somewhere in IB/ER and even S&T (which all have some level of opps to go to HF). Considering I'm from a non target and need to stand out as much as possible, stats seems appealing as well as the idea that it'll give me a quantitative edge in S&T type spots. Another pro is that the HF field is becoming far more "quant-natured" and while I'm not looking to be a full on quant/algo developer, people I've connected with across the HF industry have said there's substance to a more quant based degree.
That being said, the cons are: 1) Statistics major is harder than Economics, may take a toll on my GPA and 2) It may lead IB/ER guys to question why I studied statistics to which I probably won't have a great answer
Obviously, an easy solution would be to either target solely S&T jobs or IB/ER jobs BUT I'm trying to keep my search and networking efforts as broad as possible and I'm very interested in all 3. Considering there's only one or two BB's that do recruit at my school (for a VERY limited amount of IB spots) and how HF jobs out of undergrad are incredibly hard to come by (esp. from non-target), I figured a broad approach to getting to the long-term goal would make more sense. I'd love any insight! Thanks!
Both.
If I had to pick one, Econ.
Minor in Econ or Stat??? (Originally Posted: 08/05/2010)
I am an upcoming junior at a non target school pursuing a B.S./M.S in Comp. Applied Math. After I receive my masters I either want to try to find a job in the finance field particular i-banking, or go into a MFIN/MFE program. I was either thinking of minoring in Economics or Statistics, I have had mixed answers for what minor if either would help me in pursuing a job in i-banking?
Thanks
Economics is your best bet. It's a good overall degree and will give you a better understanding of the Economy and the Financial markets.
If you are looking into finance or consulting, economics would probably look a bit better because it shows you have an interest outside of the sciences. That said, I'm sure with a good GPA and a demonstrated understanding of accounting, plenty of places would be interested in a math / stats major. Maybe not major banks but with some work you'll find a good spot to land.
If you want to do a MFIN/MFE then stats is your friend.
There are lots of liberal arts grads in I-banking, so it's not like an econ undergrad is a prerequisite. I don't think either minor will have much of an effect on your job search.
Econ would better complement your current degrees. Comp. Applied Math already shows you have an aptitude for numbers, so a "social science" like econ has a greater marginal utility than stats.
Urgent! Economics or Statistics? (Originally Posted: 11/15/2016)
So as I reach the end of my second semester sophomore year I face somewhat of a crossroads: majoring in finance and x or y, being economics or statistics. I first enrolled as finance and economics as 1. they fit perfectly into my schedule and there's no doubt I'd graduate on time, 2. my GPA (by my best guess) would be higher and 3. I actually like a lot of the class topics offered for economics majors...
Insert dilemma: i've gotten lunch and sat down w/ several hedge fundies, some bankers here and there and i've reached a consensus that the more quantitative major you can take, the better. An ex-Tiger cub recommended I do anything w/ computer science, albeit there is no chance I can fit a major in at this point especially already doing finance. My next bet was getting a dual degree in finance and statistics as it'd give me the broader spectrum for both ibanking and hedge funds. Thing is, I go ONE CLASS over with the statistics major so I'd have to take an extra workload at some point as I can't fit it in comfortably to graduate on time. In all honestly, I doubt my GPA would be as high as a statistics major as well.
Now, as for my background and goals: I interned in investment banking last summer (after freshman year) at a boutique M&A shop. This upcoming summer, I'm doing a three week shadow internship w/ a top MM bank in NYC, then I've got an interview w/ a hedge fund next week for an internship the rest of the summer. Short term, I want to do IB or ER solely because of its opps into HF. I really am not sure of the type of strategy of HF I'm looking to do as originally I wanted to do L/S, but some fund managers I've spoken to have really discouraged that path and said everything's becoming more quant-natured irregardless of strategy.
So, which do I pick with ALL that considered: economics or statistics?
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