Quit PHD for JOB?

Hi there! This is my first post on WSO, which I think is a good place to ask for advice. I'm so confused at this time of point.

A little bit of background: I’m an international student, 23, 3rd year in statistics phd program (top 50). My dissertation would be bioinformatics, which I’m not quite interested in, at least for future career.

Career goal: At the third year of phd study, I’m quite clear that academia is not career path that I want to pursue. I want my work have an immediate and visible impact on society. From my point of view, the tech side work have a very limited impact comparing to strategy work. Besides, I’m a big picture guy and am more interested in thinking about strategy rather than tangling with tech details. So I think consulting or non-quant job (like M&A) in investment bank might be a good fit. But a MBA from top school should be prerequisite.

Possible paths:
1. Stick with the phd study and get the degree, which should not be a problem. Getting doctorate at age 25 is really sweet. But I’m concerned that a phd would limit my job opportunities given my recent research on the campus career site-- Most intern jobs recruit BS and MS only. Another thing I need to consider is H1B Visa. I’m not sure whether a phd degree is more helpful in getting the sponsorship.

2. Quit the program. I’m getting MS degree this May. So I will just leave with this degree and hopefully locate a job. Then what company should I go given that I attempt to apply top MBA programs a couple of years later?

So which path do you think I should follow? Any input is greatly appreciated.

6 Comments
 

I'm not sure how helpful is certificate like CFA, and the MBA program here is far from top. So basically you think quit is a better idea if I can get a job?

 
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