Physics vs Maths&CS for Undergraduate
I'm a first year attending Imperial College London and studying Joint Mathematics & Computing (integrated 4 year master's degree).
I am considering switching to physics because
- I believe I will enjoy it more
- I will probably get better grades - I'm struggling with pure maths and do not have the motivation to study it as I do not like it
- I'm only interested in applied maths, and physics already involves a lot of that?
- I can self-study programming online..? I already know a few languages to a decent level.
- and the theoretical aspect of CS I would not need so much for quant trading?
- I miss doing experiments...
I'm just wondering how much better a JMC degree will be versus a physics degree for quant trading.
(please ignore "prospect in non-profit", i am a student
Applied mathematics, statistics, and computer science will set you up best.
Physics is a respected background and works as well. If you have got a physics degree and good grades, people will just assume that you are capable of learning whatever you need for your future job. However, during interviews you will need to demonstrate strong knowledge of topics such as statistics and probability theory , and it will help to have ML knowledge too. As a physicist, you will need to spend much more of your free time learning these topics next to your studies, and studying physics by itself is already hard and time consuming enough. Whereas if you study applied maths and statistics, you will already be well versed in these fields without any additional work. If you really want to go into quant trading, this is certainly the easier path.
Note that there are also some firms or team leaders with a preference for hiring physicists over other degrees. But this isn't the norm.
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