Quant Finance vs Traditional Finance

I am a senior in high school and am planning on going to community college for 2 years and transferring to a top university. I don’t know if I should aim for the quant side of finance(quant dev, quant trading, prop trading), or the more traditional side(ib, pe, hf). If I choose quant I will likely major in applied math or cs but if I choose to go the traditional route I will major in business. Of these 2:

  1. Which is more competitive to break into?
  2. Which leads to better work life balance and overall compensation?
  3. Which requires more schooling(heard quant trading requires masters or more)
  4. Can you be a trader without being a quant?
  5. What is more worth it in the long run?
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