Quant options for those not into programming?
Currently a freshman at UC Berkeley. Growing up, I would trade on virtual accounts (used Robinhood later on in hsl) and really loved math as well.
I completed my first semester here taking Data 8 (Intro to Python) and Math 53 (Multivariable calc). This semester I took Math 54 (Linear Algebra and Differential Equations) and 61A.
I ended up dropping 61A as I was following behind my peers who had been coding for years and didn't to lower my GPA. I will take the class again next semester, but I am a little scared that I'm so behind some of my peers in programming.
So far, my math classes have been going fine and I am likely going to major in Statistics. However, I'm still nervous about my programming skills. I initially thought I wanted to be a quant, but I probably won't be competitive for the top firms like Two Sigma, Citadel, etc.
Any advice on quantitative career paths for someone who's not so great at programming?
Hey siddharthpal, I think you deserve a response...heck, everyone does. We're listening, sorry about the delay ...my best guess at places on WSO that could help:
I hope those threads give you a bit more insight.
I'm a UCB math alum who didn't take a single useful class in school, but I did pick up a little programming on my own.
The worst thing you can do for your early career is to shy away from programming. I have friends who think "oh I want to do data science, not code" and they don't realize how much it is bringing down their salary and job options. I'm not saying you need to go get a CS degree or anything, just aim to be able to crank out some code that works and pass interview questions by the time you are a senior.
At a bare minimum if you want to use a math credential to get employment (note: I didn't say use math, there's basically no difficult math in the corporate world to speak of), you need to be able to do a little R or pandas or a bit of SQL.
If you insist on a job that's lighter in software engineering, you're looking at a long, painful crawl upwards into management, whereas any B student who does a bunch of leetcode questions can work at Google and make good money.
Since you're only a freshman you still have a long way to go and things could change, but with no other information about you I would say that statistically speaking your probability of getting a top quant firm is not great based on what you've said. But have you asked yourself why you want to be a quant? If the reason is money, Facebook pays just as much as Two Sigma, and going into private equity would get you similar money with worse hours but much less studying and stress in school. If it's because you think you like math and you'll get to do math, I'm afraid you'll be very disappointed, at least until you get used to the idea that your job is mostly not math.
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