Can MA Statistics get you associate-level quant positions?

[DMX]

Little background - currently a risk analyst at a BB, attending school part-time for a Masters in statistics. I deliberately chose this over MFE programs because:

- less stringent requirements
- flexibility in course selection (I can take many quant finance classes)
- more general education (don't want to pidgeon-hole myself into finance with an MFE degree)

My thinking is that by the time I am done with the PT Masters degree, I will have finished my 2~3 year stint as an analyst. My question is, would I be able to leverage the MA Stats degree to apply for associate-level positions (ideally in strategist/structuring/trading roles) at other banks? Or do they exclusively look for MBA/MFE candidates for associate-level positions.

 

[euroazn]

MA, and not MS, huh :\

 

[Andy Nguyen]

You should be able to get into an associate level position because you have experience and a master degree. I emphasize should because in my limited sample size of MFE grads, many of them get associate roles.

Think about it, many analyst roles require only an undergrad degree with no experience. Now the question is what skills do you have (either from work or your MS Stats) that will make you a desirable candidate for a role in that area?

 

[DMX]

Yes it's an MA not an MS (the Columbia program has MA for some reason).
Thanks for the response Andy - I think my main problem would be lack of programming skills, but I am hoping to remedy that by learning C++ (and R will be used extensively in my courses).

 

[DominiConnor]

If it's a good and relevant MS, then yes.

 

[Joy Pathak]

Associate positions are basically for experience. If you have experience and a masters, that always helps. You can be an undergrad and work for few years and make it to associate and work up the ladder.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Here is one example that fresh graduates with MFE get associate level quant position
[Job] SP Entry level quant - Associate – Model Quality Review