MA in Economics vs Msc in Statistics

eastman · 4/15/12

Which do you guys think is better for landing a trading job in the private sector and secondly, a job? Undergrad was double major in Econ/Math. Both programs are coursework only, 8 months in duration and in the Economics MA I am allowed to replace 2 courses with courses from another department, I'm thinking machine learning and stochastic processes.

Ken Abbott · 4/16/12

I did both and found the MS to be more useful.

eastman · 4/16/12

Oh ok, thanks for the reply. Just curious, did you stop afterwards or continue to a PhD? My problem is that I was on the waitlist for the Msc in Statistics at the school I wanted to go to, but I was accepted to the Economics program. As the economics offer was expiring and in my eyes, the chances for my acceptance to the stats program dwindling, I decided to accept the economics offer just over a week ago. Now to my dismay I've recieved an email saying that a spot has opened up in the stats program, but I'm pretty sure it is unethical and frowned upon to switch programs at this point. So basically I'm in search of some reassurance of my decision, maybe I will do both as well, do you recommend it? They're only 8 months each i guess...

Adisorn · 4/16/12

I've more or less the same undergrad background as yours, and went on for an MS stats. No regret for me. I still enjoy reading and studying economics on the side, but stat is much more useful. Anyway, take 1 or 2 grad-level econometrics classes will be great credit to yourself too. good luck.

Barny · 4/16/12

eastman said:
Oh ok, thanks for the reply. Just curious, did you stop afterwards or continue to a PhD? My problem is that I was on the waitlist for the Msc in Statistics at the school I wanted to go to, but I was accepted to the Economics program. As the economics offer was expiring and in my eyes, the chances for my acceptance to the stats program dwindling, I decided to accept the economics offer just over a week ago. Now to my dismay I've recieved an email saying that a spot has opened up in the stats program, but I'm pretty sure it is unethical and frowned upon to switch programs at this point. So basically I'm in search of some reassurance of my decision, maybe I will do both as well, do you recommend it? They're only 8 months each i guess...

It's not unethical to change your mind about which course you want to follow. You shouldn't make a decision which will affect the rest of your life very strongly based on hurting the feelings of an admissions tutor. Education is a market like everything else.

If you bought a Hoover and the same Hoover came on sale at a different shop one week later, would you feel bad taking the original Hoover back to the shop for a refund and buying the second? No, of course not.

Email the admissions tutor, explain you made a mistake and would like to renege on your offer - if that's what you actually want to do.

Jose T · 4/16/12

Disclaimer: I don't know about how to get a trading job

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For any old job though;

I am in an MS Stats and it's a not a bad credential for getting some attention these days. Honestly, I think the MA would be fine too though.

There are certainly jobs for which an employer would prefer someone with the MA to someone with the MS (possibly even some jobs in Finance) and vice versa.

Personally, I don't think either choice is that bad for you in terms of jobs. I would look at both tracks and pick based on what you're interested in learning more. It is supposed to be an education after all

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eastman · 4/16/12

Thanks for all the great replies, they're all helpful, it's greatly appreciated. In regards to what Jose said, "There are certainly jobs for which an employer would prefer someone with the MA to someone with the MS (possibly even some jobs in Finance) and vice versa.", this is sort of what I began to think. It led me to to think that the Economics MA(8 courses) may allow for more breadth if I focus on econometrics first and foremost, financial economics secondly and substitute 2 of the courses with grad stats courses(maybe machine learning and stochastic processes?) Thoughts?

Ken Abbott · 4/16/12

eastman said:
Oh ok, thanks for the reply. Just curious, did you stop afterwards or continue to a PhD? My problem is that I was on the waitlist for the Msc in Statistics at the school I wanted to go to, but I was accepted to the Economics program. As the economics offer was expiring and in my eyes, the chances for my acceptance to the stats program dwindling, I decided to accept the economics offer just over a week ago. Now to my dismay I've recieved an email saying that a spot has opened up in the stats program, but I'm pretty sure it is unethical and frowned upon to switch programs at this point. So basically I'm in search of some reassurance of my decision, maybe I will do both as well, do you recommend it? They're only 8 months each i guess...

If you can take several econometrics courses, it might not make a big difference. Both will require regression. You could easily justify a time series class in an Econ program. Micro is actually useful for portfolio work. Besides,most MS programs do a very poor job teaching practical finance anyway.

DMX · 4/17/12

do Stats. If you end up choosing Econ, make sure that at least some of the classes you take require programming assignments (you don't necessarily need C++, but SQL, R, SAS etc should definitely be learned). Like many others have suggested, take regression/times series at least. I was a Econ major in undergrad and while I felt some of the theory was interesting, I didn't learn anything tangible from it.

eastman · 4/17/12

Thanks a lot for all of the advice guys, everyone seems really helpful here. I've decided to take your advice and try and switch into the the Statistics program. Also, I don't think I mentioned that the Statistics Msc is also funded and the Economics MA is not...

MA in Economics vs Msc in Statistics

Rutgers MSMF