Quant vs Data Science

[Larry Chang]

I have recently been accepted by the two MS programs, one in mathematical finance and the other in data science. I have trouble deciding which one to go to. In general, I'm interested in both and it's hard to say which one more. I have read extensively on Quora and Reddit, as well as other platforms, regarding various aspects of career, but the opinions seemed to be very diversified. What are the advantages (stability, pay, employment opportunity, etc.) of being a quant over data science in your opinion? Is it relatively easy for a person with quant skillsets to take on a job as a data scientist/data analyst with some side project experiences or MOOCs?

 

[QuantQuestion]

Once you realize that data science is 80% cleaning data and 20% doing something interesting with it, you can quickly see why so many people are interested in going down the finance side

 

[binomial-torrent]

eh, quant can be kind of the same way depending on where you end up. as for OP’s question it depends on the relative brand name of the two programs. a good data science program could be better for breaking into quant than a lower ranked MFE program. quant is a lot more specialized so u can get pigeonholed and if ur specialization is no longer a hot sub field, then ur kind of SOL. but yes “data science” is a lot of grunt stuff, the roles that you want in tech are “machine learning researcher” or “AI research scientist” or even “machine learning engineer” is more interesting, in general. those are pretty similar to being a quant researcher

 

[Larry Chang]

eh, quant can be kind of the same way depending on where you end up. as for OP’s question it depends on the relative brand name of the two programs. a good data science program could be better for breaking into quant than a lower ranked MFE program. quant is a lot more specialized so u can get pigeonholed and if ur specialization is no longer a hot sub field, then ur kind of SOL. but yes “data science” is a lot of grunt stuff, the roles that you want in tech are “machine learning researcher” or “AI research scientist” or even “machine learning engineer” is more interesting, in general. those are pretty similar to being a quant researcher

My comparison is between BU MFE (MSMF) and Rochester MS Data Science. How do you think about these two in terms of ranking?

 

[binomial-torrent]

BU MSMF

 

[YONGSHENG LIU]

BU MSMF

 

[Daniel Duffy]

machine learning engineer

Fancy name.

Are ML plumbers needed (serious question)?

 

[binomial-torrent]

Are ML plumbers needed (serious question)?

you land more clients by calling yourself one.

ml engineer is actually less bullshit than “data scientist” imo

which brings me to quant vs data science...the bullshit jobs phenomenon is more prevalent in data science. not to say that quant firms and banks don’t hire shiny phds and math olympiads just to look good though

 

[Daniel Duffy]

you land more clients by calling yourself one.

ml engineer is actually less bullshit than “data scientist” imo

which brings me to quant vs data science...the bullshit jobs phenomenon is more prevalent in data science. not to say that quant firms and banks don’t hire shiny phds and math olympiads just to look good though

Nothing wrong with plumbing, that's life., It's ignorance of the underlying maths is dangerous.

 

[somename]

My comparison is between BU MFE (MSMF) and Rochester MS Data Science. How do you think about these two in terms of ranking?

I was reading about Rochester MS Data Science program on reddit and quora. Conclusion is that it is not worth at all and it is a cash cow program for the uni.