Is there a “best” path/major for those ultimately seeking a career in Data Analysis? When we search online it says IT or Statistics?
Help us narrow this down. We assume he will need an MA to actually start a career in the field???
Thanks.
Not really “best,” but there are some majors that make more sense than others. Statistics and math (or applied math) are probably the two most logical majors for it. Economics is also a pretty good choice, as long as there’s a heavy math/stats emphasis or the student themselves chooses to take a lot of that.
He may also want to minor or take some classes in an area of interest, depending on what he wants to do data analysis for. Like if he wants to do political analysis, minoring in political science isn’t a bad idea; if he wants to do biostatistics, a minor or a few classes in biology and/or chemistry could be useful.
IT is not necessarily a good major unless the IT major has a data science or informatics concentration. And even then, I’d look carefully.
No, he won’t need an MA to get started, but eventually he probably will need an MA because most professional statistician positions go to MAs. The good news is that an MA in stats is usually only one year full time.
More colleges are offering Data Science as an undergraduate major as well.
Oh wow, you are right! I just looked it up. UC Irvine just started it as the first UC school to offer it. Now to get my son motivated enough to shoot for a UC instead of a Cal State…even if he has to start at CC. He is a good student and very good at what he enjoys, but he is not the best test taker and his ACT is mediocre. He has taken a class and is retaking it, so we will see.
I mean… There’s majors in Data Analytics, Data Science, and then besides the specifics I imagine combinations of: Applied Econ/Mathematics/Statistics/Finance/Computer Science would probably be pretty good backups (depending on the specific courses in the programs).
I don’t think a MA is necessary to get into the field, but it really depends on which direction they take it. Are they going to be a professional statistician as @juillet mentioned, or are they going to try to move up though the ranks to be something like a CRO. a MBA might be more helpful than a MA/MS for that.
@CalGal17:
Here is the UCI Freshman profile. He wants to be at or above the averages for the best chances at an acceptance.
Averages
High School UC GPA: 4.10
ACT Composite Score: 29
SAT Old Test Total: 2100
SAT Old Test Verbal: 670
SAT Old Test Math: 740
SAT Old Test Writing: 700
SAT New Test Total: 1310
SAT New Test Verbal: 630
SAT New Test Math: 670
Admit Rate, Overall
85,097 applicants
31,105 admits
36.6% admission rate
67.9% of all admits are California residents
Thanks. I do know what UC Irvine accepts and doesn’t accept. He may need to start at CC or he may need to choose a different school, but I was surprised to see that UCI had it. UCI would definitely be a reach school for him at this point.
He has the grades, but the test scores are lower. He also has the extra curriculars and some leadership experience.
I may have made it sound like he is lazy or not smart enough. He isn’t. I just think he doesn’t push himself as hard as he should.
Eh, chief research officers and their equivalents seem to be less likely to have an MBA than an MA or a PhD in a research field. That’s because usually they spend many years as a researcher before advancing to that position.
UCI does have a data science major and that’s an excellent major for someone interested in a data analytics career. They also have a quantitative economics major that would be good for economics and related fields (and in general, too, but especially for those).