Education · 1 of 5
The path
A degree job. Most working statisticians have a master's degree, and the subject is taught well at public universities.
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High school
Grades 11 and 12
Take the hardest math available, right through calculus, plus a statistics class if your school offers one. Learn a bit of programming.
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Bachelor's degree
4 years
Statistics, mathematics, economics or a science with a heavy quantitative load. Calculus, linear algebra and probability are the core.
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Get your hands on real data
Summers
A summer research position, a campus job cleaning survey data, or an internship at an agency or a company. This is what separates applicants.
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Master's degree in statistics or biostatistics
1 to 2 years
One to two years. This is the usual entry ticket for the job title statistician.
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Or a PhD
4 to 6 years
Four to six funded years. Needed for university research, methods development and the most senior industry roles.