Coding. And you can't be a 'data scientist' (whatever the hell that is) without being able to do a reasonable standard of coding anyway. GAT
Well, for trading it's obviously coding. Basic Python can be learned in a couple of weeks. But treat it as a side gig and don't compromise. I also had to make that choice. For my trading coding is probably even more essential and that's why I decided against it. I'll never be good enough to write a good feedhandler or even properly set up a column based database. For non - critical stuff I hire a freelancer at 10$ - 50$ an hour and for the critical stuff I partner up with the right people....people who only code and thus are experts in coding. My time is better spend in researching new edge and executing trades and my hourly rate is a multiple of what a programer costs. So at one point you have to make a decision: Do you want to be a good trader or a good programmer. You cannot be both.
I feel exactly the same way except I dropped out quickly from a business admin degree. They were training public speakers with PowerPoint skills, nothing about the markets. I would have enjoyed compsci in retrospect.
Stay away from CS if you didn't start programming when you are a teenager. Most people won't even make it through the undergrad program. I graduated from an engineering school called University of Waterloo with a CS and let me tell you, I am still having PTSD from all the nearly failed exams and sleepless crunch time to this day. The average class score for most exams was <50%, so they just took lowest certain percentile, failed them and pass the rest. I think the completion rate for my program was 60%, keep in mind everyone who got accepted into the program was a top performer in their high school with 90+% average.
Your school seems to be the only one offering co-op program with great salary throughout school year to big hi-tech firms in Waterloo region like IBM, Motorola/Blackberry and etc. This is why it's so competitive to get into your school in Canada for CS/engineering because most of you are guaranteed for a job upon graduating. Unlike my school SFU in west coast where we struggled to find a job. Some were lucky to land an IT job in one of those oil companies located in Alberta. In retrospect, I should have gone to study business major and then mba so I can use my knowledge or skills to help out my family business. CS was really a waste of my time and efforts to this day.
All the top performers from my school went to SF and joined one of the tech giants with their $200k+ salary, only few guys like me are staying in Canada getting paid half as much.
Hi OP, If we are talking about money/job security, I would advise you to learn how to code/design A.I. programs for internet-of-things applications. That is going to be a huge industry in the next 30 years. I've noticed in life, that the really big money is usually made by those are on the cutting edge of something, and learn how to harness it in a big way....these people also usually pay their helpers quite well, as the skills needed by the helpers are hard to find in the early years, until the industry becomes widespread and many people acquire the skills needed. -Gates harnessing the personal computer -Bezos harnessing internet retail -Rockefeller harnessing oil -Ford harnessing the mass-manufactured automobile -D.E. Shaw harnessing the computer infiltration of market-making on stock exchanges. etc.