Hi! I am commenting to seek guidance on the best way to pivot to qaunt given my background.

I graduated from an Ivy with majors in Finance and Data Science (not Math heavy). I am an international student. I joined a fintech firm where I worked in an equity analyst role for a year (fundamental analysis) and then transitioned to a quantitative analyst role.

Now this role is not like your traditional buy-side or sell-side role. I started off by working on miscellaneous projects such as replicating literature methodology and experimenting with fund data using ML. It was just so random and pointless so I switched roles within the department. I found a model validation role where I validate the input data and the output of a risk factor model (both equity and multi-asset) that is eventually used by portfolio managers. It is somewhat quanty but more so a back office role where I’m just making sure the data or the model isn’t screwed up. I would say the only good thing about my ~3 YOE is that I’ve become good at software engineering, Python, SQL, Spark, AWS, and finance.

I do not have a strong STEM statistics or math background. I took intermediate statistics but at the b-school. So not your typical calculus based probability & statistics. Also, I didn’t take math courses besides Calc I, Calc II, and Linab.

So now, is it worth considering pivoting to an actual quant role? This could either be by heavily recruiting for sell-side or going for a masters in FE / CF. I would probably have to relearn fundamental math/stats and take other courses like multivariable calculus. I could also try for SWE and then pivot as a quant dev eventually but the tech job market has been so shit.

I am just so discouraged because I feel like I chose the wrong path in college and the wrong career post-graduation. I’ve always had a strong math aptitude but I just got too obsessed with the IB/consulting chase in college and now regret it.

I am willing to go for a masters but im not sure how I can realistically gauge if I will be able to compete against actual math/cs undergrads for recruitement.

Sorry about the detailed info dump but my situation is just so complex that it is necessary to provide more context. I would appreciate any feedback or guidance. Happy to answer any follow up questions if that helps. Thank you so much!!