How to study Statistics: UG and PG entrance exams, job prospects

Where there’s data or measurement, there’s Statistics— the science of collecting, analysing and translating large quantities of data into meaningful insights. Statistics is the key to disentangling complex datasets, distinguishing facts from distortions and predicting the future.

Why pursue Statistics

• It’s application-based: Statistics has applications in subjects as diverse as Economics, Computer Science, Genetics, Sociology, Politics and Mathematics. This subject is closely linked with daily life and its implications.

• It’s everywhere: The concept of probability is always there in scientific research. Social media apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter deal with data all the time. And it won’t be possible without Statistics.

• It’s for academia as well as industry: Since Statistics deals with data in an increasingly data-driven world, you can go for higher research or simply work in different fields like insurance, agriculture, social sciences, biological sciences, physical sciences, engineering, medicine and politics.

Branches of Statistics

• Descriptive Statistics: It mainly deals with the collection and presentation of data. This branch of statistics focuses on choosing the right focus group to avoid biases and design experiments.
• Inferential Statistics: It deals with attaining the correct inference without getting a biased result from a statistical analysis.

What do you need to study Statistics

• Strong knowledge of Mathematics.
• Good analytical, thinking and computational skills.
• Knowledge of programming languages.
• Strong data interpretation skills.
• Quantitative reasoning skills.

How to study Statistics

• To study Statistics at the bachelor’s level, you need either Statistics or Mathematics as a compulsory subject or both subjects in Class XI-XII.
• A bachelor’s degree in Statistics is offered in both Science and Humanities streams. BA in Statistics mainly focuses on sample surveys and elementary interference, while BSc in Statistics deals with mathematical and computational approaches.
• The minimum eligibility to go for a bachelor’s degree in Statistics ranges between 50% and 60% aggregate in your Class XII board exams. Marks of Mathematics/Statistics and English are considered while calculating the score during admission.

Some top institutes for UG courses in Statistics:

Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) Kolkata — (BStat)

• Eligibility: You need to clear your Class XII board exams with Mathematics and English as compulsory subjects.

• Exam pattern: Written test and interview. However, no interview was conducted in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

Check out more here.

Banaras Hindu University — UET (Mathematics Group)

• Eligibility: You need to clear your Class XII board exams with at least 50% aggregate with Physics, Mathematics and any one of the following subjects: Chemistry, Statistics, Geology, Computer Science, Information Technology or Geography. You also need to pass in each of these subjects.
• Exam pattern: Computer-based test (CBT).
• Syllabus: Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics as taught at the Plus-Two level.

Check out more here.

University of Delhi — BSc in Statistics

• Eligibility: You need to score at least 45% in aggregate and 50% in Mathematics in your Class XII exams.

• Admission: Merit-based as every college affiliated with the university sets its own cut-off every year.

Check out more here.

St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata — BSc in Statistics

• Eligibility: You need to clear your Class XII exams with 60% aggregate and should score 60% in Mathematics.

• Admission: Merit-based and sets a cut-off every year.

Check out more here.

Presidency University, Kolkata — BSc in Statistics

• Admission: Before the pandemic, you needed to clear PUBDET (Presidency University Bachelor’s Degree Entrance Test), an OMR-based exam conducted by WBJEEB (West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination Board), for admission to the university.
• For the last two batches, however, admission was merit-based. At least 70% marks in Class XII board exams were the basic requirement for admission to the BSc course in Statistics in 2020 and 2021.

Check out more here.

Colleges affiliated to University of Calcutta

1. Asutosh College
2. Bethune College
3. Maulana Azad College
4. Lady Brabourne College

• Admission: Merit-based. These colleges set their own cut-offs.

Some top institutes for doing PG courses in Statistics:

Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata and Delhi — (MStat)

• Eligibility: You need to complete a 3-year bachelor’s degree or a BE/BTech degree with Statistics as a subject. Or you need a BMath degree from ISI or the PG Diploma in Statistical Methods and Analytics from ISI.

• Exam pattern: Written test and interview.

Check out more here.

Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI) — MSc in Data Science

• Eligibility: You need to clear your BA/BSc/BE/BTech/BStat in Mathematics/Statistics/Computer Science.

• Exam pattern: It’s a written test with subjective and objective questions.

Check out more here.

IIT Kanpur — MSc in Statistics

• Eligibility: You need at least 55% aggregate in your bachelor's degree in Statistics.
• Admission: You have to crack IIT JAM to enrol in this course.

IIT Bombay — MSc in Applied Statistics and Informatics

• Eligibility: You need at least 55% aggregate in your bachelor's degree in Statistics.
• Admission: You have to crack IIT JAM for admission to the course.

You can check more here.

Other leading Universities to study MSc in Statistics

• University of Delhi
• University of Calcutta
• Banaras Hindu University
• Pondicherry University

Certificate/ Diploma courses

• PG Diploma in Statistical Methods and Analytics (Indian Statistical Institute Tezpur & Chennai)
• PG Diploma in Applied Statistics (IGNOU, Delhi)

• Part-time Certificate in Statistical Quality Control (Indian Statistical Institute Bangalore & Hyderabad)

Some of the roles of a statistician

• Statistical analyst: Corporates recruit a statistical analyst who collects and analyses data and suggests methods to resolve issues. These professionals are employed in both government and private sectors.
• Financial analyst: They work in the financial sector and guide a company to make investment decisions. They analyse current trends in the market and recommend ideas to the companies.
• Actuary: They help clients minimise financial risks using Mathematics and Statistics. They estimate future losses and expenses, insurance policies, investments, pension plans and other business strategies to minimise risk and maximise profitability.
• Operations research analyst: They check sales history trends and analyse consumer feedback and workers’ input. They use advanced knowledge of Mathematics and analytics to solve such issues.
• Quantitative analyst: This job involves research, development and implementation of mathematical models in the financial sector. A strong base of Programming, Mathematics, Economics and Statistics is required.
• Environmental scientist: They study environmental changes to find out the latest trends. They also work with data to measure the interaction of man with the environment to help government organisations formulate policies to protect the environment.
• Data scientist: They deal with the process of transforming massive quantities of structured and unstructured data into new insights.
• Biostatisticians: These professionals apply statistical methods to address and develop medical research areas. Biostatisticians work in the area of clinical trials, systematic reviews and meta-analysis, genetics, genomics, epidemiology. They observe patient data and perform a critical review of pre-processing and data analysis using appropriate statistical models.