> To even get considered for the good quant position you need a good phd in applied mathematics or statistics.
Are you sure about that? again, it's only anecdotal but I know at least 3 quants that didn't do a PhD (just a MS from reputable schools), including one that worked at GS as a new graduate. But there may very well be the exceptions.
I was editing the post while you replied. I realised that my post wasn't conveying any useful point.
In general, when many people hear Quant they think about quantitative portfolio manager - this is what I was talking about and where the "money" is at. It seems that IBs tend to use "quant" nowadays for a role that is very similar to Silicon Valley "data scientist".
