Bachelor's degree in Statistics - FAQs and file

• What is Statistics?
• Are the studies difficult?
• And the double degree in Statistics and Economy?
• Career opportunities: what to Statistics graduates work on?
• What future do Statistical studies have?
• What does interuniversitary Bachelor's degree in Statistics UB-UPC mean?
• Which are the advantages of studying Statistics in UB and UPC?
• Which is the cut-off mark?
• What are the continuance regulations?
• It is hard for me to decide. What should I do?

What is Statistics?

• Statistics is the scientific methodology that studies how to collect data (how much?, how?), how to describe it and analyze it to in order to obtain information that will enable decision-making and learning about the studied phenomenon.
• Often its main objective is to draw conclusions about a population (a big set of data) from a sample (a subset of the population).
• It is about advancing in knowledge through observation and analysis of reality in an intelligent and objective way. It is the essence of the scientific method.
• Statistics is crucial in a really wide range of disciplines, from social sciences to analysis of the environment, from research on new medicines to public heath, from quality control to market studies and granting of credits.
• An alternative definition: "Statistics is the art of turning information (data) into useful knowledge to make decisions". 

Are the studies difficult?

• Statistical studies are demanding and require effort and dedication from the students.
• They are perfect for students with a scientific-technical, as well as, a social sciences profile, that are good at mathematics and have interest in a wide range of aspects of the world that surrounds us.
• These are some characteristics that will help you successfully go through Statistical studies:
• Willingness to use mathematics and informatics (including programming) from the first stages of the training as statisticians.
• Good knowledge of secondary school mathematics.
• Synthesis and abstraction skills.
• Ability to analyze and give numerical results meaning.
• Motivation to learn how the information analysis techniques are applied to decision-making in various fields: economy, business, sociology, experimental sciences, life and health sciences, engineering, etc.

And the double degree in Statistics and Economy?

• It is a UB-UPC double degree.
• It has a duration of 5,5 years (11 semesters) during which the students follow a special study plan composed by courses from the Interuniversity Bachelor's degree in Statistics UB-UPC and the Bachelor's degree in Economy from the UB.
• At the end the students receive two degrees, Bachelor's degree in Statistics and Bachelor's degree in Economy.
• You can find more information in the Faculty of Economy and Business website.

Career opportunities: what to Statistics graduates work on?

• Statistics are present in many tasks that organizations and companies carry out daily and, therefore, it is needed to have staff specialized in this discipline.
• The interuniversity Bachelor's degree in Statistics is a degree with a wide range of career opportunities. Marketing, medicine, sociology, quality control, public administration are some sectors that have to collect and analyze data applying the appropriate statistical techniques.
• The interdisciplinary nature of the degree gives Statistics professionals the possibility of working in really varied environments, where their knowledge and skills are highly regarded.

What future do Statistical studies have?

• "Statistician will be the most sexy profession of the next decade" (Hal Varian, Head of Economy in Google, 2008).
• There is more and more data available in companies and organizations. It is cheaper to obtain and store data. The truly expensive part is analyzing and extracting useful information from it. This is the task of the Statistician. 
• "Statisticians are the people that can make date tell their story" (Hal Varian).

What does interuniversity Bachelor's degree in Statistics UB-UPC mean?

• It means that the degree is organized together by UB (the coordinator university) and UPC. The Bachelor's degree in Statistics collects the previous experience of both universities in the teaching of Statistics.
• Among the Bachelor's degree teachers, approximately 50% belong to UB and the other 50% are from the UPC.
• The lectures are partly in UB (1st and 2nd year in the Faculty of Economy and Business of the UB) and partly in UPC (3rd and 4th year in the Faculty of Mathematics and Statistics of the UPC). There are UPC teachers that go to the UB to impart their lectures and vice versa.

Which are the advantages of studying Statistics in UB and UPC?

• The interuniversity nature of the degree will enable you to discover two universities and enjoy the advantages of both.
• There are two faculties involved (the Faculty of Economy and Business of the UB and the Faculty of Mathematics and Statistics of the UPC), three departments of Statistics that usually teach in the UB (in studies related to economy and business, biology and mathematics) or in the UPC (in studies related to mathematics and statistics, industrial engineering and informatics).
• The expertise areas of the UB and UPC faculty complement each other, therefore you will be able to acquire a really broad vision of statistics and its applications.
• These studies have an applied orientation and are interdisciplinary: you will learn about topics related to statistics, mathematics, economy, business, biology and biomedicine and industrial engineering. Regarding the applied aspect, each semester a minimum of one course will be devoted to the application of statistics to various fields (industry, medicine, economy, public administration), and the whole fourth year is devoted to go in depth with these applications.
• Given its applied orientation, the Bachelor's degree in Statistics provides you with the necessary training to access the job market directly.

Which is the cut-off mark?

• The Bachelor's degree in Statistics UB-UPC offers each academic year 50 places for university pre-enrolment. Besides, there are 20 additional places corresponding to students that take an interuniversity Statistics and Economy double degree, so that the total number of places the first year taking into account the two degrees is 70. 
• The demand for these studies is not really high, but it has been growing systematically each year, so that the last year the demand in the first option surpassed the number of places. Regarding the cut-off mark, it increases each year, indicating a growing interest in studying Statistics: The cut-off mark the year 2018 was 7,79. The academic year 2016-2017 it was 7,57. The academic year 2015-2016 it was 6,68, while the academic year 2014-2015 it was 5.

What are the continuance regulations?

• The Bachelor's degree in Statistics UB-UPC demands a certain academic performance along the studies.
• The first academic year it is required to pass at least 18 ECTS credits (3 courses out of the 10 in the first two semesters of the Bachelor's degree in Statistics) and to pass a minimum of half of the courses in the first year by the end of the second year.

It is hard for me to decide. What should I do?

• Inform yourself: In the university's and faculty's websites, in the open-days, in the Saló del Ensenyament (a fair for educative offer), and if you still lack information, speak directly with the academic responsibles for the degrees you are interested in. In the FME you can request an interview at deganat.fme@upc.edu or +34 934017301.
• Take part in activities (conferences, expositions, workshops, contests, etc.) that will allow you to get to know better if you really like Statistics.
• Ask for advice: family members, teachers, people you know that study in university...
• At the end you will have to make a decision that will ALWAYS be THE BEST POSSIBLE DECISION for sure!