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The Best College Courses for Monkeys
 

Midas Mulligan Magoo's picture
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 2:54pm
monkey

I have been writing about some complex and heavy topics lately, so being that it's the weekend, I want to lighten up today.

Now, I was never a great student but I have always loved learning. Unfortunately, our education system does not do a great job of steering students towards the skill set they need out in the business world.

That is why I want this topic to be about specific courses that young college chimps can take that will improve their chances of landing a job in the industry once they graduate.

There are obvious classes like accounting, investments and corporate finance that everyone knows about, but there are also a ton of courses you can take which will make you a well rounded candidate.

Here are three classes you may not have ever thought about, but which could help you a great deal in both adding some flair to your resume and some knowledge to your monkey brain for the long finance world haul.

Midas's Secret Scholastic Brew

1) Time Series

This stats class will give you a skill set coveted by many a hedge fund and prop shop. In fact, Statistics is an awesome major for guys who want to trade or do anything market related. It is a great compliment to mathematical finance,economics and econometrics. Everyone going into finance should take one stats class.

2) European History

This is a very broad term. I would focus on the post-industrial period. A big part of working in finance is recognizing trends. Some trends are cultural, as well as, political. The modern financial structure of the world was built in Western Europe and the United States in the late 18th-early 20th century time period. Learn about this time. Learn about the morals and the values. I know that Adam Smith wasn't great with a DCF but you can impress your interviewer so much more with a proper understanding of Laissez-Faire than you can regurgitating the steps of a cash-flow statement.

3) Child Psychology

When it comes to money, people are like children. We love it and we want more. Your primary difficulty in finance will be dealing with people, not dealing with money. Learning a little bit about how kids behave and how to deal with them will be a great experience for all of you guys who go into client facing roles. Adults often act like children when money is involved. It is so important to understand this concept, I just repeated it twice in a four sentence span.

There's the jump-off point guys. I hope some of you can add some other courses you found helpful that may not be really obvious to college kids looking to gain an edge.

I also hope some of you who have graduated consider taking a course from time to time to broaden your horizons. We all get wrapped up in our own worldviews.

Life's a never ending curriculum.

Let's go back to school...

Where I unload on Twits and take verbal S***s
Tags:

Comments

chubbybunny's picture

There are no "best courses"

O
(Orangutan, 264
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 3:11pm

There are no "best courses" to take to become a money in finance.

Just take the maximum amount of credits and overnight like crazy. This will give you the best preparation for a career in banking, much more than some European history/child psychology crap.

*bows*

Im with Busey's picture

Any Psych class... if you're

IB
(Baboon, 171
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 3:20pm

Any Psych class... if you're going into finance, you should at least try to chase box while you still have the time.

mike55555's picture

Your view on European History

O
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 3:25pm

Your view on European History has enlightened me. Before reading this I viewed it as just another BS class I am required to take, but I now view it as another BS class that will make it that much easier to BS my way through an interview.

Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.

-Niccolo Machiavelli

LeveragedFiend's picture

public speaking. art history.

IB
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 3:29pm

public speaking. art history.

It’s no mystery that ass has always been tits’ greatest enemy... It’s almost like a Muslim-Jewish thing, but with tits and ass.

happypantsmcgee's picture

I would add Spanish/Mandarin

O
(Almost Human, 9,621
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 3:38pm

I would add Spanish/Mandarin to that as well since we will all need to be able to speak it sooner rather than later

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford

Frieds's picture

Midas, the one course you've

AM
(Neanderthal, 2,530
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 3:58pm

Midas, the one course you've forgotten to include is a course on meditation and self-reflection.

Regardless of whether you are on the Street or not, taking any class that teaches you how to meditate and reflect on yourself will put you in a better position. I know I'm always talking about reflection, but it's the truth. One of the best ways you will find yourself being able to succeed is by being able to step back and reflect, particularly if you are a trader.

econ's picture

I would add one or two proof

O
(Neanderthal, 2,416
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 4:07pm

I would add one or two proof based math courses.

For my aspiring Entrepreneurial Nomads, check out my blog.

za3212's picture

Game theory and programming

(Baboon, 116
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 4:21pm

Game theory and programming for S&T

Bi-Winning's picture

SB'd for time-series,

(Gorilla, 708
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 4:32pm

SB'd for time-series, although I'm surprised that your Secret Scholastic Brew comprises of only 3 courses.

Gonna try and enroll in an European economic history course next semester.

I win here, I win there...

TheSquale's picture

I think that any courses

AM
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 4:39pm

I think that any courses related to psycho could be relevant. Moreover it show to everyone a different way of thinking.

mperit01's picture

Most of the classes I have

ER
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 4:43pm

Most of the classes I have taken, even within my finance major, don't really go above and beyond in terms of preparing for a real world job, i would say though any form of business communication class or sales class that really just forces you to speak in front of other people, present deals or ideas is very helpful experience that could make your more comfortable once you start working.

ivoteforthatguy's picture

The best course I took in

O
(Neanderthal, 2,210
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 4:55pm

The best course I took in college was a no-credit seminar taught by an old alum (from the '50s) who is a retired partner at a Big 4 firm. I'll summarize it:

1. "I wanted to be a millionaire and retire before age 50."
2. "This entails: saving and investing prudently."
3. "Not did I only crush that objective many times over, but even my secretary did it on her salary by age 45."

happypantsmcgee's picture

ivoteforthatguy wrote: The

O
(Almost Human, 9,621
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 4:57pm
ivoteforthatguy:

The best course I took in college was a no-credit seminar taught by an old alum (from the '50s) who is a retired partner at a Big 4 firm. I'll summarize it:

1. "I wanted to be a millionaire and retire before age 50."
2. "This entails: saving and investing prudently."
3. "Not did I only crush that objective many times over, but even my secretary did it on her salary by age 45."

She must have given him some mad good dome

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford

ivoteforthatguy's picture

happypantsmcgee

O
(Neanderthal, 2,210
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 5:21pm
happypantsmcgee:
ivoteforthatguy:

The best course I took in college was a no-credit seminar taught by an old alum (from the '50s) who is a retired partner at a Big 4 firm. I'll summarize it:

1. "I wanted to be a millionaire and retire before age 50."
2. "This entails: saving and investing prudently."
3. "Not did I only crush that objective many times over, but even my secretary did it on her salary by age 45."

She must have given him some mad good dome

HA that's what a lot of the audience was surely thinking.

In all seriuosness, she managed to do it on her 30K a year.

Billy Ray Valentine's picture

If I could do it all over

O
(King Kong, 1,122
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 5:26pm

If I could do it all over again...

1) More accounting courses. Accounting is a pain in the ass, but if you really understand it you can really pick apart a company and understand how it works.

2) Public Speaking. I had to do a lot of presentations in front of large groups in college, so this came rather naturally in the job world, but it is something that everyone should get good at if you want to succeed in this industry.

3) Negotiations. This is a big one. Closing deals, negotiating comp, etc. Negotiations is one class I definitely wish I would have taken.

4) VBA. I know a very limited amount of VBA, but I know that if I had taken a course in it, it could definitely speed up my day-to-day.

5) Excel. Take some course in excel. This was the biggest thing I was able to bring to my firm when I came on board. Especially with no formal training program, knowing the ins and out of Excel straight out of school was huge.

Gimme some bananas...

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econ's picture

Introductory microeconomics

O
(Neanderthal, 2,416
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 7:03pm

For my aspiring Entrepreneurial Nomads, check out my blog.

karypto's picture

Any class where when you fail

EN
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 7:10pm
ambition56's picture

excel/VBA, public speaking

ST
(Gorilla, 601
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 8:42pm
jake8383's picture

I agree with Midas in that

(Chimp, 13
 
Points)
 on 1/15/11 at 9:28pm
Walkerr's picture

Problem with me is that i

IB
(Gorilla, 569
 
Points)
 on 1/16/11 at 10:44am
brooksbrotha's picture

I'm in a money and banking

 
Points)
 on 1/16/11 at 1:34pm
happypantsmcgee's picture

I took an African American

O
(Almost Human, 9,621
 
Points)
 on 1/16/11 at 1:36pm

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford

Logic was good. (game theory

Commuter (not verified)
(Chimp, 0
 
Points)
 on 1/19/11 at 12:54am

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