Here's the situation; my school is highly ranked for math and mediocre (30s/40s on Business Week) for business, and I feel that the business degree might raise a few questions. There is a decent chance that I will have the chance to add a math major to dual along with business, but I'll have to decide by Monday. Also keep in mind that I am fairly certain that I'll do an MSF, and my end goal is banking or real estate finance.
Math Major:
More difficult. GPA is at a 3.55 now...I still have a few more business courses to take, so my GPA would likely be around 3.45-3.55 at the end if I added this major. Due to retaking classes my GPA sticking with my current major (business and management with a finance concentration) would be around 3.75-3.8. I would still be able to graduate in May 2013, but would be able to graduate in December 2013 with my current major.
Also gives me more career flexibility; actuarial exams, operations research, more quant positions from MFE programs, and more. The rigor of the coursework would prepare me well for grad school and anything else in the future and I'm sure that admissions and future employers will give me more leeway with GPA due to the fact that my school is highly regarded in this.
Business major:
Not as highly regarded here. I feel like some of the classes are complete jokes; stuff like organizational behavior and so on. I switched from math my freshman year, and I don't know how I'm going to answer "why your major" without seeming like a cop-out. Plus, with the high probability that I do an MSF, the finance courses might seem a little redundant.
On the plus side....I will take a very light courseload the next three semesters and graduate early, saving money. I'll have 6 months to intern before the MSF starts. Also gives me flexibility to do a finance internship during the school year. Having the ability to get a C off of my transcript by retaking the class is also a huge bonus.
I'm leaning towards not adding the math major at this point; even though it seems like the easy way out, the value of having the extra six months to intern anywhere is a big factor. Any opinions?
There's no easy answers, just opinions. You could do a math major, have no extra internship, and be fucked like everyone else (and maybe with a too-low GPA). Or you could be seen as special. You could do just a bus major, get an internship that opens doors.
Doing internships > math major after adjusting for risk though (imo)
Best advice: do what you like and work your ass off to make it work.
Thanks for the advice.
math major opens way more doors. everything that business offers and a lot more.
Tough call, but I would probably not take the math major. Having it will not improve your chances at anything (jobs, MFE, MSF) significantly, as long as you have a decent amount of coursework. Just take the classes you think are fun, and do well in them. To give yourself the option of doing MFE, make sure to take Calc 3, Diff Eqs, Lin Alg and calc-based probability, and at least 1 CS course. That's like 3-5 classes, no need for the major.
I'd say the exact opposite. If FinMath is the goal, having a math undergrad is a huge asset. UChicago specifically says you should have the equivalent of a math undergrad. You could make the argument that a piece meal approach would suffice, but in the eyes of an admissions committee, you're going to be much better off if you have the degree.
As mentioned above though, all any of us have are opinions so take them with a grain of salt.
Personally I think math, and to an extent programming, is a great skill set to have for banking (more so in S&T than I-Banking but wouldn't hurt). It really depends I guess on what exactly you want to do. If you are aiming for a quant role, definitely take a heavy math set and even consider the major.
I can't speak on what real estate finance requires or looks for.
Unless I manage to line something up with a boutique during the school year, I'm likely just going to stick with my current major. I currently have no related internship experience (just working as a real estate agent at my family's real estate firm), so I think that the extra six months will be important and put me in good shape for FT after the MSF. Thank you all for the advice.
A math major is 100% useless for IBD or PE.
For trading it would definitely be of value, but nothing will trump networking. Weigh the opportunity costs, and be honest with yourself as to how productive you'd be with that time if you didn't go the major.
I would not use "rankings" of the math dpt as a linchpin for your decision, nobody cares.
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