Hey all,
I'm in incoming freshman at a non-target school (picture is a hint) that is fairly well represented on wall street meaning it (apparently) has pretty solid networking opportunities as well as decent finance, economics, and accounting programs. My dilemma is what to major in, or more specifically what approach to take to college to maximize my future job prospects. Initially I was thinking economics but I have recently been considering a finance/accounting double major. I have also read that single majoring and taking extraneous classes to maximize GPA is the way to go. How much harder is a double major than a single? and will having decided on double majoring so early (before freshman year) help me to achieve the double major more efficiently, in four years per-se?
Any other advice on how to maximize (not sure why I keep saying maximize) my recruitment chances or my college experience in general is also appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your responses.
Major in finance nod spend the first 2 years getting decent grades and enjoying college. Double majors are useless because no one cares so your better off sticking with one and doing well in it.
Disagree with this in principle - it's true that double majors aren't really going to give you a leg up in recruiting, so don't take a double major if that's the primary goal. However, if you're interested in the actual material, by all means double major in order to learn more about more stuff.
Many people on WSO would disagree with my philosophy, and would encourage taking easy classes to maximise GPA etc - basically just stuff to boost recruiting opportunities. Although the end goal is a great job, I fundamentally disagree with this approach. As someone leaving university myself later this year (and heading into IB upon graduation, if that matters at all) I highly recommend taking a wide range of classes to figure out exactly what you really like and dislike, and in turn what you really want to do - finance may not be it. Even if you are dead-set on finance already, I would highly recommend building a solid liberal arts education as much as possible - finance classes alone won't teach you how to think critically or read, write and communicate effectively, and these skills go a long way during and after college. You can get a great job without being able to do those things all that well, but in order to separate yourself from your peers (during and after college) you need to be able to think critically and communicate effectively.
Make sure you get involved in extracurricular activities, and do things that you genuinely enjoy rather than just stuff that will look good on your resume.
As I said earlier - many people on WSO (and perhaps you) will strongly disagree with the approach I'd recommend, but I personally think that your college experience will be much more rewarding if you take a range of classes and become involved in stuff that genuinely interests you. I know people who did the opposite: took purely finance and accounting classes, involved themselves in extracurricular activities they weren't that interested in but ones that look great on a resume, and chased after jobs in finance they thought they should go after because everyone in the business school coveted them - some got the jobs, some didn't, and all had a college experience that was a shell of what it could have been.
Fair enough. I was looking at it from just a recruiting / job perspective seeing as that's what the OP seemed most concerned with. I think your point on getting a well rounded education, especially the extra curriculars, is well founded and it was well put. However, I would still say that double majoring is a bad idea seeing as there's more risk that you will drag down your gpa in some of the advanced classes. Thus the risk of a low GPA (anything below a 3.3ish) severely outweighs the benefit of the extra major. If you find the extra material interesting you can always just take those introductory classes, audit them, or take them pass/fail and minimize your risk that way. From an HR perspective, I'm going to look at your resume for 3 seconds and one of the only things I'll see is your GPA, not your major(s), and if it's low, it's getting thrown out. Vice versa, HR is going to put not much, if any at all, weight on a dual major. That's the risk you'll be taking. If you can handle the work load and still make an A average it's worth it but there's a big risk.
Also sound advice re: keeping your GPA up. Take interesting classes etc, but I forgot to say: keep your GPA, preferably at least a 3.7+, esp. at a non-target. However, I'd take a 3.7 and an interesting, well-rounded education and application over a "boring" 4.0 with only conventional classes and a lack of extracurriculars etc any day
Thank you both for your responses.
So hows about a degree in economics? My undergraduate business school features an economics major, which is nice. Would economics be a lesser major for IB BB than a sole degree in finance or accounting? That being said, both economics and business economics are offered. No idea which of the two I would be choosing.
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