Philosophy

JasonLoh:

imcguire:

I don't think Economics would give you much of a boost. A math or finance degree would highlight the quant skills being sought. More important will be your extra-curriculars (clubs, internships). And please don't put the word "quintessential" on your resume ;)

Yes but isnt it also true that quant skills can be acquired(e.g. cfa, msf), but that isnt totally case for critical thinking. Granted yes, critical thinking is a skill that can be acquired over time, but the key word is over time. Logic doesnt seems to be the norm these day in investing, but rather algorithms, That doesnt make sense.

MSF takes awhile to get and I don't think CFA will really compel you to learn much in the way of real quant analytics. I am a finance major and let me say that the best course you can take in my opinion would be financial/industrial engineering (IE is usually 5 yr program) or pure mathematics. I am taking calc II next semester and wish I had time to take more because looking at half of the hedgefund jobs on boards require a lot of programming and stuff that I don't have.

brandon st randy:

streetwannabe:

OP; I'm just saying this out of my own observations, but the classics such as philosophy, etc. seem to be more acceptable in places such as the UK and Europe. Not sure how they fair here, but I worked with a kid over the summer from Edinburgh U and he said most kids in finance industry started in classics (not sure how true that actually is)

A thorough study in classics gives one a solid foundation in both analytical and verbal skills. In particular, a course in Latin language is a very rigorous process, the study of which resembles more math and physics than modern languages. I remember when I took Latin in my freshman year of college (wish I studied it sooner!) the students pursuing in STEM on average performed better than the humanities students.

Re OP's point, it depends which courses in philosophy. I doubt recruiters would be impressed by courses in Derrida or Foucault but if you took the more rigorous courses like analytical philosophy (Frege, Russel, Wittgenstein)formal logic, metalogic, set theory etc. then you can make a case that you have enough mental power to handle quantitative works in finance.

The most rigorous, proof theoretic course I took back in college was actually a philosophy course. The proofs we were asked to do for that course were much longer than the ones I did in my math classes like real and complex analysis.

Ah that make sense! Thanks! So what you are basically say is that take up courses that will better bolster my the thinking function and use that as a case in point. Right?

Also, would recruiters even call me up for an interview when it is seen that I am a philosophy major?

brandon st randy][quote=streetwannabe:

The most rigorous, proof theoretic course I took back in college was actually a philosophy course. The proofs we were asked to do for that course were much longer than the ones I did in my math classes like real and complex analysis.

Wait, actually? That's rather interesting/something I wouldn't expect someone to hear. Well, complex is kinda pretty so maybe there, but real is just a gross mess...

ArJayBee:

streetwannabe:

OP; I'm just saying this out of my own observations, but the classics such as philosophy, etc. seem to be more acceptable in places such as the UK and Europe. Not sure how they fair here, but I worked with a kid over the summer from Edinburgh U and he said most kids in finance industry started in classics (not sure how true that actually is)

I work in the UK; I did Philosophy & Economics. There's a course at Oxford called PPE which is basically the undergrad UK equivalent of MBA@HBS. It's how you spin the philosophy that does it.

In my BB, I know of not one person in my class that did Classics, so really not sure that's true at all.

Yea. The UK education system is much much more intensive than the US system. Compare the A levels with the AP exams. So UK UG = US MBA isnt really that much of a surprise.

Also! I am considering taking PPE! But however, I dont really have that much of an interest in politics..

clungeandman:

AQM:

This thread is honestly beating a dead horse. As long as you go to a target, major doesn't matter. At a BB, I have seen art history majors and math majors both in FO roles. The real question is work experience and a high GPA. Good luck.

I have seen an art his major in one of those college-grad programmes in State Street (I have never worked there). And one of the Fidelity families is an art history grad, (though with a MBA from a target). But they are the anomalies. How do you get an internship in the first place if you major in art history? Many econ major from targets struggle to answer the question why the IB, why this role. Just saying.

Someone get Illiniprogrammer here because he's gonna love my answer. How do art history undergrads get FO BB positions? Because they go to the most competitive schools. Anyone with a good high school education can learn how to balance an income statement, cash flow, and balance sheet. Once you get good at those three, you can arguably build your own (very simple) model. Kids at HYP are hard working, and they're seen as "less risky" to hire than someone from podunk college. I can provide you a third-party, real life example.

One of my friends goes to Rutgers. He's a finance and economics honors major with loads of community service and he has a 3.5 GPA. For sophomore internships he cold emailed like 500+ firms in the northeast and got only a couple of interviews and no offers. Another one of my friends goes to an ivy and he made a couple of calls to alumni for his junior summer internship.Within the hour he texted me that he got an interview. The next month he got the summer internship and he eventually got the offer in a FO position in a selective group at a BB. Guess what his major was? Music and philosophy lol It's not an anomoly, major really doesn't matter as long as you go to a top school. (Ivy, Stanford, MIT, etc.) It has always been that way and it always will. Now how do you break in as a non target? I went to a target so I have no clue lol Although the kids I have met at my BB from non targets are still very smart and everyone gets along with them equally. Once you get the job, no one really cares.