Wharton LSM (life science & management) pre-frosh, not sure whether to drop life science part?

Hi everyone,

I'll be starting school at Penn this fall (2014), and I'm in the LSM (life sciences and management) program. So initially when I applied to LSM, I thought I would be pretty interested in doing things like healthcare investment banking/healthcare private equity - basically areas of finance that require both finance and bio/science knowledge.

However, now after thinking about it and reading various people's accounts on the Internet, it seems that doing both a bio and business degree might also disadvantage me if I'm trying out for really high finance options like private equity. Cos' when those hardcore finance kids are spending all their time reading about finance, I have to juggle both bio and business bits, and well, I guess learning about respiration and cancer probably won't help much with my finance knowledge.

So just want to ask are LSM students really at a disadvantage when it comes to recruiting at BB banks, specifically for I-banking/M&A stuff, or private equity, or hedge funds? Should I drop out of LSM and just stick to doing a single Wharton degree, and then take a minor in computer science, would that place me a better position during recruiting season?

On the life science side, I'm actually considering to do a computational bio major. I have *absolutely no* intention of going to medical school, and little intention of going to grad school, so I was thinking that computational bio would be the most real world/practical major to do. Even if the bio side doesn't work, I'll be left with some computational skills that may help with my finance job. Does this make sense? Or am I spouting rubbish?

Thanks in advance for the help! I'm really quite worried about this, because I don't want to make a rash decision. And if I really do want to drop LSM, I guess I'm better off doing it earlier on, maybe in freshman year, so that I can have more time freed up to do Wharton courses.. Any advice? :)

 
  1. Don't listen to ppl who doesn't know ppl in LSM from this forum.
  2. The biggest benefit you get out of the program is the exclusive connections you would get in addition to Wharton's already exclusive connections. You can do the bare minimum and stay in the program. There are funnels for LSM kids at consulting firms and banks just because they have a board full of ppl high up. If you can keep up with double major. Do it. It won't hurt your shot at high finance, if not help you actually.
You crave what you are not. Dude, your perspective on life sucks.
 
Best Response
So just want to ask are LSM students really at a disadvantage when it comes to recruiting at BB banks, specifically for I-banking/M&A stuff, or private equity, or hedge funds?

History majors from Ivy league schools get into IB/PE, you're already slightly ahead of the curve.

PE is not so much in the bio space, refer to older forum: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/mdmba-to-healthcare-pevc following another link within that post..

Computational Bio is brutal, you will be going BEYOND what is technically necessary in a high finance role, for what you can get with just a computer science minor. Comp Bio people generally go into research in industry, or grad school for further refinement in bioinformatics.

I guess learning about respiration and cancer probably won't help much with my finance knowledge.

It just sounds like you don't like biology as much as finance. People who have a passion for science and finance really pursue degrees like these. If high finance is what you're more focused on, then drop the life sciences piece. I would hold onto it though, more scientifically literate business people is what we need these days..

Another connection of mine you should talk to is @"W17C17", he's going through a similar program.

 

At the end of the day, if you are 100% sure you want to go into finance and stay in banking, there's no point in doing a dual degree. The extra work load will mean less time to network, and do whatever it is you have to in order to set up those banking internships.

What a dual degree gives you is the exclusive connections, alumni network, and more options. As an 18 year old it's hard to say you're going to be dead set on finding a high finance job and intend to stay in the industry. A lot of people have a change of heart, and a lot of people end up changing their degrees throughout college.

If you think you can handle doing two concurrent degrees, I would personally recommend following through with it. And when I say being able to handle doing two degrees, that includes doing two degrees on top of what it takes to get that finance job. You never know when the extra network or experiences can come in 10, 15 years down the road.

 

The 'exclusive connections' being touted here are pretty marginal at best. You'll get all the connections you need from Wharton alone. Honestly far more important is GPA. The LSM degree is impressive only if you do well in it. But it doesn't sound like you'll be a very promising student in biology (as you're clearly doing it only for the marketability). You'll be behind the curve compared to other dedicated students in the field (from Penn CAS), unless you're really smart.

A high GPA at Wharton (3.85+) will open far more many doors in high finance than a middling GPA (3.5 - 3.6) in LSM. Stick with the single degree, and use the extra time to excel at Wharton, network, get involved on campus, and build up a solid profile.

Of course if you can manage everything (and that's what the smartest kids at Penn do), then by all means go for the dual degree - it will definitely make you a highly sought after candidate.

 

Hmm okay thanks everyone for the advice so far! I guess I'll just give LSM a shot and try my bestest to keep my GPA up. As you guys say, the bio part might come in handy in future. And given that I've ever entertained working for a biotech startup/pharma company in a biz dev/finance role, I guess I should give it a try before quitting.

Just two questions though: - If I really want to drop out of LSM, should I do it at the end of freshman year? Or one semester into the year? I've heard of someone in Jerome Fisher M&T who dropped out on day 1... Technically the earlier the better right, since that'll free up more of my time..?

  • Does anyone know if Penn will blacklist me if I really drop out of LSM? :(

Thanks in advance! :)

 

Thanks @"SocratesIsMortal" for leading me to this forum! @"crusader12", first of all, welcome to LSM! Lots of good stuff being said on this thread. Long story short, although I'm definitely biased, I highly recommend at least trying to stay in the program. First of all, you don't actually need to major in biology. Most people who know they wanna go into IB from LSM major in Biological Basis of Behavior or Cog Sci. They're easier than biology, while still allowing you to stay in LSM. @"DictatorCloudy" brought up some great points. LSM will definitely provide you with some nice connections and benefits. I think LSM sends at least one junior to JP Morgan HC, among other great places (for reference: https://lsm.upenn.edu/internships-research/past-internships). Furthermore, while I'm not 100% sure this is true, I've heard you'll get 0.1-0.2 leeway as far as GPA goes; so, a 3.6 from LSM could look as good as a 3.8 from Wharton. And to be honest, the LSM curriculum is not terribly difficult. It's no walk in the park, but no one drops out of the program because they can't handle it; people mainly drop out once they're sure they aren't interested in science and want a finance internship after their sophomore year (which, after discussion with a lot of different people, I've found isn't even that necessary -- if you want, i can speak to this further). As far as comp bio, I wouldn't recommend it unless you actually genuinely want to study it. It's one of the harder science majors for LSM students, and it isn't necessary unless that's what you're interested in. Whatever you do, don't drop the program until you're absolutely sure you aren't even interested in science. Most people who drop out (and not many people do drop out) will drop out their sophomore year, so you have time to test the waters.

I hope I covered everything, but let me know if you want to hear anything else! I"ll shoot you a PM. Hope this helps!

"True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less."
 

Not the case for LSM. Everyone who drops the program drops it because of not wanting to complete the science internship or the senior capstone project. Overall LSM has a pretty great retention rate.

"True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less."
 

Once you're at Wharton, you shouldn't be setting your goal on IB like the rest of the non-ivy monkeys on this forum. You should want in on PE, if not top groups in IB (BX RR, GS TMT, GS FIG etc.). If your goal is to just rely on the school's career services and get to the "normal" places that everyone already goes to, Wharton is good enough (and the best at it compared to any other school out there). But if you are really looking to leverage your connections, being in an exclusive program helps. For example, once you set your feet on the door, you'll notice that some people stand out even within the Wharton crowd. Most often then not, they will be double degree program kids (LSM, M&T and Huntzman). You will notice a trend that M&T kids go to stellar shops in trading etc. Know where you stand on your goals and leverage the opportunities you have because you have done well thus far.

You crave what you are not. Dude, your perspective on life sucks.
 

Jerome Fisher is a pretty amazing program--it's been around for longer, so networking is stronger, and depending on your career path, it could be much more applicable. The workload, of course, is insane!

"True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less."

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