Undergrad Physics Major

Hey, I'm interested in finance and have a good GPA, a physics major, a math minor, and a good amount of experience with computers. Does anybody know what kind of opportunities I can have?

Thank you!!

 

That's a fairly broad profile. What type of university do you go to (the exact name is not needed, but an idea of if its target, semi-target, or non-target would be helpful)? Do you have any finance internships/experience? Have you done your own research into the finance industry, so that you might have an idea of if you want to go into investment banking, corporate finance, a sales and trading role, etc.?

 

I am a rising senior with a 3.97 GPA at a well-respected, non-recruiting state university. Unfortunately, my interest in finance has grown within the last few months as I begin to consider careers.

I do not have any finance internships, but I do have extensive physics research internships; have presented at national conferences; and have a good grasp working with heavy data. Any advice?

Thanks!

 

If you are interested in finance why are you a physics major? With your profile you can get into algotrading/HFT.

Edit: You are interested in finance but didn't even bother to search for yourself what kind of career you can get with your profile.

 

That's really good to hear. I didn't know bankers looked that favorably on the more quantitative majors.

I'm a bit confused as to where to go from here. Like I said, I know I want to do IB, and I'm absorbing as much as I can as fast as I can, but any advice on how to proceed would be appreciated.

Another couple of caveats: I do research and I work for 15 hours/week doing statistical analysis in a computational/data-focused language. I also have skills in machine learning and NLP that I apply for my job.

Should I drop the physics research to free up more time to focus on learning IB?

 

OP, you need to pick that GPA up. A 3.1 is pretty low. You will also need to get some internships on your resume. If you were to submit your resume to my bank, I would immediately be able to tell that you found out about IB last minute, and I would be concerned that you could not handle the hours given your lack of experience.

Your first step should be to start networking. Networking is now your full-time job. Then work on that GPA. Next, try calling around some local boutiques to get some experience. You might have to take an unpaid internship, but at least it will provide some experience. SA recruiting will probably be over soon, so I would suggest focusing on getting an internship during the year and trying to go through FT recruiting. You might also want to take the GMAT and start looking at MSFs because of how hard FT recruiting has gotten recently.

I hope that at least helps somewhat. Good luck.

QGKZ:

A 3.1 GPA for a physics major is NOT even in the same league as a 3.1 GPA for a business/liberal arts major. Given your major, your GPA is absolutely fine - Even more so at 3.3 - 3.4.

I disagree. When looking at a stack of 100+ resumes, I look at GPA and internship experience first. I don't have the time to look at the major as well, so while a 3.1 in physics is better than a 3.1 in art history, a 3.1 is still a 3.1 and will get tossed. I know that sounds harsh, and I wish I had the time to look at majors, but this is just how it is, and I imagine that 99% of banks are the same.

 

That sounds good. As I said, after I retake the relevant course my GPA should be around a 3.3 - 3.4. I appreciate your realistic answers; realistically, can I get a job in IB with a 3.3 - 3.4?

My internship experience is mostly in technology. As I said above I'm working in data science right now, but I'm not sure how relevant that is to finance. Should I drop the data science role and gun for a boutique?

 
Best Response
addedline8:

That sounds good. As I said, after I retake the relevant course my GPA should be around a 3.3 - 3.4. I appreciate your realistic answers; realistically, can I get a job in IB with a 3.3 - 3.4?

My internship experience is mostly in technology. As I said above I'm working in data science right now, but I'm not sure how relevant that is to finance. Should I drop the data science role and gun for a boutique?

I'm going to be honest with you, it sounds like you went into school set on physics/CS, but then realized that while you work a lot harder from an academic standpoint, IBers are earning more money, so you decided to move into IB. Even if that is not the case, anyone reading your resume will think that. My honest advice is to keep at it and try to get than GPA above a 3.5. Graduate and then work for a few years. Take the GMAT, crush it, and get into the best MBA program that you can (has to be top 20 if you want a solid shot at IB). I think it makes no sense to give up your research and everything that you have worked on to focus on IB. If IB does not work out, what will you do then? I hope that helps and does not sound too harsh.

 

As a disclaimer, I'm not in IB.

Is it really that late? So what if you didn't know about IB until 2 years after you started college. As long as you have a genuine interest in IB for nonmonetary reasons and you can tell your story well, don't worry about someone judging you for becoming interested later in the game. In fact, I would argue those who are set on IB before they go to college are more likely to be the ones who are chasing money. Focus on why you want to do IB because you'll need to get the decision makers to appreciate your change of interest.

Be realistic with your expectations. Do you have a chance at a BB in NYC? Not likely unless you know someone. You'll have a better shot at breaking in by targeting boutiques/middle markets in other cities like Houston or Chicago. Try to find relevant alumni in the industry who have a similar background (i.e. engineering/sciences -> business) and get them on board with your career goals. Unless you have an immaculate resume, "what you know" only matters if can open a door through "who you know". Familiarize yourself with basic business concepts immediately. Focus most of your efforts on networking, and in the background, explore investment banking details more in depth (study the technicals). Then if opportunity comes knocking, be prepared and study your ass off.

Plan A is to get as relevant an internship as possible from recruiting efforts this semester. Plan B is to change your major to finance, as long as it would extend graduation an extra year, and get a 3.7+ in your course work. Alternative plan B is to get a 1 year graduate degree in MS in Finance from as good of a school as you can. This will allow you to get your GPA up and an extra summer for internships. Masters in financial engineering would be okay but that is more geared toward equity research from what I understand because it's more quantitative.

Plan C is business school (MBA). Business school is a backup plan, it's like playing a restart card and you can only play it once. Use it and time it wisely. Unless you want to start your own business or are taking a major career shift, don't go to business school. It's an extra two years out of your life and you wont even be able to get in to a good one without at least 3 years of work experience. Most people in high finance that go to business schools these days are just doing it for the prestige. It amazes me how many people do top IB -> top PE --> Bschool -> ... then what? Back to the same place your were before bschool? Just in case, you should still take the GMAT as late as you can while still in school.

Just my .02 but Im probably the minority on these boards.

 

I agree with the notion that major doesn't matter much with regard to GPA. It sucks, it doesn't make sense, but when you are deciding between 100 different candidates, you don't get much time for excuses. You honestly are probably better off with a 3.5 in history than a 3.3 in physics or engineering, especially if you throw b-school in the mix.

 

Why don't you just give them a phone call?

I would go for the university email (let them read and reply whenever they have time), the business email seems like you're trying too hard.

 
BravoZH:

Why don't you just give them a phone call?

I would go for the university email (let them read and reply whenever they have time), the business email seems like you're trying too hard.

I will call everyone, but I prefer sending an email first and then calling a week later. The call goes better when I say " I emailed you last week" it kinda feels less like a cold call.

 
BravoZH:

Why don't you just give them a phone call?

I would go for the university email (let them read and reply whenever they have time), the business email seems like you're trying too hard.

I will call everyone, but I prefer sending an email first and then calling a week later. The call goes better when I say " I emailed you last week" it kinda feels less like a cold call.

 

Good emails, ranked:

  1. .edu if you're emailing someone who went to that school, or a fund founded by someone who went to that school. 1a. Unless it's Harvard; everyone is sick of your post.harvard.edu email addresses.
  2. first.last@gmail, like everybody else
  3. There is no third-best option.

Email from a business account implies it's on behalf of that business. So you should email from a business account if your business sells something to funds. Otherwise, nah.

 

.edu e-mail for sure. People are more willing to lend a hand to younger people; in this case, young is implied from '.edu'. And what do you need to track when people open e-mails for? That's some NSA/stalker level stuff you're talking about.

 

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Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.

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