What to Major In?
Hello folks.
It's my first post and I am very new here. I have been lurking for a while, though. Allow me to cut the glitz and glamour and razzle dazzle my way to the nitty gritty:
I'm a senior in high school who is a bit confused on what I should major in to break into the Wall Street scene.
My initial goal was to major in just finance. Then I discovered quantitative analysis and thought I should get into computer science. What I'm looking at now is majoring in computer science and minoring in finance. Does that sound right?
Give me all the advice you can, please. I'm open for everything.
Depends on where you're looking to go for school, I think you could definitely get a lot of opportunities out of both/either but where you are might push one over the top
Non-target schools, really. What sort of opportunities do you envision I will have with my degree setup?
You can't really go wrong with the Computer Science major, as long as you're actually interested in computers and programming. If the idea of spending hours programming bothers you, don't do CS.
so you want to be a quant?.... try quantnet.com for answers
Investment banking and quantitative analysis are my two main interests. I would be extremely happy with either.
You likely don't know what you want to do yet - most high school seniors don't - so do what you'll get the most enjoyment out of. Hopefully that's something practical (CompSci, Electrical Engineering, Finance, etc). You don't need to have a specific major to break into IB, there's a whole industry devoted to helping kids self-study to do just that. Study whatever you like and see what other careers are out there, and if in a year or two you're still into IB, pick it up then.
My two cents.
Start out with what you enjoy most within STEM/FIN. Once in school you'l decide if it fits or not but any of these majors can get you to the street. That being said, school doesn't prep you for a career on wall street. It's just a box that you have to check in order to make it to the next step. The way people succeed is by supplementing applicable coursework with 15+ hours/week of their own time put into their craft.
Start as Computer Science or Electrical Engineering. Take your Calc sequence EARLY. If you do well in Calc 2, and enjoy programming, stick with the STEM major. If you can't handle Calc 2, switch to finance/accounting/econ.
Most economics programs, that I'm aware of at least, either require calc 2 outright, or have classes that require familiarity with concepts covered in calc 2.
Major doesn't matter.
Seriously ask any of the Bankers on here. I mean you can't be a womens studies major but its all about what school you go to and how high your GPA is.
I'm learning this the hard way. High GPA seriously = everything.
Target school + High GPA + Networks = everything.
I agree with Bull-Market.
GPA is the most important thing by far. I would say do a computer science minor instead since it can be difficult to get high grades with the major but I have heard that a computer science minor is almost useless. Basically, if you are going to do the major make sure you kill it. Otherwise I think it would be better to do a finance/econ/accounting major and have something interesting like art history or biology as a minor. If you really want comp sci maybe do it as a second minor...
Major doesn't matter.
Seriously ask any of the Bankers on here. I mean you can't be a womens studies major but its all about what school you go to and how high your GPA is.
I'm learning this the hard way. High GPA seriously = everything.
Target school + High GPA + Networks = everything.
Honestly, you could be as long as you have relevant internships. I met with a COO of a very strong distressed debt fund 2 weeks ago and he was a musical theater major....
this is the only thing that you should never ask someone else for advice.
do research on both subjects until you have a full idea about the two positions and weigh the likes and dislikes on each of them. then chose what fits you better (forget everything else) and what you like the most, smth that is in alignment with your type. you can only be successful if you do smth that you like. remember this. however, since you're already here my advice is that if you like numbers and feel more like a math loving person go with CIS and finance as a minor. if you're the creative outgoing type that loves the rationality behind scenarios go with finance and economics/CIS as a minor.
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Engineering? Just plain ol' engineering? No specific facet of engineering (e.g. financial engineering)?
What I meant was picking a field of engineering that interests you the most. Chemical, Biomedicinal, Electrical, Robotics - very few recruiters will say "Oh the robotics engineering major is more impressive then the chemical whom is more impressive than the electrical". Engineering is universally viewed as difficult, if you're intrigued and can excel in one you're better off in it as opposed to finance because if you can't land a good finance job upon graduation you can enter the workforce with an excellent salary and go on to have a great career from darn near any engineering.
If IB is your goal, I wouldn't major in CS. If I were in your shoes, kick ass at your current school and apply to transfer to semi-targets and targets after your freshman year. Once there, take as many grade inflating classes as you possibly can to position yourself for SA recruiting.
Most common majors for IB are finance (obviously) and econ, although engineering students are certainly considered.
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