Hey all, first time poster here. I'm an undergrad at Ohio University, a double major in Economics and Philosophy. I recently picked up the econ major after I decided law school might not be for me, so I have a relevant degree to help make me more hirable. I'm going into my senior year right now, although I will be a 5th year.

A little background on my college career - I came in as a music production major, and saw no money or job prospects in it so sophomore year I switched to philosophy with law school hopes. Before I made this switch, I had little academic motivation and had a GPA of like a 2.3 after freshman year. I'm now up to around a 2.9 and haven't gotten below a 3.0 since I first switched.

Here's my resume, guys. Just finished my junior year at a non-target in the Midwest.

http://www.razume.com/documents/26050

I need to know how to get more finance exposure. Yes, I know cold-calling and all that, but how should I phrase my past experience in terms of relevance to finance? I might take the CFA 1 this winter but I have to prepare for GRE too (econ grad school a possibility)

I'm currently doing research at a defense contractor.
Did research at my school.
Worked at a large IT consulting firm; our team's client was a Big Three automaker.
Worked at a Chicago start-up, worked with Kellogg grads.

Hey guys, so there is this knew thing for Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School where it will become non selective.

http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S30/34/...

Even though I know coming from a HYPS it really doesn't matter what you major in as long as you show some interest + good GPA, would it really matter if you majored in Woody Woo vs Econ? I am more interested in Woody Woo and it seems more well rounded, and a lot of people who major in it end up in finance, but would one have any advantage over the other? Also, I'm pretty sure you can get a certificate in finance in either one, correct me if I'm wrong, but I would do that too.

I go to a target Canadian University ( Queen's) and I am just pondering the relativity of my Applied Economics degree in the current/future job market. I have read mixed results on other forums, so I thought why not bring this to WSO where I actually value the opinions and advice I am given! Although I do not go to the BSchool (Queen's School of Business) at my university, I will get an immense amount of exposure to BB's and the top 5 Canadian banks through recruitment fairs and information sessions so I am not worried about internships (going into 2nd year) I just want to know how the degree is regarded by professionals in the areas of profession that I am interested in.

People often say that studying economics is excellent preparation for a career in finance and the business world in general. Is this really true?

I've taken introductory courses in micro and macro, and they are nowhere near as useful or relevant as my finance and accounting courses. Maybe I need to take some higher level courses, but I fail to see how economic theory (utility maximization, demand/supply, labor markets, etc) is relevant to the world of finance.

Hi guys, I have been watching/reading the forums for a couple of weeks and I finally decided to make an account. I was looking for some advice regarding IB. I am currently a CS major at a top 10 CS program in USA. I recently got an offer from JPM for a summer intern position as an application developer in New York. I have been researching JPM among other banks and I was wondering if anyone can point me to some resources which can help me get a better understanding of these Investment Banks(how they work, different sectors, different roles/positions etc). I am particularly interested in books, articles, magazines.

Sorry if this question has come up a bit, but I'm at an important point in my development where I'm applying to target schools to get better recruitment. My heart is in trading. I feel that mathematics and economics relate to trading and/or quant roles more than any business major. And they are also extremely interesting to me.

Am I correct in my beliefs? It will also be much easier to transfer into targets as Math/Econ vs. transferring into top undergrad b-schools

Real important to me right now, as app deadlines are within the next 2 weeks. Thanks in advance fellas

I attend University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as a sophomore and have decided to go towards the business route. I am interested in stocks and have recently been reading books about the stock market and find myself more interested. The only two possible directions I can go is get a BA in economics or a BS in Agriculture and Consumer Economics with a Financial Planning concentration. Which degree would be better for recruitment? I plan on getting into the finance industry and potential be a financial adviser.

Thank you

Hi, I will be attending Harvard next fall (class of 2015) and am thinking about what concentration I'd like to study.

I am thinking about Biomedical Engineering or Econ. For my future plans, I would either like to go to med school or try to break onto an PE/HF on Wall Street.

Hi, I will be attending Harvard next fall (class of 2015) and am thinking about what concentration I'd like to study.

I am thinking about Biomedical Engineering or Econ. For my future plans, I would either like to go to med school or try to break onto an investment bank on Wall Street.

Hi, I will be attending Harvard next fall (class of 2015) and am thinking about what concentration I'd like to study.

I am thinking about Biomedical Engineering or Econ. For my future plans, I would either like to go to med school or try to break onto an investment bank on Wall Street.

I'm going to a big three ivy, and am wondering what would be better to take for ibanking:

I can enroll in the engineering school and take Operations Research and Financial Engineering Major, or simply take an Economics course.

The engineering course is probably more difficult, and thus would look better on a resume. Especially because Financial Engineering is a more pragmatic approach to finance than Economics is. The downside is my GPA might take a hit, because engineering is more difficult and my competitors are smarter.

Thoughts?

Hi all,

I go to Boston University and currently major in a mix of economics, mathematics, and computer science. My current GPA is exactly a 3.85.

As some of you may know, Boston University offers an undergraduate program in business at its School of Management.

In terms of breaking into Wall Street, investment banking, and future career outlook should I remain in the College of Arts in Sciences majoring in econ, math, and comp sci or switch over to the School of Management?

I prefer the College of Arts and Science over the School of Management because I eventually want to get an M.B.A. from a top ten school.

Any advice or insight you have to offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I'll make this easy to understand. Will having a Bachelors of Arts in Economics deter me from getting into I-Banking? Do I need to get a pure Finance degree?

* Sophomore at Howard University
* Majoring in Economics (considering a minor in Mathematics)
* 4.00 GPA (46 Credits at the moment, 58 by May)
* Intro to Business, Macroeconomics, Macroeconomic Theory, Principles of Econ, Principles of Econ 2, Money & Banking, Applied Calculus (Relevant Coursework)
* Transferred into HU this fall. Spent freshman year at a university in Tennessee.
* COULD NOT GET INTO THE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT HOWARD UNIVERSITY. MIGHT BE ABLE TO TRANSFER IN BY MY JUNIOR YEAR.

I go to a Canadian University, UBC. One of the big 3 universities in Canada along with McGill and UToronto. 4.0 GPA, economics degree, probably a minor in business.

I want to have the air cleared on a few things:

1) Breaking into finance: the idea of not getting a graduate degree is so strange to me, and I feel wary about getting a job straight out of undergrad in business. With an Econ degree and being from Canada, will I even have the option of getting job offers at US IB firms?

I am a rising senior and an Economics major with a focus in Finance. This summer I will be doing a JPM internship in NYC. I'm wondering as I prepare to enter the industry, what type of market I might want to focus? I am extremely well versed in tech markets, and also have a background in the insurance industry. Last summer I interned at MetLife and got my Life and Health Producer Licenses. Is this something that could be used to my advantage in the Finance industry/something that is attractive to employers? Is it typically a good idea to gain a firm grasp on one sector of the markets, i.e. commodities, energy, etc? Any help is appreciated?

Thanks.

Hi everyone.

I am currently job hunting for available positions in finance and wanted to know if I might be useful in an equity research position. I am also looking into it from a newbie perspective, so I'm not quite certain where I should be looking to break into equity research (outside of the BBs of course).

A little about myself: I am a triple major in econ, stat, math from a big ten university. I've just completed a two year research contract with a top tier economics institution. I'm not sure how much equity research is interested in economics knowledge per se, but I definitely have my research chops in order. Also, I am not sure how much being two years out of undergrad will help/hurt me.

...or Dippin' into the finance job market.

http://www.razume.com/documents/15888

Hi! I am a rising sophomore at Duke University. I am interested in finance, especially in areas that would expose me to day-to-day market dynamics (perhaps trading, strategy, or research would fit the bill) and/or provide nontrivial industry knowledge (investment banking, private equity, and the like).

In addition to the courses listed on the attached résumé, I will take a graduate-level mathematical finance class next semester as well as courses in econometrics and microeconomics. I am also learning VBA from Simon Benninga's book, and I've applied to help a professor at our business school analyze industry data, though I haven't heard back quite yet.

I will be a freshman at Cornell ILR. When I applied for the program, I thought that it would be the school for me since it was part business and law. However, the focus of the major will be on labor related topics. Even though I will be allowed to take business-y classes as an upperclassman, I am certain I want to to go into into investment banking and closely related fields. Then bs-school eventually.

I want to have the major that the recruiters/ interviewers look out for more often than others. From there, I'll keep my extracurricular/ internships/ gpa in check to level the playing field.

Can I transfer in to CAS for econ after the fall semester, and not have to finish the year at ILR?(possibly double major with gov't / political science)

Ok...So what do I do.

I currently go to Rutgers University and study Finance and Math. I got accepted transfer to UPenn Cas-Econ. My options are as follows...

UPenn- Econ - 58k of debt total, payments look to be $700/month for ten years.

Rutgers - Finance & Math - No debt

or I could change my major and still graduate on time to either

Rutgers - Comp Sci & Math or Math & Econ - No Debt.

So pretty much do I finish Rutgers for free or do I pay roughly 84k over 10 years to go to UPenn for Econ and hope to improve my chances of making it on the street? What if I did a tech degree at Rutgers like Comp Sci, how hard would it be to get into a tech dept at a big bank?

Side Note:
I will finish Rutgers with a 3.9+ regardless of the path I take.

What trading desk requires the most math? That doesn't revolve around HFT? For example: Structured Credit Trading, derivatives, , etc!

Oh, also that would require only major in Math+ Economics major with a few Master level classes. Thus, none of the Ph.d in XXXXX,YYYYYYYY,ZZZZZ kind of jobs!