Redacted, Thanks for the Assistance!

While it sounds like a good plan, don't stress about it as an incoming freshman!

You also have to remember that they hire only very few, very smart people. Keep up your gpa, network and have good experiences over the summer and you will be fine.

I think you might be disillusioned as to what firms like SIG, Jane Street, and DRW are looking for. Their interviews are not "quantitative" in the computer science or advanced mathematics sense. They mainly test your problem solving skills to try to get a good gauge on your intelligence. In the last few years, Jane Street and SIG have hired philosophy, history, and non-math econ majors from my school.

I would do it. Math never hurts. It's one of my majors as well.

bmcrhino:

I would say keep doing what you're doing unless you know you want to work at a quant fund. It sounds like you don't know the difference between strategies and just want to work at a hedge fund because it sounds cool. CS won't help you working for a value-oriented L/S fund, but would be helpful at a quant fund. So, figure out what you really want to do within the HF industry.

In all likelihood you're best bet is to stay the course (Math/Business + stellar GPA), get into IBD, then transition to a HF after 2-3 years. If you are very quant-oriented and understand what those quant funds do, and you're still interested, then switch to CS/Math, but keep up with the finance knowledge on the side.

Well, I don't want to work at a hedge fund just because its cool or lucrative. I understand popular strategies, like global macro and distressed debt, and follow some funds in the news. If I had the choice, I'd work at a fund with a strong quant focus like Citadel or DE Shaw.

Thanks for posting guys. I've decided to stick with business + math/CS.

A follow-up question: I've done paid development work for a few companies. Will my programming skills help me break into these firms?

I'm a CMU student. Yes. You should switch to a Quant major. They're recruited much more heavily here. Programming skills will help immensely as the big funds/prop shops that recruit here are heavy-tech (e.g Jane Street, Citadel, DRW, etc)

Doesn't CMU have an undergrad major in quant finance?

Computational Finance. It's pretty good if you wanna do S&T, you have to apply to it though.

I really recommend the Mathematics Honors program though, you get a Masters simultaneously with your undergrad and employers really appreciate it. Like 70% of the alums went to work on Wallstreet, the others went to grad school.

@Euroazn, it's great to see another CMU student here!

My advisor picks my schedule so I can only take one math course this fall. Would you suggest 21-242 to get into math studies? I can meet the SAT/AP requirements.

Also, what do you think of BSCF? I like it a lot and am planning to apply when I get the chance. What's the recruiting like for BSCF majors?

If you're a business student, you can take more than one math class - I was a business student freshman year (and then transferred into math).

Yes, if you think you're good enough at math I would highly recommend 21-242. This will help you get into BSCF as well. Like I said, it's a decent primary major, but contrary to popular belief it won't guarantee you a cushy 6 figure job.

@Euroazn, my advisor is making me take Global Business, Intermediate Micro, Interp, 15-112, and one math course (21-259 for now). I've asked if I can take another math course instead of 15-112, but he hasn't responded yet.

How difficult is 242 if you don't have experience in writing proofs? I didn't learning anything about writing proofs in HS.

EDIT: I didn't edit this post fast enough. My bad Euroazn.

Is the advisor still Steve Pajewski? He's a really chill guy. Explain that you want to consider an additional major/minor in Math or Computational Finance and he's sure to let you take math (if for some reason he says no, immediately email John Mackey, who is head of undergrad math, and complain. He LOVES when people take honors math courses and he will wave his magic wand to get you what you want). Also, if you don't take 15-112 (that is, a 12 unit class), I recommend taking 5 classes. It's really not that bad of a workload - Global Business shouldn't even be counted as a class, lol.

I'm going to be honest, I don't know. I've always had no trouble understanding mathematical thought. If you have room to fit 5 classes, I would definitely take 21-127 Concepts of Math as that will help develop your ability to write proofs. The rigor of 242 varies depending on several factors. Based on RateMyProfessor, Pisztora seems to be a good 242 teacher, but you'll find the difficulty of the class really depends on the TA, as they will be grading your problem sets. If the TA is Paul McKenney (as he was when I took it two years ago), prepare your anus. He's a brilliant guy and a good instructor, but HE IS HARD. Turns out logicians are going to be strict about your logical expose.

All in all, I'd try it out. If it's too hard for you and you realize this early enough in the semester, you can always switch to 241, the non-honors version.

Finally, the good news is that I'm telling you all of this now. This means that you still have a month to develop your logical/proof writing skills... I would imagine http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/ has free stuff you can use, but I'm sure your google skills are up to par.

EDIT: For reference, my freshman fall as a business student I was able to take Concepts, 21-242, Interp, Economics, and Global Business.

Thank you so much for your help! I called Prof. Mackey and he's going to try to get me into 242. I'm taking 73-230 first semester so I'm trying to bypass the Calc 3D requirement.

One more question: Is there any difference, from recruiting standpoint, between a math/cs major and a business major who doubles in math/cs? Will you be looked at differently because your primary major is business instead of something quant?