I have a friend who's a rising junior at Caltech, and he's been thinking about going into Finance.
Does anyone have any information on how Caltech is perceived in the finance field?
In science & engineering, it's the same tier as MIT, but I've never heard any mention of it in the financial field(most likely bc the types of kids who go to Caltech have no exposure to Finance).
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Of course Caltech is well regarded due to its academic rigor, but its not very represented on Wall Street due to most students not being interested in finance and the stereotype that most Caltech students are anti-social. So your friend may need an alumni contact to get through. If I was a recruiter and found a social Caltech guy that was interested in finance, I'd prolly hire him.
I always sort of feel that someone that intelligent who could probably do a lot of good has no place in finance. There is too much else they are capable of doing.
like what?
saving lives as a doctor...
...thats all i can think of.
I hate it when people say stuff like this...there is a massive oversupply of qualified pre-med students. Every year thousands of students are rejected from medical school who are just as capable doctors as those who are accepted. You do not need tremendous intelligence to become a doctor, just above-average intelligence and lots of dedication. If a smart student goes into finance, there are plenty of other smart students who will take his/her place.
I'd argue that if you really want to do good, finance is one of the best areas you can go into (along with maybe scientific research). A smart businessman has much more potential to "help people" if he uses his knowledge/skills to benefit others, because money is what truly makes the world go round...
Which is a LOT more than you need in Finance - a pulse, and a degree from a target. I would know, I've seen it.
The pre-meds and those who went to grad school were much smarter (on average) than those who went into finance/consulting.
The idea that finance is one of the best areas if you want to do "good" is ludicrous. Yes, finance makes money that you can then donate to charity or use towards the betterment of others, but that's basically a plug for all high-paying professions. If you want to do good on the job, then finance isn't ideal.
This board needs to get over the impression that bankers or consultants are super-smart or that they add great value or benefit humanity greatly. They don't. These are professions that no-one would be interested in if the money wasn't so good. Spare me the stories of how much you LOVE Excel and how often you orgasm at the thought of doing a DCF.
Some of the smartest people I've ever met were kids from CalTech and a couple Grad students (mathematics) at Cal-Berkeley. They laugh at finance and I know at least one of them has worked for the NSA. Another has done some serious, serious work for NASA, I believe. I'm not saying he needs to do that, but he can CREATE something or be a part of an organization that builds things that really make a difference. I'm not saying bankers aren't important, but at the end of the day, we don't create, we simply move capital from one place to another place.
If the kid really wants to be a banker, I'm sure he'll at least be looked at, and if he has a good personality and prepares, I don't see how he could have that much trouble, seriously.
Agreed
These guys design weapons systems for the Pentagon, they work as engineers and scientists at companies like Intel and Applied Materials building faster microchips and working on alternative fuels. That's stuff that adds real tangible value to this Country and it can't be compared to Finance especially I-Banking.
I have no delusions about investment banking being devoid of altruism, because that is not my goal - to help. I am here to make money, acquire a skill set and see what else I can do down the line.
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