Can a Bio major break into finance roles?
For context, I am an incoming freshman at Cornell planning to specialize in healthcare-focused Investment Banking, Equity Research, or Life Sciences Consulting.
I am going to be majoring in (human biology, health, and society) and plan to add a minor in Business and a minor in Information Science to build a quantitative and financial foundation alongside my coursework.
Will this actually work and help me break in? Or is it better to spend time thinking about switching out of the major entirely.
go do premed we in a doctor shortage rn
loll if im being honest at first i wanted something around premed, but not anymore. also takes a whilee
yes you can, had a very similar path. unfortunately two things to consider - 1) make sure you’re largely tapped in with top clubs and OCR. especially because your bio classes and friends will be far from finance circles. 2) get familiar with banking generally because most BB’s and EB’s recruit generalist, so placements don’t even happen when you get your initial SA offer.
Thank you for your insight!
Since you mentioned most firms recruit as generalists and group placement happens later, does having a background in human biology give me an actual edge during group selection, or is it neutral? Also, how should I specifically prepare for these finance/consulting clubs before the fall? If I fail to get into a top club, is it "game over" for my recruiting chances, or are there other ways to build that finance-native credibility?
Any other advice on the degree vs. club experience trade-off would be appreciated especially since I have no idea if it would be right to just stay in this degree and leverage the minors I plan to add and hopefully any internships in the future.
Look into MTS Health Partners
You go to Cornell which is one of the best schools dw you’ll place
Most definitely if you network well.
Met a Cornell student in NYC last year at a summer networking event who was bio / considering pre-med (sounded like he was majoring in biology because his parents wanted him to but he wants to go into finance). He already had internships in corporate finance at a pharma company and was spending that summer at a hedge fund doing equity research in biotech. Pretty sure he was a rising junior.
cant be worse at basic math than the humanities majors right?
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