Does the major you do matter to BB banks?
Hey guys i am 18 years old and wanting to pursue investment banking, i was just wondering about whether the major you do or the bsc( for all my non-american friends) matters, i was going to do finance at imperial, UCL, or oxford, but then i started reading and realized that maybe it isn't such a good idea, as i can do a much harder degree such as mathematics with statistics for finance and this would set me out from all other applicants, or will doing a different degree unrelated to finance be detrimental to my chances of landing a job at one of the bb banks. Also on a slightly different topic how much does the university you matter, does it matter more than the major or is it not that important. Thanks guys
They'll say no but in reality it does. STEM, business and finance are the preferred subjects. Sure, you may see some geography or history people there but they will have either attended a top target and have excellent grades or have numerous extracurriculars to back them up. If you have a 2:1 in history from even a semi-target the ride up is very very hard. Even within STEM there are "preferred" subjects; maths, physics and engineering. Chemistry, biology or medicine aren't bad but don't convey the same quantitative and problem solving skills as the first set. In a nutshell, you'll be fine with maths.
So if i understand correctly, i dont have to do a finance degree if i a doing a STEM subject, would medicine also be considered by investment bankers as a good degree or would it just be meh
As mentioned above, it'll have a leg up to something like history but be at the bottom of the STEM bucket.
Doing Biomed/Biotech/Med/etc will help if you want to go into M&A/dealmaking for those fields.
For better or worse GPA is king in IB recruiting, and finance major is the best way to do that. There's not much of a benefit to a difficult major just for the resume. All else equal, a 3.8+ with only a finance major will get more interviews than a 3.4 in a harder math or science major.
Would a 3.5 (STEM) make the cut with a lot of internships from a target school?
If you network hard enough, yes
Definitely agree with the networking. Also would need to have some finance internships and not just STEM because you'll get asked why you're not pursuing that
As a maths degree holder... If you’re going to the UK unis you mention and plan to enter the London market then ignore a lot of the networking advice as it’s all redundant in the UK/Europe. Here things are a lot more merit driven than the US (more, but not entirely).
Oxbridge expect you’ll be fine with most degrees. LSE/UCL/Imperial/Warwick as other targets, maybe include Bath/Durham but those less so. For the former group then most subjects fine I would focus Econ/Math/Phys/CS if markets leaning or add in finance if M&A leaning. For the latter two then it’ll be harder but still doable and same applies.
I would emphasise the importance of getting work experience anywhere and everywhere you can. The hardest step is getting any internship, after that as long as you’re not shit you should be fine. Remember you’re competing with all of Europe for these jobs. I would emphasise three things: Degree should be a 2.1 given; a first wasn’t historically an advantage nor was a MSc. We’re in a grade inflated world so maybe a 1.0 and MSc helps now but many of the most impressive and driven people I know did a BSc. Extracurricular are important. And if you can cross-study e.g. do maths but take finNce modules then do that.
If olanningon NY immediately after grad and you don’t want to get in via a European office then Oxbridge is best as while most Americans know a few of top tier unis the name recognition is strongest there. Else go to a US uni.
The best person to answer this would be Dwayne Johnson
Going to echo the other comment in here about ignoring US centric advice - in the UK business / finance at undergrad would be a red flag - the top target unis don’t offer these courses and generally recruiters have a preference for traditional ‘academic’ subjects - be they STEM or arts - as they are perceived to be harder in the U.K. If you want to go the trading route (especially derivs / structured products) then I would strongly lean towards a STEM subject but for IBD/sales/ER an arts subject will be fine as long as you have some evidence of basic maths ability (e.g. a decent A level). One of the most common degrees you will see in BB grad intakes is PPE so don’t believe the myth that you need to do STEM / finance.
In Liar's Poker, he majored in Art History and got fucked
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