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Also been wondering this
I'm doing accounting with a minor in English and I constantly have interviewers comment on/be impressed by the English minor. Many business (and liberal arts) graduates can't write for shit, so having English on your resume shows that you can write well, which is an extremely important skill. Given that A) accounting might bring your GPA down, B) accounting is more work than English, and C) you're foreign, I would go with Finance major + English minor.
Also, try and take as many "writing" focused classes as you can. I.e. for my minor I'm not taking any of the Shakespeare/poetry/drama stuff; I'm focusing purely on academic/research writing, which is what comes in handy when you start working. If you are able to bring this up in interviews, it's usually impressive.
Thanks Zzari. Do you think Finance+Accounting+English minor will be substantially more impressive for IB than just Finance+English minor? I think I can get a 3.8~3.9 if I work my ass off, and it will provide me with F500 corp fin or Big 4 jobs to fall back on if IB doesn't work out- trying to weigh the pros and cons.
In absolute terms, more is better. That said, if getting a 3.8 - 3.9 in the triple major/minor is going to hinder other aspects of your education, I probably wouldn't do it. Instead of doing accounting, try to find other ways to get involved (finance club, student investment fund, etc.). If you're already relatively involved and don't think you have much to lose by picking up the extra major, then go for it.
Asianmonky I have been weighing out the exact same things (except Econ minor). Im wondering if doing the Accounting major will show that I put in the extra effort to make up for attending a non target. Please pm me if you get any good answers. I also have thought about the Big 4 fallback for a few years if IB doesn't pan out then going into corp fin and working my way up to CFO. Let me know!
College kids often think that their transcript details matter, or that the specific classes they took matter. They don't. Focus on getting the highest GPA you can, with as little effort as possible, and enjoy the rest of your time. The English minor won't help at all. As long as you can speak English fluently in an interview, you're fine. If you want to do it because of a genuine interest, by all means, go for it. It won't boost your resume in the slightest, at best, it might be a bit of a conversation starter.
People who scan resumes are very lazy. They mainly just look at the name of the school and GPA. I can't emphasize this enough. As you progress in your career and education fades to the bottom of your resume, this phenomenon will only become more pronounced.
You will need the accounting knowledge for your interviews, and obviously once you actually start doing the job, but if you are disciplined you can gain this on your own without grades being involved. Your choice.
To the argument that an English minor shows that you're a good writer - I'm not sure I buy that. A lot of the writing in English classes is very pedantic, convoluted, and is focused on finding grand themes and connections that aren't very important or that don't even exist.
Granted, I'm still in college, but if I'm reviewing resumes, I wouldn't be impressed to see an English minor.
The wording of my original post is a bit misleading. I agree with your point about an English minor not being necessarily equated with good writing skills. My argument/point is that an English minor signals to HR/recruiters that you at least write competently (which most people can't).
As for slowdive's point, I agree for the most part. At the end of the day, whether you have an English minor or not is extremely unlikely to affect whether you get an interview. High GPA and a proven interest in finance are much more important.
Interesting. I am actually one of 8 investigators for the College of Business, where I write investigation reports for academic dishonesty cases. Would emphasizing that in an interview indicate to them that I'm a decent writer, instead of going through an English minor?
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