If I want to make a long term career in finance (IB to PE/VC), do you all think that a degree or even minor in computer science is worth it? What are some technical skills beyond just modeling that I could focus on now that would make me a better candidate for other high finance positions later on? Cheers!
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If you are trying to do traditional IB, it helps kinda but is not required in any way whatsoever. There are plenty of "high finance" roles that would love to have you know Python or R or SQL (HF, trading, quant) though.
If you know how to code why would you suffer as an excel grunt for 2-3 years?
I don't think so. Some people find it a pretty interesting skill to have which you can easily learn the basics of in your free time with plenty of online courses (I took https://www.edx.org/course/cs50s-introduction-computer-science-harvardx…</a">CS50x and it was pretty cool even if I've never used the skills on my day-to-day tasks).
Granted, I'm not in IB but a rule that I believe applies to both fields is; if it is required at some point on the job, the firm will give you the resources to learn. For IB stick to knowing financial modelling well and if there is ever the need for something more complex that is out of the ordinary, I'm sure the bank will be prepared to help you or the deal time learn it in some way. Don't do extra work unless you find it personally interesting.
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