Is econ trumped by Finance
I am a third year McGill Biology / Management minor student, and just got accepted into econ program (Where I can do calculus or algebra-based stream, depending on my preference)
My current GPA is 2.8 (Hoping for academic forgiveness to get 3.0 +). I did very well in calc courses, so feel hope for my new econ program. But i'm hearing that econ grads are totally ignored by recruiters, and finance peeps are recruited instead. Is it true? (However, looking at big names at wall st. , they usually did econ in undergrad...)
Also, if I don't get into IB, what else can I do with econ honours / major and management /& biol minors, considering a 3.5 + GPA in econ.
Also, is it worth it, doing in-depth calc-based econ courses to be recruited / more likely to be admitted into MSF?
Thank you
econ in undergrad is usually because those people went to ivy or small lib arts schools that do not have an actual finance degree, but it kind of depends on the school. some of the schools only recruit finance because they are hiring for more corporate finance jobs which (stupidly imho) shrug off the econ kids... personally i think econ is more broad thinking and interesting at least on the undergrad level
"But i'm hearing that econ grads are totally ignored by recruiters, and finance peeps are recruited instead. Is it true?"
Your in Canada right? In Canada the best degree to have is BCom/BBA in Finance.
In UK, ECON is hands down the best degree to have.
In US I think it depends on the school - you should major in whatever the school is known for. IE An extreme example: Penn Finance (Wharton) > Penn Engineering MIT Engineering > MIT Finance (Sloan)
"doing in-depth calc-based econ courses to be recruited / more likely to be admitted into MSF?"
Definitely for MSF. Try to take calc 3 and FinEcon
So, if my school is legendary for life science program, should I just stay in molec biology / econ and finance minor, and then after an MBA try IB? Or, if finance is my primary goal, i should just take relevant classes (econ) now, and try to break in NOW?
Thank you!
I also want to know, if taking tougher quantitative classes will help recruiters see me as someone with quant abilities and not as some lib arts kid.
"I also want to know, if taking tougher quantitative classes will help recruiters see me as someone with quant abilities and not as some lib arts kid."
I don't think they will notice. In my experience, Economics is generally not known as a quantitative subject by Canadian recruiters - even though it is. Totally different story in UK and US.
"Also, if I don't get into IB, what else can I do with econ honours / major and management /& biol minors, considering a 3.5 + GPA in econ."
Off the top of my head you can easily get into ops on bay street - in Canada its not uncommon for someone to follow this route: BSchool > ops > CFA Level 2 > AM ;
You can try for PWM - just write CSC;
You can pick up a year of accounting courses and get into big 4;
You can apply for gov jobs - lots for economics majors;
If you end up with a BComm (any major) there are a lot of management training programing you can try for.
So, in US, it will make a decent difference to do calc-based classes?
I have never worked in the US -only England and Canada - In my experience though, most Americans have a very good idea of what an economics degree entails and they are generally highly valued as a quantitative major that is relevant to finance roles.
I am not sure about the course work you take - or if they even check it. I think people on WSO overstate how important it is.
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