I will be a freshman at an Ivy in the fall, and I was wondering if double majoring in applied math and computer science is a good combo for placing into a top IB position?
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The math is great, computer science is more relevant for roles in S&T and HF. For IB I’d suggest economics, business, and finance. Financial Math double major will be a big boost.
Ok, thanks for the reply! The applied math that I plan on majoring on already has an economics focus, and I was planning on taking computer science for other possible job options. Will majoring in computer science help at all for investment banking?
Also, I’m new to this website, but what does S & T and HF stand for?
Sales and Trading and Hedge Funds. Both typically depend on being able to build algorithmic trading strategies so thats where Comp Sci comes in.
You do not need Comp Sci for IB. You don’t need to know much more than how to use Index Match and Pivot Tables on Excel. It will probably not help you for IB specifically - but it’s not bad to go into it because in case you dont make it into IB directly through on campus recruiting, you’ll still be able to do trading, or maybe a hedge fund internship/job and then lateral into IB from there (because you’ll have experience that bankers think is up to par with what they do).
Think of your comp science as a really good insurance policy in case IB doesn’t work out (there’s tons of reasons why it wouldn’t and you can learn more about those by reading these forums.)
If you go to an ivy you can major in whatever you want. Have seen history majors in the field
Okay. But I’m not going to HYP. I’m going to one of the following: Cornell, Dartmouth, Brown. Is it still like that at these Ivies? Thanks!
Literally doesn't matter what you major in.
Also CS doesn't prepare you to be a SWE, Analytics professional/Data Scientist or work in quantitative finance.
Internships, side projects and research will do that - CS itself is just a nice subject if you're interested in the fundamentals of computation (much in the way Math is nice if you're interested in the fundamentals of numbers, abstract concepts and their relations). Plenty of non-CS people go into those fields every year.
Choose the major you're most interested in and are most capable of doing well in.
I go to HYP but have friends at Cornell, Dartmouth, and Brown. To be honest, your major doesn't matter. Interviewers tend to be more forgiving if you come from a liberal arts background and have no finance experience.
Pick an easy major. You will have a higher GPA and more time to spend on ECs.
Other posters are correct that if you are at an Ivy your major doesn’t matter.
I wouldn't do that double major as it would be very time-consuming and probably much harder to keep a great GPA. In my opinion, it would be best to just stick with the applied math major and get very involved in campus organizations while also networking.
Since you're at an ivy, there's no need to do something hard and kill your gpa imo if you're going for bb ibd. For ref, I was also at an ivy and I majored in poli sci and not trouble converting offers, and the same went for my other liberal arts friends
Having a double major could be helpful in placing in an industry group. For example, if you know you want to go into TMT, a comp sci degree could be evidence showing interest and knowledge about the industry. Same goes for HC groups too, I have seen a lot of Bio and Chem majors in HC banking. Definitely, something to consider if you know what industry group you want to be in. If you want to do generalist then it doesn't really matter.
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