Second major or maintaining a high GPA?

I’m an Economics major with the option of having a second major in data science. However, I’m not very confident of maintaining a high GPA in data science.

While I would love to have a second field I could potentially go into, I’m not willing to jeopardise my chances of getting into IB.

My question is whether a second upper double major or a first class single major has a higher chance of breaking into IB, whether GPA still matters after having some internship experience as well as what most of you would recommend in general.

5 Comments
 

No one cares about your major enough to the point where it is worth hurting your. Also GPA stays relevant when recruiting for buyside roles as well, and they care even less about your major. So unless you a really interested in data science and are really considering a career in the field over IB/finance it wouldn’t make much sense.

 

Yeah... Its just that I live in Singapore and data seems to be a larger and easier field to get into than IB here. I'm worried I'll fail to get into IB and basically not have viable high paying career alternatives. My career will basically be a chance for me and my family to go up by 2-3 socioeconomic classes which is why I'm risk adverse.

IB is definitely my preferred career due to having more interest in finance than data so I guess I'll drop to a minor and, if it still hurts my GPA, drop data completely. Thanks man, I honestly think I just needed someone to affirm my decision.

 

Yah sorry, I am not super well versed in what IB recruiting or the university system looks like in Singapore, but if it is anything like the US recruiting timeline, you should have a picture of your chances of breaking into IB by the beginning of your 3rd year (at least for SA). So in your situation adding a minor and making sure that it does not hurt your grades might be the best bet. If IB does not work out it should be pretty easy to switch from a minor to a major and if it hurts your gpa to the point where it becomes a concern for IB recruiting then you can make the decision to drop it or not. Also, I am sure there are plenty of opportunities in finance outside of IB like FP&A.

 

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