What to major/school for Investment Banking?

I'm a high school senior and I'm interested in investment banking. I want to major in Computer Science for job security because getting into Investment Banking sounds tough.

Would a major in Comp Sci in computer science be a good major? What should I minor in? I want to do either cyber security (for backup plan), but I'm afraid this would show disinterest in banking.

I'm applying to the following schools:

Alabama (full tuition scholarship + 2500/yr stipend) UT (first year tuition free for being valedictorian; in state) Texas A&M (first year tuition free for being valedictorian; in state) Rice (not accepted yet) Cal Poly SLO (not accepted yet) Georgia Tech (not accepted yet) Washington University in St. Louis (not accepted yet) Northeastern (not accepted yet) SMU (31.5k scholarship) Case Western (32.5k scholarship) Trinity University (not accepted yet)

Which one of these schools would be the best in for investment banking? My budget for school is 140k, so SMU is barely affordable.

4 Comments
 

For NYC investment banking, UT (if your referring to UT Austin) is the only school that i think places whatsoever out of those you have listed. Rice,SMU and Texas A&M are good for southern energy focused regional banks but if you want a shot at BB banks i would say UT Austin is the clear choice.

 
Best Response

So I'm a junior in college with an SA offer, so take my comments with a grain of salt. This is what I hear though: - UT is a great school but a semi-target at best for banking. However, since it's a great school, I think doing well academically and networking like crazy will put you in a good position. Plus, I've seen on LinkedIn that Houston and Chicago firms/offices do hire from schools like Rice and UT. Plus, UT CSE is great - I have a friend there who says computer science is awesome there. -WUSTL places well into banking, but it's a semi-target and you'll have to network it seems. It's also a great school so if you do well there banking seems possible. A couple people in banking I know went to Rice/ WUSTL, so it's not impossible.

The rest of the schools are non-targets, and I wouldn't really consider them unless you really liked them and had faith in your networking ability. Again, you can take my $.02 for what it's worth, but that's just my perception. It's important to keep in mind that even at schools like H/P/W/S, the best of the best get into banking and it's not that many people (at least not as many as you think - coming into recruiting this year at a H/P/W/S, I thought getting a banking job would be much easier than it actually ended up being). So banking jobs are hard to get no matter where you go, and it may be even harder the less prestigious the school you go to is.

On a side note, not that CS would limit you from investment banking (because most firms don't care about major, just GPA and being smart enough), why are you interested in banking? CS kids command just as high salaries with much better hours.

 

Honestly, I'm not sure what I want to do. I'm a smart kid (valedictorian, high test scores, etc) with pretty good social skills, and I just want a career that doesn't cap out and one I'd fit into. I'm not sure exactly what investment banking consists of, but on all my personality and career quizzes, computer science, engineering, and finance all come out on top.

UT is probably my top pick over Rice, but I was thinking Rice would be better due to its prestige, I guess not.

Does someone mind giving me a short summary of the day to day life of an investment banker? How is the job security? Pay? If you mess up on something will you get fired immediately?

 

Hic quia necessitatibus sed autem quisquam nesciunt numquam. Consequatur expedita eveniet quidem quasi eum consectetur. Impedit voluptates quidem non nisi. Quae provident maxime et maxime. Ea maiores maxime non ut qui necessitatibus aspernatur.

Voluptas et unde aut error. Ullam minima quo ad eius quia. Consequatur quis rerum ut dignissimos aliquam accusamus. Non fugiat iure possimus porro.

Et laboriosam veniam earum incidunt cupiditate fugit. Aperiam ipsam ex corporis molestiae possimus. Officiis ipsum et velit qui ipsum dignissimos et. Facere cum totam dignissimos iure repudiandae nesciunt.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”