Advice - Freshman in college that wants to be a prop trader
I am a freshman in college that wants to become a prop trader after college. Currently I am majoring in finance with a minor in math, but considering a switch to just majoring in math. If I want work at a prop shop, would being a math major hurt me? Also, what kinds of internship should I be looking for? Only internship at prop shops? The best I could do this summer would be an unpaid PWM internship at Merrill. Would it help to intern there, or should I just earn money this summer?
This site has been very helpful. Thank you.
Math major + finance minor > Finance major imo if you're looking to do prop
Any relevant internship is fine, don't go to mickey d's if that's what you're asking
You should major in finance because it will give you greater product knowledge (take Fixed Income, Derivatives, and a trading course if your school offers them). A Math minor or major would also look good and help if you are interested in some of the more quantitative products, but is not a requirement to be a prop trader. PWM at ML is exactly the kind of internship you need for freshmen year. For sophomore year, you want to get S&T at any place that will take you. The S&T experience is worth more than brandname. I know BB take a few sophomores into their S&T programs so you should apply to those (I know 2 sophomores that have S&T at GS and Citi; they did not have connections). The other major route to take is to do ops at a BB and make sure to be placed in ops for the trading desk. I have seen many people do ops on the trading floor sophomore year and then get S&T at the same bank junior year.
I think most prop firms would prefer to see you major in Math or CS over Finance.
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