I am a student at top target who is split between physics academia and investment banking. I spent much of college working in astrophysics research, but this summer I'm an SA in IBD at a top BB/EB, which I have also grown to enjoy. Assuming I get into a top physics doctorate program, which path should I pursue for the best future opportunities?
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Go IB and never look back. I say that as someone working on a Phd Econ themselve's and just hired a a Physics PhD as a senior consultant so she could get out of academia.
Remember that scene from Margin Call about being an actual rocket scientist? Take the bread and the lamb spread and don't just tote guns, but do actually make number runs. Go on and tell us how you drop shit like a pigeon instead (trust me, it's so much more worth it).
The only correct answer is poopymonke
And also IB
Do you want money or do you want further knowledge in something? The reality is that academic doesn't pay the bills in the same way IB does. Even getting an astrophys degree and getting a teaching job or a role at JPL won't really yield you the same career potential a path in finance will.
Either way, you seem like a smart person who can do both so it's really a matter of how you view your life panning out in the next few years / decades of your life.
FWIW, some phys phds get roles at hedge funds if they have a quant angle to play but it doesn't sound like astro specifically fits that bill.
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