11 Comments
 

From a technical perspective, I'd say either Finance or Accounting(Considering IB is pretty much just corporate finance and accounting). If you just want your resume to look good I'd put either of the choices you provided. Truthfully, I'd think a degree in mathematics is useless for IB considering modeling isn't exactly what you're gonna learn in that curriculum. The only thing the math degree would really do would be the differentiation of your resume and the respect of a STEM major which would help you get the job.

 
Most Helpful

So to answer your question on why it's useful, I'm a math major minoring in accounting and have done most of my finance learning on my own. Might be unpopular here, but finance as a degree isn't that hard. Even if you go to a target, a math degree at your typical state school will still be way more difficult. Almost anyone that can get a 3.3+ GPA in a math program can easily do very well in a finance program. So while it might not be "useful", it shows you can easily do the work. After all, anyone can learn to model, it's not rocket science. Couple that with good social skills and you're a very competitive candidate.

 

What year are you by the way? I'm at a non-target and should be landing an internship in the coming winter, and I am also interested in M&A, so I was curious as to when you started interning because I'm going into my sophomore year.

 

Finance major definitely. Finance/math is a great combo if you want to do onto a quant role, but very impressive for IB as well

Array
 

This depends partly on where you go to school, but if you are at any Ivy / Top LAC you can really differentiate yourself by adding on some sort of humanities major. E.g. history, political science, philosophy, etc. With a math major, convincing interviewers / recruiters of your technical proficiency won't be an issue, but at the end of the day banking is a people oriented business and I'd prefer to work with someone I thinking is interesting than with another finance major (provided they know their technicals of course). If you look around also you'll see a lot of guys in PE that did something just like this.

 

Agreed, there is also some really interesting stuff you can do regarding overlap between fields - ie logic for philosophy and quantitative modeling for government

 

Voluptatibus natus perferendis ad aut. In sunt alias porro. Quisquam officiis unde consequatur.

Ut velit natus dolorem officiis quam. Assumenda ut molestiae voluptate. Veritatis quidem est qui consequatur ut. Dolorum similique dolores sequi eius expedita amet laborum. Ut in esse autem voluptatem. Sapiente et dicta vitae quasi tempora rerum enim.

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 98.8%
  • 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 No 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (45) $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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
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...”