Confused about career, software engineer vs investment banker

Hello everyone!

So, I am a sophomore at a community college, I'll be transferring to the top public college in my state next semester (in about 5 months). I am currently a Liberal Arts and Science transfer major. A little backstory: All my 2 years at the community college, I had been planning on majoring in a business-related field (like financial management, economics, etc.). But, I gotta say that I was unsure of where I want to start off (like what specific role within the business field). Then, I decided to take my first ever programming class this semester. It's a fully online class (it's hard because we are not getting any guidance) but it's interesting! Now, I'm even more confused about what I want to major in once I transfer to a public college. I don't know which route is better, the investment banking route or the software engineering route. My concern for IB is the bad work-life balance that I've heard about (I would really appreciate it if someone could give me personal advice on this). And, my concern with SWE is that I do not have enough coding experience to major in computer science (and is it too late?)? Any advice would be appreciated, thank you

6 Comments
 

You don't need a business degree to get into IB but you do need a CS degree to become a software engineer, at least if you're planning on working for the man.

 

Accusantium dolores qui beatae vel. Praesentium alias et soluta ut aspernatur nihil quis. Est et accusantium reiciendis et deserunt aspernatur enim. Aut aliquam beatae repudiandae optio.

Fuga aut placeat rerum quia at tenetur ea. Omnis impedit iste sunt quia ea aspernatur doloremque libero. Impedit voluptate repellat et eos.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $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
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
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...”