Confused on Where to Go From Here

Hi all,

I'm a freshman at a non-target (UConn), and I am pursuing a dual degree in Finance and Applied Math, along with a minor in Analytics. I'm a member of the Honors Program, and I'll be graduating in the normal four year time frame. So far I've had a 4.0, and I've been involved in a handful of major-related clubs. My problem is that I have a pretty broad set of career interests and I'm not sure how to choose one to focus on.

I would love to work in some sort of financial mathematics position, where I could apply both of my majors, however coming from a non-target is going to mean that getting such position is going to be pretty challenging. The same applies to a more traditional high-finance role, that isn't as necessarily math focused. I feel like a career that is more just based in Data Analytics would be interesting (and easier to get), however I would have to go to grad school, and even then the pay isn't close at all.

Last year I had to turn down going to much better business schools including both BC and Georgetown because in-state tuition at UConn was the only economically feasible option, but I'm starting to worry that the difference in career outlooks would have more than made up for the (roughly $100k!!!) difference in loans.

I would love any advice to help me narrow down my interests, or any guidance that can help me land a high-finance role, either involving math or not. My plans are still very fluid as I start to get a better and more realistic grasp of the various fields.

 

There’s no return without risk, transfer to a semi-target school for the last 2 years. The salaries given are higher, and there’s a tremendous amount of opportunity. Just don’t fall into the trap of a better school, keep up the work ethic and you’ll be solid.

 

Yeah that's a plan my parents and I have been discussing. Going to UConn on a 7.5k/year merit scholarship is about 22k/year for me, and with about 50k in a 529, my debt for a four year education comes out to around 40k.

With my EFC being about 2x my UConn tuition, I would have about 40-45k extra debt by choosing to transfer for my last 2 years, which I would definitely make back, but 80k debt for undergrad is a lot to digest.

 

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