looking for education/career advice

Hello everyone

I am 21 years old and currently in my junior year of college, earning a bachelors in Finance. I go to a University in the CSU system (California State University) so my school is not going to open any doors for me. I currently have a GPA of 3.5. I did a year long internship with Northwestern Mutual, received an important intern award with them and was ranked nationally. The internship was marketed to me as financial planning, but really all I did was sell insurance. I am involved with the Financial Management Association at my school, currently Vice President and I will probably be President my senior year. I have been studying trading and technical analysis for a few years now, and have traded a live account for about a year and half. I realize that I have an extremely difficult task ahead of me if I want to break into the finance world, and I realize that I did not choose the best path education wise to become a trader (math+computer science in more demand). Ideally, I want to trade and manage a fund. But I know that this will take years of work to accomplish. Right now I am at a crossroads and I am not entirely sure what I want to do next.

I have been looking into getting my masters in international finance after my bachelors through this program, http://www.extendeded.com/msba/. How valuable do you think this degree is in the world of finance? and how does it match up with an MBA?

Another option would be to add a minor in computer science to my degree. This would take 1 year which is the same time it would take for the above masters program. If I was to get another bachelors degree in computer science after my Finance degree it would take about 3 years. I could also just teach myself C++.

I have pretty much ruled out getting hired as a trader out of college. I am not sure if I should try to jump into the corporate world. One option I have instead of this would be to get a financial analyst job for a small farming or oil company in my hometown. Upside, is that I could continue building a track record and study for my CFA. Downside, I am taking a big risk and possibly going down a career path I don't want. The reason I have come up with this idea is because I know I don't have big city connections or an ivy league degree. If I ever start a fund myself I would use my hometown connections. If I never am able to trade a fund, I would be happy doing research as a financial analyst for a fund.

I know that time is valuable and whatever path I chose has certain risks attached, and I am trying to assess my different options. I would greatly appreciate any career/education input and advice.

Thanks in advance

1 Comments
 
Best Response

Cumque aliquam tempore eveniet natus ipsa. Quis beatae culpa qui in eos est. Alias quia qui voluptatum.

Sit dolores doloremque sed sapiente praesentium et. Laudantium saepe labore odio provident qui aut illum. Nemo ex accusamus earum molestiae. Quod unde voluptatem officia adipisci.

Rerum neque perferendis excepturi est. Et est laudantium velit. Quasi molestias cupiditate libero iusto.

Pursuit of happiness...

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (65) $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
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
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...”