Should I shoot for tech, quant trading, or PM if I want an MBA down the road?

I want an MBA down the road at a place like Stanford or Harvard. Keep in mind that this is an end in itself - I'm not doing the MBA for some kind of higher goal. I'm currently doing my undergrad (sophomore right now) at a respectable school for CS - something along the lines of {UT Austin, GaTech, Berkeley, Michigan}. Last summer, I did a Software Engineering Internship at Google, and this summer I'm doing one at Snapchat.  

I also have the option of doing quant trading given that I am good at mental math/probability. I heard that the starting compensations for companies like Jane Street and Citadel can go up to 400K for traders. At my internship at Google, I was talking to full time employees there, and entry level roles pay approximately 180K. 

Now, circling back to the concluding question. I heard that MBA adcoms really like Silicon Valley companies versus places like Citadel which they probably have never heard of. On the other hand, one of my long term goals is financial independence. What do MBA admission committees prefer - a NY prop trading firm or a Silicon Valley tech company? What should I optimize for? 

5 Comments
 

Why do people hype up MBA so much? Its literally a waste of 2 years (except for the networking I guess).

 

Literally anyone who knows even a little about roles for CS students would respect quant trading at any major firm like Citadel / Jane Street or any smaller firm as well, it’s just about whether you can tell your story such that you can convince adcoms that a Stanford or Harvard MBA would be beneficial to you and you’re not just trying to be the richest person in the world. Really think about what you want long term, do you like quant trading or SWE or PM cause they’re way different. Also entering a technical role with the goal of entering an MBA to switch into a business / operational role like PM is a good story you could tell.

 

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