Undergrad Advice?
Not about B. school per se, but related to education, so I thought this would be an appropriate forum.
I'm a high school senior in Canada, highly interested in finance but also engineering (software). Upon doing some research, I discovered SWE and finance go hand-in-hand -- a fact probably well known among you finance moguls.
Anyway, it is university application time here in Canada. If I am accepted, I have the choice between going to a target (one of the few Canadian ones), and a non-target. I've applied to computer science at the target school and the non-target, and also engineering at the non-target. The NT is a general first year engineering school, which means that all engineers, no matter their specialty, take the same first year courses. NT is considered pretty decent for engineering domestically and usually a degree from it can get you an okay job, but I think their SWE program is kinda new so I haven't seen many alumni of the program in the wild, let alone in finance. The target school, however, is a proven school for finance, especially in quantitative firms like Two Sigma, Citadel, Jane Street, etc. My end goal is to have a career as a SWE at a finance company, specifically in NYC. Love the city, wanna live and work there by any means necessary.
Seems like an obvious choice, I know, but there are advantages and disadvantages for the case of each school.
Target school, Pros
*
Prestigious, grads in Wall Street
* Super valuable degree
* Easier time getting an internship for higher end firms
Target school, Cons
*
Total cost is 225.3% higher than NT (Total over 4 years is ~CAD$130,000)
* Kinda far away from home city, unfamiliar
* Outdated facility compared to NT engineering facilities
Non-target, Pros
*
Closer, can stay home -- subtracting meal plan + residence fees super big factor for me
* More comfortable, familiar environment at home and at school (more familiar with this city than the city of Waterloo)
* Will have friends going in
* ~CAD$57000 total
Non-target, Cons
*
Worse reputation
* CS department is terrible, engineering is essentially the only useful degree
* Engineering students get ridiculously challenged in the first two years (literally ONLY for the sake of weeding out those who can't handle the smothering workload -- doesn't even really equate to smart people in upper years, just people who had the resolve to push through despite their first two year GPAs being atrocious)
Something that I was considering a dual degree in a pretty well-known business school in North America, afaik. I've seen somebody on LinkedIn working as a quant with a CS degree, but to be honest, the combo will probably be the same amount if not more expensive.
Kinda on the fence, looking for professional advice. Thank you guys <3
versetti88, shame nobody has responded. Maybe one of these topics will help:
You're welcome.
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