I will be attending a top undergrad business school this fall (BSBA with Finance concentration). The plan is to double major with public policy ( I think I'd enjoy it).
But IB is my priority, so my dilemma is simple: Do I risk a lower GPA but more diversified education or stick to the business major and focus on perfecting my grades?
Basically, are banks at least slightly impressed by the more rigorous courseload or is it really all about the GPA?
Unfortunately, it really is all about GPA. I found this out the hard way. Lots of kids double major these days, particularly with the breadth of AP classes offered in high schools which allow kids to enter (some) schools with a significant number of credits freeing up time for them to take major specific courses rather that those stupid General Requirement ones. As such, finding a magna/summa cum laude is much more rare. Furthermore, having a major in a non-STEM area like Public Policy will not be perceived as particularly impressive. I wouldn't risk a lower GPA if I were you, particularly for Public Policy.
I really appreciate the advice, you have some good points. I was skeptical about doing a STEM major because it could possibly kill my GPA, but I'm still considering maybe CS or Stats. I will do more research about Public Policy at my school and see how hard it is and maybe take a class and see how it goes. If I sense any threats to my GPA I might just stick to the sole business major.
Do you have any knowledge about the information science (or information systems) major? I wouldn't consider it STEM but how common is it on Wall Street? I only bring this up because it's considered to be one of the easiest majors at my school.
I knew a couple of guys that were IS majors at my undergrad. Most of them ended up doing IT advisory work at Big 4 firms. I don’t thing it would be viewed as particularly impressive from a banking perspective as there isn’t really much overlap in the day to day.
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