Finance or Management Information Systems at McCombs (Texas)?

Hey guys,

I have been having some trouble trying to decide what to major in. I've definitely narrowed it down to Finance (Quantitative Finance Track) or Management Information Systems. I have always enjoyed personal investing/stock trading and by majoring in Finance I would like to expand my knowledge of applications of finance especially on a computational level (which explains the Quantitative Finance track). On the flip side I have always been fascinated by data mining, supply chain, and technology especially when those incorporated with the inner workings of a company. At McCombs, BBA students cannot double major but instead can minor within the Business School (BHP + BBA students can - I applied for sophomore admissions to BHP but I like to always assume worst case scenario and say I don't get in to the Business Honors Program). Ideally what would be the better major/minor combination: Finance/MIS or MIS/Finance. Please do include these factors to influence your suggestion: Amount of job opportunities, flexibility, stability, and starting salary.

Thanks

 
Best Response

As a kid who majored in MIS, I would STRONGLY recommend majoring in Finance and taking a minor in MIS. Going through the process of realizing interest in finance late in my undergrad and having to do the whole networking numbers game (ie, emailing/cold calling 200+ firms) it isn't very fun. Finance skills are considerably more transferable than MIS skills.

However, this all depends on exactly what you want to do. If you want to write the code or be more of a middle office role at best, then major in MIS and minor in Finance. But, if you want to be a front office role and trade, then major in Finance and take the technical MIS courses.

Basically, all depends on what you want to do, but just telling from experience, firms see the Management Information Systems degree and automatically ding you. If I could do it again, MIS skills are good to have, but Finance is a more well-rounded major. Long response, I know, but I've been there.

 
FeelingMean:
Automatic ding for MIS? That sucks.

So, assuming you apply for the right jobs (MO, compliance), MIS holds some weight?

I shouldn't have said automatic ding. More of a "well we looked for a little, but we have better candidates" ding. Business Analyst positions and other MO spots would be good. This is assuming that the MIS is business oriented and not engineering (as my school offered both). Don't get me wrong, my MIS degree would've been great if I stayed that route, but I use nothing of what I learned from my MIS electives.

 

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