math major from top target (HYPS) wanting to go into IB
I've heard a lot of people say that in the past, it wasn't uncommon for art history majors from the very top targets to break into investment banking. The commonly given explanation was that banks simply wanted to hire smart people, and that they reasoned that they could train these people relatively fast to bring them up to speed for the job.
However, is that still the case now? I know a major in math is very different from a major in say art history, but at the same time, none of the factual knowledge learned is going to ever be directly applicable in IB. I've looked at some posts here of current juniors applying for summer internships asking for advice, and looking at their resumes, their focus on investment banking is very obvious. They're majoring in finance/economics, they're in business/investment student organizations, they're done internships the summers after their freshman and sophomore years that were related to financial services in some way, etc.
I guess themain question I'm trying to ask is whether that kind of focus is still required for students at HYPS. In the past, it seemed like students at these schools had a bit more freedom to pursue other things, and could count on their school name to help them land that internship/job offer. However, in this more competitive environment, is that still the case? Because at the moment (I'm a sophomore), there are far too many classes that I want to take before I'd take classes in financial investments/corporate finance, and I'd rather participate in math summer research programs than whatever summer internship opportunities are available for sophomores.
If I do follow this path, will I still be competitive when applying next their for those summer analyst positions? Is there anyway to demonstrate interest in IB besides the usual coursework/soph. summer internship. Is that sort of demonstrated interest even necessary?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Have you thought about trading ? It may be a better career path given your skill set. That's the problem with not being exposed to the industry before your first job, you are not sure what you want to, or should, do.
A math major is perfect for trading, and it'll be fine for banking as well. The classes you take in school don't really matter; there are plenty of other ways to show interest, and you can learn accounting on your own. If you've got a strong GPA in math at a top target, you should be fine for recruiting.
you'll be fine. yes, you can still be an art history major and get an ibanking job. my friend is a history major from HYP and i'm getting a BS from HYP and going into banking
I majored in Mathematics at HYP and did my analyst stint at GS/MS/JPM. While you'll never be asked to apply the spectral theorem to corporate finance or perform any diagonalization proofs to convince your clients about some particular claim, you'll nevertheless benefit tremendously from the logical toolkit that a major in Mathematics gives you. Those skills provide you with an analytical framework that can be applied to anything (yes, absolutely anything) that you might encounter in your professional life. Furthermore, you might be surprised how many people in the real world are ill-equipped in this regard...
EDIT: That beings said, make sure you keep a high GPA (3.7+)...
Majoring in math is arguably better than majoring in econ at HYPS, assuming you get a good GPA. But this does not exempt you from needing to demonstrate interest in finance.
I would still recommend you intern somewhere in finance this summer, so that your resume gets you interviews in the coming years.
It doesnt matter what major you are. Your competitive advantage is having interest in the job you will be doing. Being math major might not help you much with traditional IBD jobs, but knowing math has lots of direct applicabilities in AM, S&T etc. Just read the economics section of the newspaper and have some interest in finance so that you can show that in your cover letter and during the interview. If you just know how to solve differential equations but you have no idea what the difference between a bond and a stock is, you will have a hard time arguing your interest in finance. and yeah, make sure your GPA is high.
gee
good at math but PLAIN DUMB when it comes to common sense
you said yourself that IBs hire art history majors from HYPS b/c they know they are smart enough to do the work.
so you think that just maybe they know that a mathematics major from HYPS will be smart enough too?
surely you will get interviews, and if you get hired, you will see how even if you had taken your last math class in junior high, you'd still be to figure out how to calculate EBITDA within 5 minutes.
I'm a math major and I am in IB now. I don't think that banks cared too much for my math background--they seemed more concerned that this is a path I am interested in taking and that I demonstrate a basic understanding of finance.
I think you misread what I wrote. I started by first saying that I had heard people describing how in the past, art history majors were able to get such internships/jobs. My question is whether or not that is still the case now.
I should be very clear here. I have no doubt that a math major from one of these schools would be considered smart enough. What isn't so clear to me is how a math major without any finance related background would be compared to say an econ major, or really anyone who had a lot of finance related coursework/preparation of any sort/internship experience. Sure the math major would be viewed as smart enough, but in this competitive environment, I'm worried that many places would prefer to interview/hire the smart person who already has good preparation, rather than the potentially smarter person who has no such preparation and would need time to get up to speed.
I guess a very simplified and concrete question to sum up my concerns, suppose next year I apply for summer positions and I get an interview at one of these places, what would I be expected to know going into the interview? If they saw my resume and noticed the math background, but no finance-related background/experience, would they then tailor the interview process for me accordingly? Or is there some core body of knowledge that I would still be expected to know (besides knowing what investment banking is)? Or is asking this question a moot point since even a resume from HYPS without any finance credentials would not get an interview?
One other point, thank you to the posters so far who have replied. I appreciate the suggestion of trading, which is something I'm looking at, but I'm still curious as to my chances at investment banking.
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