Monkey wisdom needed: Second major or multiple classes in different disciplines?

Hello! I go to a semi-target with 3.4 GPA and majoring in finance. After doing an IB stint in an emerging market, I began to seriously question what a college education can do for someone going into IB. Besides just getting a piece of paper to show prospective employers, I really want my undergraduate days to mean something and ultimately get into IB/PE.

After some soul searching, I was thinking of 3 paths. (1) Do a major with a 'macro' perspective (eg. Pol Sci, Econs, Philosophy, Math) to complement a 'micro' finance perspective (2) Do a second major in STEM for the academic rigor and critical thinking. (3) Take multiple classes in a variety of disciplines (think liberal arts). Or maybe I should (sadly) just focus on getting my GPA abv 3.5 increase my chances of getting into IB

Thanks in advance! I appreciate any response or thoughts on this :)

 

Take the easiest courses you possibly can, get all A's. If you can do them online and have little to no work, even better. Honestly very few people are going to ask what elective you took in your junior year of college down the line.

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Does whatever mods taught for my major really matter too? After starting work in IB, everyone goes through the same corporate training. If someone doing a STEM major, Liberal arts or whatever can get be on par with a finance major after 3-6 months of corporate training, why am I spending 4 years on it?

 

You're doing it to say that you are more interested than the STEM / Liberal Arts people. For 90-95% of people at a 4 year school, they know it is a load of junk and not usable in the work place.

Electives can be helpful if you are crafting your story. For example, if you wanted to go into CRE, and took a real estate finance course prior to interviewing, you could say that sparked your interest.

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Best Response

If you're goal is IB/PE, then you need to focus more on your GPA.

Adding an additional major (STEM or otherwise) is probably going to move things in the wrong direction, all else being equal. (again, assuming IB/PE being the goal)

I think your option 3 is the best "balanced approach" given your current GPA. You get to dabble in areas that interest you without needing to commit as much time as you would if you were doubling. If you end up really enjoying a class, then you can look into taking more in the subject or doing more outside reading on your own. You might even end up deciding you want to double major in it and that's great, but the point is that you shouldn't just pick up another major just for the sake of having two without a clear idea of why you want to do it

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