Need Counseling on Undergraduate Path

As the title reads, I need guidance on how to choose an undergraduate path because of the predicament I am in.

I have a STEM scholarship offer (non-target) where in undergraduate I would need to pursue a B.S. in a STEM subject and aspire to obtain a Ph.D. (Planning on studying Statistics and Economics as a dual major/dual degree, unsure which yet.) The program is a prestigious nationally recognized research program with most graduates (>50%) getting accepted and going onto Ivy League doctoral programs. I plan on studying statistics because I really enjoy math because it has always been my strongest subject, hence applying to the program along with the program's recognition.

My problem is the program would not approve of my career goals of a field in investment banking or consulting. If they knew my plans to go into business I would lose the scholarship. My standardized test scores were mediocre and my graduating cumulative GPA will never be higher than 3.72 because of my early high school academic record. These things add up to me not even attempting to applying to any target schools. After my academic achievement from junior year and currently my senior year, I believe I will be able to achieve high academics in undergraduate.

My options that I have fall are:

Go through the undergraduate STEM program, apply to Ph.D programs and attempt to break into the field with a Ph.D in a STEM discipline (possible programs such as Wharton's Statistics Ph.D., which focuses on applications in economics) --> Is a Ph.D. a good option to break into the field without going into academia?

Enter the STEM program and attempt to transfer to a target school after developing an outstanding resume and high academics. --> Unsure how it could affect possible firm recruitment by transferring after sophomore year.

Take a gap year, study hard, and retake the SAT and/or ACT. --> Looked down upon by family, would have to get a full time job.

These are the only 3 options I am willing to take and I really need guidance on it. Any recommendations help, thank you for reading.

 
  1. In the top 100 public universities in the states.

  2. They need to see you put a research effort in during undergraduate and when it comes time to apply to graduate schools, they want to see applications to doctoral programs, failure to reach any of these cause a loss of funding.

  3. I've just seen mixed reviews on Ph.Ds on whether the are viable, with most input being vehemently against using it for anything besides academia.

I feel that going into the program for a year or two and getting high marks then transferring would be the best option, do you have any specific thoughts either for or against transferring?

 
Most Helpful
determinedstudent12345:
1. In the top 100 public universities in the states.
  1. They need to see you put a research effort in during undergraduate and when it comes time to apply to graduate schools, they want to see applications to doctoral programs, failure to reach any of these cause a loss of funding.

  2. I've just seen mixed reviews on Ph.Ds on whether the are viable, with most input being vehemently against using it for anything besides academia.

I feel that going into the program for a year or two and getting high marks then transferring would be the best option, do you have any specific thoughts either for or against transferring?

1. Okay so top 100 public universities could either be University of Idaho, UVA, or anything in-between. Dependent on this will yield completely different analyses moving forward. So if you could add a bit more color to that it would be helpful.
  1. Why not put forth research effort during undergrad and use that as an extra curricular on your resume that you could speak expansively about in interviews? If this program is as selective as you say it is then that is impressive. I doubt your research funding program will exile you if you want join a business oriented club or something. If they do that's completely ridiculous and I don't think you should pursue it unless you have no other options or want to go into academia. This system they run on seems like a check in the box kind of thing. "Oh yeah, this kid is applying for doctoral programs he's good". Would you have to hide that you're looking at getting into something that isn't doctoral programs? That seems absurd and way too hard to track. Also how could they rescind funding.. you're already like almost done with undergrad once you're applying for those programs if I'm not mistaken.

  2. Don't know, don't have a PhD and probably never will. Not sure if you're open to any other areas of finance, but banking isn't some obscure wizardry and certainly doesn't take a PhD level of sophistication if that's what you're looking for. I don't even know what level someone would come into banking at as a PhD. Not to mention that won't be for like another 10 years for you if that's the route you take.

I myself transferred so I can shed some light on that. I don't have enough info on your situation, hence why I said PM me.

 

Unfortunately since I created this account today, I am unable to access the PM function. The program looks down upon not getting a Ph.D. and I am wondering if it will benefit greatly and set me ahead of others who only completed a bachelor's at a target school or where it would place me compared to others. Thanks for the responses and sorry about the PM inconvenience.

 

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