UT Austin Math Major. Can I Still Land an IB job?
Hello everyone, I’m new to this site. I am a senior in high school who is possibly considering a career in IB down the road. I am attending UT Austin in the fall as a math major. I know recruiting at UT typically happens in McCombs, but as a math major in the college of Natural sciences, do I still have a decent chance at landing interviews? I have a 1550/1600 SAT, 750 verbal, 800 math. I also have an aunt that works at Blackstone, so that probably helps. Any tips and suggestions for me going forward?
At this point it matters more what your previous internship experience has been like. If you have none as a senior it might be better to go to MBA/Mfin/MFE.
Lol hes a senior in high school
Banks ( claim to) like STEM majors, but you will be putting yourself at several disadvantages in my opinion.
Your classes will likely be harder, and I recommend picking up additional coursework in a accounting or finance minor. There might be some additional wiggle room from the STEM side, but if they see less than a 3.5 you'll have a tough fight.
Career resources and organizations for business students are better prepared and connected to IBs
Building a network with your peers is a real thing. The class year ahead of you can act like gatekeepers - inviting you to the right events & connecting you with the right alumni/hiring manager/recruiter/etc. Building that network outside of the business school is possible with other organizations (e.g. frat), but other students are less likely to put their neck out there unless they know you very well and (my personal take) know how good you are in relation to them.. e,g, scores on similar exams/courses.
I apologize, the combination of senior and uncertainty made me think they were a senior in college.
Yes, certainly you have shot but make sure to exude a passion for capital markets. If I could go back, I’d major in math as well!
As someone who has recruited for Houston and as a math and finance major it is possible. However, the career resource center or lack thereof will be a disadvantage and the classes are harder. Math and finance kids are way different so a lot of the leg work you'll need to do will have to come from within. That being said, being a math major gives you a lot of flexibility and makes you more competitive given you have a good GPA.
Current McCombs student who has been through the process. It is theoretically possible for non-McCombs students to get in, I’ve seen a handful of Econ and a few Plan II students get in. However, as other said, it is an uphill battle and dependent on how recruiting runs that year. 2 years ago, accelerated recruiting has resulted in banks bypassing OCR/on-campus first rounds that only go through McCombs which opens up doors for non-McCombs students. However, last year was more “normal” with a majority of banks doing first rounds through McCombs OCR.
If IB is your ultimate goal, I would recommend trying to transfer/add McCombs as a second major. Last I checked, you will need a 3.8+ GPA but you would want that for IB anyways. Then you would have access to McCombs OCR and can always just drop to a finance minor later if needed. Transfering would require Micro and Macro Econ and maybe a few other classes outside the Math major requirements, but double check.
Beyond that, I would join one of the finance orgs (TST, UFA, TUIT, USIT, TEG, etc.) and make friends in McCombs to stay in the loop. Let me know if you have any questions
Came up through McCombs and had a friend who was recruiting at the same time from outside of McCombs - our experiences were like night and day. I caught the IB bug late and was playing catch up going into recruiting season, yet had no trouble lining up a dozen interviews and securing offers thanks to the brand and network. My friend, in comparison, had to put in significantly more effort networking and reaching out to alumni in order to build up a successful recruiting effort. If you have a chance to get into McCombs and you know you want to recruit for anything in high finance, you’d be making a huge mistake not taking that opportunity.
Applied mathematics is the best major someone could have. Double in finance and you're a boner garage for IB/Consulting/Tech
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