Which classes should I take within Cornell Economics?
Hi,
I'm a freshman in Cornell CAS, currently double majoring in Government and Economics, with minors in Philosophy, Business, and Social Inequality. I'm hoping to work in investment banking M&A, preferably at J.P. Morgan or Goldman Sachs.
I recently took Intermediate Microeconomic Theory, and it was insanely difficult for me as I'm not a quantitative type. Are there any easy classes within Cornell Economics that you can recommend? I have heard Money/Credit and Industrial Organization so far. I am kind of worried recruiters will catch on that I avoided hard classes like Game Theory and Econometrics, though.
Also, how important is it to be a double major as opposed to just a Government major? What GPA would you recommend? Is interning at an investment bank at Cornell in Washington for a semester enough job experience?
Thanks a ton.
I'm so impressed with your 2 majors and 3 minors one semester into college (even if you did find int. micro to be "insanely difficult"...) - you will have no problem getting a job at JPM or GS. I would recommend a 4.0 and you definitely want to take harder courses because recruiters always take a lot of time to heavily scrutinize every class you have taken.
Banks don't really ask for your transcripts during the interview process so they aren't really going to see what courses you took.
Plus econ majors have to take econometrics, either the regular one or applied econometrics. Take applied, since its only one semester and you don't have to take a whole semester of statistics. Money and credit is good, also international monetary is a good one too. Never took industrial but people in my house have and they weren't a fan, but take it if you liked micro.
Getting IB experience is key, so definitely try to get a boutique internship before junior recruiting. Most people I know who got jobs at the top BBs like Goldman and JPM had 3.8+ so make sure you're kicking ass along the way.
PM me if you have any questions, im a senior econ major.
Don't just do Government. Don't do Cornell in Washington - you won't be able to intern at an investment bank in DC. You'll have a tough time avoiding Econometrics, given that it's required for the econ major. And don't take Money/Credit if Besharov is teaching it and you want a GPA over 3.5 that semester. IO is very easy - it's basically intermediate micro rehashed.
PM me, I'm a Cornell econ senior
How do you even know you want to work at JPM and GS...?
Well, I went to a J.P. Morgan event at the Statler and they basically told me that Cornell/Wharton are the two top schools there and that it's easy to get in out of Cornell... They also claimed that J.P. Morgan was a very team-oriented environment and not cutthroat like Goldman Sachs. I'm sort of skeptical, but at least some of it has to be true if everyone there was saying it.
Goldman? Honestly, just prestige. No real reason.
Troll right?
No, why do you ask?
Still not positive that you aren't trolling, I'll respond as if you aren't though. Your two majors and three minors will likely dwindle down to one major and possibly a minor, most likely one of two being unrelated to current coursework. All banks are going to pump of their "culture" compared to other banks so don't believe what they say. Best way to find out is to befriend someone on the buyside to see what the sellside is like. And if you're not the quant type then I have zero idea why you're an econ major. Also I'm guessing you want to do M&A because that's the only thing you know investment bankers do..In summary, realize you're a freshman and it's great to think that you know what your life will be like but you are one semester into college and complaining about Intermediate Microeconomic Theory.
Have you thought about transferring into AEM? Classes are easier supposedly, finance in general is easier than upper level econ, and you only need math up to calculus I/calculus for the life and social sciences.
AEM is easier and places well on wall street but CAS Econ carries more prestige as it is known to be more challenging.
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