<p>Hey everyone! I'm an Indian male nearing the end of my junior year - this obviously means it's time to start scrapping over college admissions and where to apply. I personally am looking into a career in finance. I love Wall Street, economics and numbers. I live for it and I'm 100% positive that this is the career and life path that I want to pursue. Yet I have one major doubt which leads me to my main question:</p>
<p>What's the better route? A BA in Economics or an undergrad BSchool degree in Finance? </p>
<p>This is really going to affect where I'm going to apply and I'd love some input. Some of the factors I'm looking at are strength of education/academics, acceptance rate, job placement, and on-campus recruitment. I've seen so many out-dated threads regarding this question and I'd really appreciate some guidance for someone who's dedicated to a finance career (IBanking, consulting, fund managing, etc), loves economics/math/finance, and is looking for a variety of top tier colleges.</p>
<p>To see my body of work, please click on the link below that leads to my chances thread. It lists all my stats and ECs.</p>
<p>Chance</a> The New Guy! Penn, Harvard, Chicago and More!!</p>
<p>Thanks so much in advance!</p>
<p>[The</a> Difference Between Finance And Economics](<a href=“http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/11/difference-between-finance-and-economics.asp]The”>Understanding Finance vs. Economics)</p>
<p>Very simply put, on average economics tends to be more abstract/theoretical, whereas finance tends to be more concrete/practical. Finance simply builds upon the mathematical and theoretical principles of economics and employes them directly within business. Also, a finance major is going to require you to take more general business classes in management, marketing, and other business principles - which may prepare you better for entering a business/corporate environment. Economics is at its core a social science, and so it’s going to be very social science focused and actually more research/theory focused than finance.</p>
<p>Most jobs, I think, you could get with a major in either (as long as you have a strong mathematical background - be sure to take the entire calculus I-III sequence, linear algebra, differential equations, statistics & probability, and maybe also real analysis). But if you are pretty sure you are dedicated to a finance career, I’d major in finance. You can always minor in economics or take a bunch of classes in economics.</p>
<p>The other option is to apply to a wide range of schools with offerings in both - in other words, don’t rule out schools with a strong economics major/department and no finance. If you get great offers there, or decide you like the environment better, it may be worth getting an econ degree.</p>
<p>FWIW, I went to an LAC without a finance major. My freshman year roommate majored in econ, and she works at JPMorganChase in the financial sector there.</p>
<p>I’m strongly looking at LACs as options due to their strength in economics and such. For instance, Claremont McKenna, Williams, Swarthmore, etc. My worry is the on-campus recruiting and job placement capacity when compared against Penn (which also presents an issue for me with its BA Econ vs BS Econ haha), NYU, Georgetown, etc. For the most part, I am considering picking a few of my favorites in each realm and applying to both sectors, and weighing my options after acceptances come in. It’s quite the dilemma in all honesty</p>
<p>You can have your cake and eat it too…at Dartmouth! It has a LAC feel and is heavily recruited by Wall Street firms. Beyond Dartmouth, I agree that if you want to maximize your chances of landing a Wall Street job, you are better off going to a university (or program within a university) that attracts many financial institutions on campus. The obviously universities are: </p>
<p>Columbia University
Cornell University (mainly Dyson)
Dartmouth College
Duke University
Georgetown University (mainly McDonough)
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (mainly Ross)
New York University (mainly Stern)
Northwestern University (although they have no undergraduate business degree, I would assume that IBanks will focus their efforts mainly on the MMSS program, and perhaps on the Kellogg Certificate programs)
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of Pennsylvania (mainly Wharton, so BS Econ rather than BA 
)
University of Virginia (mainly McIntire)
Yale University</p>
<p>Things may have changed in recent years, but back in the late 90s and early 2000, the University of Chicago and most LACs, even the elites like Amherst, Pomona and Swarthmore, were not highly recruited by Wall Street firms. The main exceptions among LACs were Colgate, Williams and the women’s. Like I said, things may have changed in the last 5 or 6 years, but you should do your research and check. Just because a university (like Chicago) or college (like CMC) has a top rated Economics department does not mean it will be highly recruited by Investment Banks.</p>
<p>Something worth considering if you like math and economics: how willing is the economics department at each school willing to use math? For example, you can look in the course catalogs to see if the intermediate microeconomics course is math intensive (e.g. requires multivariable calculus or other sophomore level math, as opposed to just a semester of frosh calculus). A more math-using economics department, along with strong math and statistics departments, may be helpful if you decide to go on to a PhD program in economics.</p>