<p>I'm going to Carnegie Mellon next year and I plan to become a trader. I'm hoping to get into CMU's Computational Finance major, but admission to comp. finance is fairly competitive. Thus, I am trying to choose a set of two majors if I can't get into comp. finance.</p>
<p>My goal is to do prop trading with quantitative products; namely equity derivatives, structured credit, futures, and options. If I can't break into trading, I'll try to become a quant or a high frequency trader. I'm currently choosing between three majors: </p>
<ul>
<li>Math with a concentration in Operations Research and Stat</li>
<li>Computer Science</li>
<li>Business Administration</li>
</ul>
<p>I'm also going to minor in comp. finance regardless of which majors I study. Given my interests, which two majors would be best for me?</p>
<p>Trading now uses a lot of programing. Knowledge of basic programing such as sql would be useful. Finance + computer science knowledge. You should sharpen your quantitative skills as well. </p>
<p>Why trading btw?</p>
<p>With the right products, trading is much more quantitative than other areas of finance. I really like finance, but I also like math, stat, and cs, so trading seems like a good fit for me. I also like following financial markets in my spare time.</p>
<p>Also, I already have a fairly good knowledge of programming. I’ve worked as a developer before, have good grip on OOP and development theory, and can code in over 12 languages (including Java, R, Perl, Javascript, and UNIX). Is my programming background enough or should I still pursue a CS degree?</p>
<p>That amount of programing experience is good, getting into trading is a little more exclusive than the other careers in finance and there are not as many positions available. your internship junior year is important there, so landing a summer internship at a trading shop in chicago or nyc is key. Where are you located? Being located in these two cities and networking is key. You can also aim to be an analyst at a big bank and do sales and trading.</p>
<p>try reaching out to fellow alumni who works at a trading shop. personally, I would aim to work at a bank doing sales and trading, more exit opportunities. </p>
<p>Get a 3.6+ gpa, land a great internship as an analyst or trader at a top tier firm, and network like crazy. interest in the financial markets and doing some trading on your own helps a bit too for the interviews.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. Would you suggest business+CS then?</p>
<p>I may or may not be bumping right now…</p>