@thumper1 thank you for starting a really interesting and valuable thread. It’s been especially enlightening to read the perspectives of those who are not “typical CC” parents.
(feeling a little sheepish here since I made the flippant comment that started the sidebar argument…)
This topic came up again just a couple of days ago in our immediate family. One of our kids was talking about college majors. She’s interested in tech & history. Doesn’t want to become a history teacher, a lawyer, historian, etc. Is thinking of pursuing a career in computer programming or something related, but is a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of taking so much calculus, physics, and chemistry in college if majoring in Computer Science or some flavor of Engineering.
This is the sort of kid who excels more at humanities classes than STEM, but is interested in a STEM-ish career. Kiddo is in the Robotics club at school and loves that, but doesn’t want to major in engineering at all because of all of the math and physics.
So, much to the chagrin of my comp sci/engineering DH, I advised Kiddo to seriously consider majoring in something like MIS. Literally every company these days needs IT people…many of whom code all the time…it can be a steady & lucrative career that would allow you to pretty much work in whichever state you wanted to live in. Told Kiddo that it’s a career path where you likely wouldn’t ever get bored, there’s always something new to learn, etc. And for her history interest, she could minor in that or even double major if she wanted to.
You can avoid the physics, chemistry and some math if you take AP C Mech, AP C E&M, AP Chem, and AP Calc BC and get 5s in all of them.
MIS and CS can be somewhat far apart. That advice should be given carefully. Your daughter should make that decision after getting exposed to both. Often a CS degree lets you go into an MIS role, but not vice versa. She should talk to a large number of people etc… I have great sympathy for your husband’s instincts here.
And product roles in engg companies may also be interesting to her. btw those are different than IT.
Computer science majors in liberal arts divisions of universities or in liberal arts colleges are less likely to have physics and chemistry requirements, and are likely to have somewhat fewer math requirements than computer science majors in engineering divisions.
However, MIS is usually a business-based major with less technical depth. IT is also less of a core functionality in a company and is more commonly outsourced.
You’ve no idea what the odds are because you’ve no idea how many people in those fields applied for finance jobs.
People who major in English usually do not want to work in finance or computer programming.
It wasn’t just a matter of seeing that near 0 English majors went in to these fields at the reviewed colleges. I posted example technical interview questions for a software engineering position in a post above. Do you think a typical English major (not with CS double major/minor) is likely to excel in this type of technical software interview questions. They aren’t just testing general IQ-type questions. They are looking for specific technical skills. Most (far from all) software engineering positions state CS (or related) major is required in the job listing. While it’s not impossible for a English major to work as a software engineer, the CS major and CS skill set generally puts the applicant at a notable advantage of an English major without corresponding CS background.
Finance jobs often have more flexibility in major for a variety of reasons, but major and quant/business skill set are one of many factors that are considered in admission to what is often a highly selective field. A math/econ major typically provides better evidence of this often desired quant skill set than does an English major.
That’s a great suggestion, but this particular kid won’t be taking AP Physics, AP Chem, and AP Calculus BC, nor getting 5’s in them.
I’ve worked in IT for many years and have first hand experience of the outsourcing situation and have already told Kiddo about what to watch out for. 
We’ll have to agree to disagree that IT is not a core functionality of a company, though.
Also, pretty much every application/software development company these days uses overseas resources, so anyone looking for a career in computer science or engineering would be wise to be aware of that before going in.
As long as you have some quantitative skills and a high GPA, finance companies don’t care what you major in.
Lots of friends were philosophy majors. No trouble getting finance jobs if they had high math SATs and good grades in logic courses.
My kid had an interdisciplinary major which bridged social sciences and humanities. Had a high math SAT–yes, that’s asked–and high grades in philosophy and econ. Got a highly sought after summer intern position with a major finance company. Disliked the work so went in another direction.
A mid 40s person in our neighborhood was a French lit major at Wellesley. She had taken econ courses.Got a summer job with Goldman Sachs. Did very well and went to work for it after grad.
You’re right they look for quantitative skills, but as long as you demonstrate those, major is pretty irrelevant. Yes, more math/econ/finance people in those fields that is partly because that’s who wants to work in finance.
Minoring in CS may not trigger those requirements in college
There is a difference between not requiring specific majors and saying all finance companies don’t care at all about your major A more detailed explanation in the FAQ portion of Wall Street Oasis is at Does my major matter when it comes to getting a finance job? | Wall Street Oasis . Some quotes are below. Also note that there is variation depending on things like which college you attended and which position/company.
However, if your ultimate goal is obtaining a job on Wall Street, majoring in something other than business, finance, economics, or mathematics may make things more difficult come recruiting season.
…At a “target” and “semi-target” school, you will have a bit more leeway in choosing a major. Because of the perceived prestige and academic rigor of target and semi-target schools, students may choose a major such as philosophy or political science as long as they are filling up their electives with finance, accounting, and economics courses. It is, however, imperative that when majoring in something other than business, you make sure to take courses more relevant to finance careers and courses that display strong quantitative aptitude (specifically finance, accounting, and economics).
…Coming from a “non-target” school, students will usually face an uphill battle for the most competitive front-office positions. Thus, it is imperative that these students are able to clearly display their knowledge and interest of finance. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by actually majoring in a relevant subject.
I admit I was talking in terms of students at target schools.
Totally different ballgame for those outside the target schools. For those kids, their tens of thousands of resumes are being screened by an algorithm searching for certain majors and words, and will be discarded before a human actually reads them at the most popular financial firms. Just too many applicants to do otherwise. So if that career path is of interest, it behooves one to pick a major that will be picked up by the algorithm.
You’re also talking about investment banking jobs. There’re other jobs besides IB in finance.
I advised but didn’t insist as its a very personal decision. They need to live the life they want not the life parents envisioned for them.
In my local high school community, most parents insist their kids must do STEM majors and become a physician or a tech guru.
100% agree. I thought the cousin who put these restrictions on his daughters was way off base in doing so. Of course, they weren’t absolute restrictions. A daughter could have gotten an MFA or an MBA. But not on his dime.
To be fair you can’t insist on a parent to pay for grad school of any kind.
Or undergrad.
I don’t know – maybe if the parent is sufficiently wealthy, you may softly expect paying for your local state school undergrad.