<p>I'd just like to hear some words of wisdom from Vandy upperclassmen about econ majors- what are the career prospects like? I did some digging around and I seem to have gotten the gist of the situation:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Vandy's peer schools have better recruiting (e.g: Duke, UNC-CH, etc.)</p></li>
<li><p>Vandy's economics program is <em>good</em>, but lacks quantitative skills required for graduate programs/some jobs</p></li>
<li><p>There seems to be somewhat of an upward trend in recruiting</p></li>
<li><p>Jobs with top firms seem to be VERY competitive</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I'm interested in consulting more than IB or Wealth Management, but I'd be open to options (including but not limited to pursuing an MBA) -- What are the prospects like? What should be done early on to secure a good job?</p>
<p>S was a pre-recession graduate, so his experience may not be representative of the current job market. He was hired by a DC consulting firm in November '05 prior to May '06 graduation and worked for them for 2 years doing quantitative analysis prior to returning to VU for law school. Didn’t really pursue many other opportunities, although I think he threw his hat in the ring to be interviewed by Bain. If I remember correctly, about 90 kids wanted interviews, 9 got them, and one was hired. I think he commented that they hired one VU student each year. He graduated with a double major in economics (honors) and math. I’m not sure if the honors program in econ is still active, as they only had 5 or 6 involved his year (and they had a very nice little reception for them to highlight their senior theses on Senior Day). However, there were about 200 economics graduates in his class and I think it couldn’t have hurt those honors kids to have earned this distinction. </p>
<p>BTW, the firm where he worked in DC only hired graduates from certain schools, so while it’s no Chicago, I’m sure VU is viewed favorably by many employers.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt is a semi-target for investment banking (and a target for certain firms like BAML). If you have a good GPA, you will have plenty of good job opportunities.</p>
<p>Also - Bain recruits heavily now at Vanderbilt, they have a page dedicated to Vanderbilt grads:</p>
<p>Bill Bain (founder of Bain, obviously) is a Vandy undergrad alum. </p>
<p>I would say your summary is pretty accurate. I don’t think “Vandy’s economics program is <em>good</em>, but lacks quantitative skills required for graduate programs/some jobs” is accurate at all-- Vanderbilt will prepare you just as well as any other peer program. Econ is a pretty straightforward subject. </p>
<p>The key to getting a job out of undergrad at big firms is securing solid internships. Can’t stress enough the importance of networking-- that’s what will get your application looked at and considered seriously, not the name of your college.</p>
<p>People seem to be mentioning Bain very often, but surely that’s just one corporation. </p>
<p>How difficult is it to get valuable internships? Vandy stats said something like 50% of all students have an internship before they graduate – but how much of those would be valuable?</p>
<p>The Big Four accounting firms and consulting firms all have presence on the Vanderbilt campus, that includes companies like Accenture. They recruit from Economics, Math, Engineering and HOD. Econ/HOD majors are well regarded at these firms.</p>
<p>The Juinor class has had quite a bit of success with KPMG and Deloitte this year. Deloitte in particular has been doing some heavy recruiting on campus-- they hosted numerous information sessions, workshops, and interview sessions this past semester. Earnst&Young was here as well, though I don’t know if that panned out for anyone.</p>
<p>Your assessment is actually pretty accurate. </p>
<p>If you want IB or any other finance job, an internship is important. The IB kids I know had investment banking internships the summer before. I got into investment management without an internship but the circumstances were unique. I also think networking is more important in getting an wealth or asset management job.</p>
<p>Many high schoolers just think about investment banking careers even though management consulting is equally challenging with great long-term rewards. Bain is like JP Morgan (McKinsey being Goldman) in the consulting world. The rest (Deloitte, Accenture, etc) are all good and do plenty of recruiting. </p>
<p>Whether it’s getting a job or an MBA, make sure your GPA is solid. The higher it is, the easier it is to land a good first job, which makes getting into a top MBA program easier.</p>
<p>For investment banking would it be smarter to take a major such as philosophy that could be interesting and much easier to get a high GPA along with making you stick out. Is this valid rationalization or would it be stupid not to major in econ. I am interested in econ but if it is extremely difficult to keep a certain gpa it might be wiser to do a different major. Thoughts?</p>