<p>I got to a smaller, d3 LAC in the midwest and am majoring in math as of now (sophomore standing). I want to add a second major because I came in with almost a years worth of credits. I can't decide between Economics or an Economics/Finance major. The Economics and Finance major is a combination in lieu of a straight Finance major (which would be ideal). The plain Economics major has fewer required credits and more open electives, which would obviously be filled by my math classes that are required. The Econ/finance major has about 1/4 the open credits so it would most likely take more than 4 years to finish. Ultimately I would like to work for a few years then go back to school for an MSF or MBA with a finance concentration. I've heard that having a double major can help you stand out against the competition and, I'm just wondering if it really matters as far as job prospects and grad school admissions? I would like to work in portfolio management or financial advising, just looking for a little input from someone who has a better idea than I do about the finance industry. Thanks!</p>
<p>Any combination of those majors would be fine as long as you gain relevant experience during your undergrad years. Internships are the best way to break into financial advising, wealth management, etc. At a minimum, take financial/managerial accounting class and corporate finance. You should be able to spin your mathematics education as a rigorous, analytical framework from which you can learn on the job (i.e. in an internship). I am a math major and had several internship offers in corporate finance jobs (mergers/acquisitions) and supply chain management. I haven’t taken any basic business courses (accounting, finance), but if you’re smart enough to learn abstract algebra/real analysis, you shouldn’t have a hard time picking up the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement.</p>
<p>If you want to do portfolio management, you have to take the CFA (chartered financial analyst) exams. I was going to double in econ and finance, but since that’s not available to the school I ultimately decided on, I’m majoring in econ and I am planning to master in finance later. Some of the upper division econ courses are finance (since finance is basically a subset of econ) so it kind of works out for me. One of the schools I was considering but turned down had a CFA track for people that doubled in econ and finance. Though I’m not sure about your school, my guess is that finance+econ is a good combination for going into portfolio management.</p>