<p>Is an economics degree a good major to help me get into investment banking/corporate finance? I plan on attending Carleton College in MN, and economics is the only somewhat business concentration that they have. Would an economics degree help give me the tools to know what I need to in order to be an investment banker? I can take finance and accounting courses from St. Olaf college which would help a little bit as well. Also, a couple years after graduating, I'd like to get my MBA from a top notch B-school, will an economics degree hold me back from getting in because its not a business concentrated degree? Thanks for all the help and feel free to post any general tips/advice that you think would be helpful. Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>Economics is fine – many MBAs have Econ BAs. Your problem will be your undergraduate school’s name.</p>
<p>from what I understand, Carleton is one of the better liberal arts colleges in the country?</p>
<p>I would first check to see if I-Banks and other Corp Fin job roles are even recruited for at Carleton. If not, you’ll be facing a somewhat uphill battle.</p>
<p>Schools like Harvard, Yale and Princeton don’t offer business or finance as a major to their students to begin with. They do offer Econ. Thats why you see so many econ majors in I-Banking, for example.</p>
<p>If you go to a school that actually offers finance as a major, then you’re probably better off going with finance. I know at the University of Texas, for example, they offer Econ in the college of liberal arts. Only a few I-Banks hire them, and even getting an interview is a tedious process. On the flip side, in UT’s McCombs college of business administration, I-Banks interview/hire finance and accounting majors quite heavily, host informational sessions as well as parties for those students.</p>
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<p>Yea it’s top 10, but I’ve never head the school mentioned as a target – anywhere. It’s going to be tough to land investment banking jobs out of college if companies don’t recruit there.</p>