<p>I'm an undergrad at NYU at the cusp of changing my major. I do however need some advice..</p>
<p>I really enjoy economics, but I'm much more interested in business specifically. I'm currently majoring in economics, but am considering switching to either Business & Political Economy or Management and International Business. I'd much rather take those two majors, due to the classes that are required, as opposed to economics. However, here's my problem:</p>
<p>I'm moving back to California upon graduation, and am really relying on the "prestige" and or "uniqueness" of my degree to separate me from the UCLA, USC, Stanford graduates. I'm interested in working for either large or small hedge funds/private equity or investment banks.</p>
<p>To me, for some odd reason, economics sounds better. Does anyone agree/disagree? I'd love to hear all of your thoughts on the matter. One thing is certain - I AM NOT PLANNING ON BEING AN ECONOMIST!</p>
<p>I'm anticipating responses indicating that I should study what interests me most, and I completely agree. However, I came to NYU because, for what I'm interested in (and what I was told), it was better than anything UCLA or USC could offer.</p>
<p>If you’re targeting a bank or PE/HF, wouldn’t it be ideal to major in finance instead? I mean, coming from Stern, I would expect interviewers to hit you with lots of finance-related technical questions. But then again, I wouldn’t know since I’m not at Stern yet… you should probably check out a site like wallstreetoasis.</p>
<p>edit: Wait, hold on. You said that you’re in CAS in another thread… did you already transfer to Stern?</p>
<p>initially i’d love my first job to be at a private equity firm (big or small). after i get enough experience i’d like to start my own pe/hedge fund. as a result, though finance interests me, businesses (the study of their nature, accounting, fiancee, etc) and the study of how they work is what i’m truly passionate about. the management degree seems to encompass everything (accounting, economics, finance). I’d be happiest taking that major.</p>
<p>since u like to study the nature of businesses
i think u should be an investment advisor instead
u can analyze how companies run
are they making profit or not
and give advises to ur clients
or u can those be “hunters”
who buy a large company, disassemble it, and sell the parts again
u should get a job that needs to analyze how companies run</p>
<p>Look, I’ll be completely frank. You shouldn’t start on the buy-side. It generally isn’t a wise move, nor is it typically feasible at all. 99%+ of the time you won’t even get an interview without BB, elite boutique, or solid MM experience. If you do somehow manage to break into the buy-side out of undergrad, it almost universally pegs you for wherever you start. i.e. If you get into an L/S fund, a distressed debt fund, or REPE, you’ll typically only have vertical opportunities within that specialty and no lateral opps.</p>
<p>As for majors … finance is basically what you need. You have the opportunity of participating in the 2nd ranked undergrad finance program in the country. In my mind, coming to Stern and wanting to work in finance without majoring in it is the biggest waste ever. An econ major won’t help you at all during recruiting because everyone else for finance gigs will have either finance or a dual in finance + accounting/statistics/computer science/econ/international business. If you choose management, people will think you want to do consulting and that you’re looking for MBB gigs.</p>
<p>Long story short, if you want finance and you’re at Stern, you need to major in it. It’s a different story if you went somewhere else or to a school without the major, but we have it here and it’s top-notch.</p>
<p>Thank you for the honest reply. I’ve read that post, as well as its outline that I may get paid less working in PE/HF straight from undergraduate - and I don’t care lol! I love investing, and I one day want to run my own fund. Banking is definitely a great opportunity to make money and learn, but I have no interest in being a salesperson. So long as I’m making enough money to live comfortably in Los Angeles, and doing what I love, I’m happy. I’d take 80 grand out of college with bonus per year having fun that 140-160 hating my life.</p>
<p>My uncle (HBS grad) said that so long as I take the proper courses offered within stern (corp fin, equity valuation, and anything else that applies to the real world of buy side firms) and display it on my resume, he thinks i’d be okay. He actually pointed out that the emphasis on international business could actually be a major plus, as the business world is without question moving towards a more international sphere.</p>
<p>I’m having lunch with my managing partner next week about this. I’m also going to speak with my cousin, a princeton grad who’s finishing up 2 years doing M&A at JP Morgan and who’s just signed an offer with Blackstone. </p>
<p>I’m actually a sophomore though, which makes the flexibility of changing majors quite difficult. </p>
<p>I want to reiterate as much as possible that I’m interested in working in private equity and or hedge funds not for the money, but for the opportunity to do something im extremely interested and passionate about.</p>
<p>If you’re familiar with the M&I website then you have to realize how contradictory you sound. You want to be buy-side. Great. 90% of people in finance do too. IBD is <em>THE</em> route to buy-side, plain and simple. No getting around it. Ask your cousin from JPM. People bust their back to get into uber-tier IBD so they have buy-side exit opportunities.</p>
<p>IBD is not sales-y until you’re at VP or higher. If you’re an Associate or Analyst you’re doing grunt work grinding out models and doing valuation in Excel and Powerpoint more than you ever thought possible. It gives you the single most quantitative experience possible, which is why buy-side firms 99.99999999% of the time completely refuse to look at kids straight out of undergrad because you don’t know how to do what they want you to.</p>
<p>I only know of four kids in Stern within the past five years who have gone straight to buy-side. In each of their cases there were extenuating circumstances that made that possible. Even Wharton barely places kids into buy-side immediately, and not that many kids there even want to go right away.</p>
<p>Long story short, you typically do IBD because you want to get to buy-side. It is “the track,” you do it because it’s the best way to get where you want to be. I’m also a sophomore and I’m at MS for the next two summers (went through recruiting with more than half the bulge bracket as well). You can change major whenever you want in Stern, doing it after your fifth semester isn’t smart because it gives you no flexibility at all (as you point out), but you can quite feasibly change right now with no repercussions. At this point neither you or I have even gotten anywhere near the upper-level coursework, it’s all been MAP and the Stern core so far.</p>
<p>Disregarding how much money you’ll make out of school, you have to realize what you’re saying. You’re trying to break into the upper echelons of finance straight out of undergrad with no experience, where you’ll be facing candidates for the exact same position (portfolio analyst) who have two years of BB IBD experience and recommendations from VPs/MDs. IBD recruiting is no cakewalk, that’s a far-from-guaranteed process. You’re trying to bypass that, the necessary prerequisite for buy-side … for buy-side right away, a process that a tremendous number of sell-side candidates can’t master.</p>
<p>It’s great that you’re so interested in investing. Just realize that sometimes you need to guarantee yourself the best shot possible for what you want to do long-run, and sometimes that means taking steps in the short-run that will help you get there.</p>