<p>I’m a high school senior who is strongly considering attending Alabama next year. While looking at the placement statistics on the website, I noticed Finance Majors had huge ranges for their salaries, with some getting paid 100k+ starting off and others making only around 25k a year. How common are the high paying jobs for Finance graduates from Alabama? Are these jobs going to the kids with nearly perfect GPA’s and strong interview skills, or to people who have connections? Also, is it possible to break into IB from Alabama (primarily in cities in Charlotte or Houston), or would I need to get an MBA from a top school to get into it?</p>
<p>Salary ranges are going to exist because graduates go into different directions. Some may go right into investment banking, while others are going the “work your way up” through mortgage banking and will start low.<br>
Much will depend on YOU…your grades (I doubt a perfect GPA is needed, but a high one will help), your math skills, interviewing skills, people skills, internships, etc. I doubt you’d need a MBA from the get go since most people go back to school for one, rather than graduate with one. However, you could do a MBA a Bama simultaneously. SEA_Tide got his MBA at the same time, but I cant remember if his undergrad was finance or econ.</p>
<p>Starting salaries can be misleading as some students graduate and purposely take low paying jobs while others have very high incomes due to connections which are not related to their major. For example, a graduate who is also a top NFL recruit could make a lot of money regardless of their undergraduate major.</p>
<p>There are some top students who go into international banking and management consulting. There are many more who take slightly lower-paying positions in return for working closer to 40 hours per week. It’s relatively common for these students to graduate UA with master’s degrees in finance or economics. I have a master’s degree in economics.</p>
<p>For business students, the typical advice is to wait 3-5 years before getting an MBA and attending a top school for ones MBA. With your goals, it’d likely be a good idea to wait to get an MBA, though you could certainly get a different master’s degree if you so desired.</p>
<p>In terms of job and internship advice, have good grades and learn how to tailor your job applications and interview for positions. Do internships and try to have a relevant job during the school year.</p>
<p>SEA-tide…thanks for the correction. For some reason I thought you got your MBA. Now I’ll rermember that you got your masters in econ. </p>