<p>Is course 14 (BS econ) or course 15 (BS management science) better for a career in finance? Financial engineering?</p>
<p>I mean this in terms of several things:
- skills preparation for finance/financial engineering
- 'easiness' to get a good GPA
- recruiting attention
- reputation</p>
<p>It seems that many people will double major 14+15, because of similar course reqs.</p>
<p>If you want go into fiance but want to be legit, do Course 6 and 18 (or 14 and 18). Course 14 and 15 are not “quantitative-heavy” majors and will be detrimental if you’re applying to places that are expecting MIT-caliber quantitative abilities from applicants.</p>
<p>WIth that said, if you want to get a good GPA, by all means do Course 15. But I think you’ll find that college (especially MIT) is all about challenging yourself to th elimit. Frankly, Course 15 doesn’t give you that.</p>
<p>^ This isn’t actually the case - while it’s definitely possible to get a degree in course 15 without a lot of quantitative requirements, tracks like operations require a lot of math. My friend (who’s a course 15 major) has to take 6.046, which is the advanced algorithms course and which is one of the hardest courses in computer science. It’s misleading (and immature) to talk about course 15 like it’s trivial.</p>
<p>I’ll qualify that. Course 15 is good if you want a job that doesn’t require a lot of quantitative skills (e.g. i-banking, operations, consulting, etc). But then why come to MIT? That’s my main point - Course 15 does not expose you to the type of rigor that makes MIT the #1 engineering school in the world. But of course, you can always take courses outside of your major.</p>
<p>With that said, 6.046 is definitely not one of the hardest courses in computer science. It’s just a regular algorithm class that every college offers. Advanced algorithms is 6.854. However, 6.046 is very nicely taught, since the professor is the guy who wrote the “bible” of algorithms.</p>
<p>6.046 is definitely one of the hardest required courses for a computer science major. I say this as someone who has earned a computer science degree from MIT, who is current pursuing a master’s degree in computer science, and who has many friends who are also pursuing / have received degrees in computer science at MIT.</p>
<p>Part of being a business major is being able to make business connections, and being at a top tech school allows you to do that. There’s a reason that HBS students advertise to MIT computer science majors for technical cofounders, and one of the great parts of Sloan is that you can take classes (and live) alongside brilliant engineering minds.</p>
<p>To the OP’s original question, I maintain that it depends on what you want to do. If you’d like to do high-frequency trading, then most firms will look for some sort of math / science (especially computer science) background.</p>
<p>However, I don’t think this discussion about the merits of Sloan vs. another degree is really relevant, as I don’t think that either of us are really experts on what it actually takes to earn a business degree, given that I earned a CS degree and iceui2 has not earned any degree at all.</p>
<p>I answered OP’s question as well. He asked for “easiness to get good GPA” and “reputation” and I provided the answers. And come on… I dare you to deny that a degree from Sloan is not as reputable as say an MIT CS degree. A MIT CS major can get the job of any Course 15 major (I’m sure you know). What if you reverse it?</p>
<p>Do you realize how offensive your comments are? It is perfectly fine to come to MIT and major in course 15. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be offered as a major.</p>
<p>The days are well over when you could pretend to apply for a quantitative finance position with just a BS degree in math, physics or computer science. Strong quantitative skills are necessary but far from sufficient. The field has become immensely more sophisticated in the past decade and most applicants have PhDs or advanced degrees in finance/financial engineering. </p>
<p>The idea that one would have more credibility in quantitative finance with a general degree in math than from Sloan is simply silly. MIT’s finance group within the Sloan School is unquestionably among the most advanced groups in the field of quantitative finance in the world. It offers MS in Finance.<br>
[About</a> Us - Finance Group](<a href=“http://mitsloan.mit.edu/finance/about/index.php]About”>http://mitsloan.mit.edu/finance/about/index.php)
It may be possible for undegrads to do research in the Laboratory for Financial Engineering run by Nobel Prize laureate Robert Merton. I would guess that it would be restricted to Course 15 majors because of course pre-requisites.</p>
<p>It’s difficult to get a good quant position with just a B.S. in anything. But a Ph.D in math or CS is more than enough to get you in. I don’t deny that a Ph.D from Sloan can also get you there as well, but we’re talking about the Bachelor’s in Management (not Financial Engineering). It’s core classes include “Managerial Communication, Psychology Lab, Marketing Management”. That’s completely fine if you want to go into a non-quantitative position. But if you really want to learn management get a MBA. All I’m saying is that why come to MIT if you’re just going to take non-quantitative courses? It’s like going to Toscanini’s and ordering a sandwich. While I realize you can take more quantitative classes from Sloan if one chooses to, you don’t /have/ to, and that’s my point. </p>
<p>Every single person I know is doing Course 15 plus another major (either 6, 14, or 18). It’s pretty easy to finish all the Course 15 requirements in less than 2 years. Also, do you guys want to deny the fact that classes for a Course 15 major are graded easier than the engineering majors? </p>
<p>Why are my comments offensive? Everything I’m saying is true. I apologize if I’m being overly blunt. Again, I’m not denying the fact that Sloan is one of the best business schools in the world (it is). I’m just saying that you want to be really careful if you want to be Course 15 because it’s not exactly the most reputable major at MIT.</p>
<p>I’m also told that your grades don’t matter as much for business school as they do for other advanced degrees.</p>
<p>iceui2 only answered the GPA component of the question before moving on to bashing Sloan. To the OP’s other points, Sloan is extremely well-respected and gets a /lot/ of recruiting attention. It is one of the top business schools in the country. The economics department is also extremely well-respected (and is quite quantitative) and my econ major friends have been very pleased with the amount of attention (from professors and from recruiters) that they have received.</p>
<p>In conclusion, Sloan is a great school. There’s no need to insult it just because you don’t have the social skills required to be a business major.</p>
<p>Did I bash Sloan? No. I actually explicitly stated that it is one of the best B-schools in the world. But networking as an undergrad means little when you don’t have the skills or experience, which is why I feel the way I feel about Course 15. If you want to learn social skills, go to Harvard.</p>
<p>iceui2, you are really misinformed about Sloan. Are you even an MIT student yet? </p>
<p>A Course 15 major with a concentration in quantitative finance will do more math than a Course 6 major. Sloan is all about quantitative economics and finance. Saying that a Course 6 major is more reputable than a Course 15 major for a career in finance is plain ridiculous. If you want to work for Google maybe, but not if you want to work for Goldman Sachs. And you are completely wrong if you think that a PhD in math or CS will get you a top quant position in finance these days. That is just as silly as stating that a math major working on algebraic topology or a physics major working on string theory will get a top job at Google over a CS major just because they have more “quantitative skills” and anybody can learn programming!</p>
<p>Ugh, jeez. To anyone reading this thread, please rest assured that in my four years at MIT, I have never encountered anyone in real life who is as narrow-minded, uninformed, and idiotic as iceui2 is being. The vast majority of MIT students are respectful, intelligent humans who will not look down on you because you’re majoring in business instead of computer science. I guess when you admit 1000 students, you’re bound to get some bad apples.</p>
<p>Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there. Why do you and cellardweller pretend like Course 14 and 15 people are viewed in the same light as the engineers? Try asking around. And you call me ignorant…</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure some STEM majors having low opinions of business majors is not unique to MIT. I certainly know many STEM majors at both elite and non-elite schools that have low opinions of business majors so I think there will definitely be some people at MIT that look down on course 15 majors but I think that would also be true at most schools.</p>