<p>I went through the course catalog on Harvard's website and was unable to find any finance courses. I could find some related courses under economics but I want to major in finance. Am I looking at the wrong place. Are there finance courses for undergraduates?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any advise or info.</p>
<p>Harvard College does not offer a concentration or courses in finance.</p>
<p>Thanks heaps for the swift response. </p>
<p>I am currently a 3rd yr undergrad and wanting to do an exchange at Harvard, is it possible to take finance courses listed under the MBA program. I know I am only undergrad, but some of those courses sound very interesting.</p>
<p>Also, in the course catalog, how come there are no course information in the Business Studies link? And could someone please explain what does half course mean?</p>
<p>Finance is typically a major offered by undergraduate business schools. For example, I’m sure NYU Stern offers a degree in finance. For the Ivies and top LAC’s, the major you are looking for is Economics (or some combination of applied econ/math).</p>
<p>Yeah. Also, Harvard FAS has a reputation of not being very friendly to so-called ‘practical’ courses. If you want to take accounting courses as an undergrad at Harvard, you have to register at MIT. So I’m questioning whether Harvard would be a good place for you to do an exchange, since all the business school courses are for grads/MBA candidates only and operate completely outside of FAS jurisdiction. (Occasionally a professor from a non-FAS school may teach a college/undergrad course, but this is an exception, not the norm.)</p>
<p>I’ve also asked myself that question ie whether Harvard would be suitable for me to go on exchange. Well basically, I’ve received this scholarship from my university (the Harvard Travel Scholarship) which is a lump sum payment for me to go and study for 1 semester at Harvard. I’ve heard about some suggestions regarding cross registering at MIT but I am not sure if that would breach the conditions of the scholarship contract.</p>
<p>Hmm…why don’t you take some econ classes then? They’re top-notch and can’t hurt/only help your finance credentials/knowledge. It might not be directly practical and probably more theoretical, but that’s as good a foundation as any, and probably just as, if not more rigorous than your average finance course. </p>
<p>P.S. A half-course is any one-semester course. Harvard courses are only divided into two types: half-course, or full-course (which is a one-year course). Typically, students need a minimum of 32 half-courses to graduate from the College, so you can try translating that into whatever credit system you’re familiar with. (A typical semester is 4 courses, with some students choosing to take 5 or 3 [usually senior spring, with or without thesis].</p>
<p>Thank you so much, you are so helpful. </p>
<p>I thought if worst come to worst, I would undertake economics courses. It is just that if I do not take finance courses, I can’t get credit transferred back and would probably graduate 1 year later due to my time at Harvard. But I’m sure it’s not such a big deal in the long scheme of things. </p>
<p>It has just been hard to convince my parents and my friends that Harvard doesn’t offer any finance courses. But I really love economics and the econ courses should be great. On to a separate question (which I think I should start a new thread but neway), how much does it cost to live near Harvard (not on campus) for like 6 months. -> living + rent etc.</p>
<p>You can find out off campus living costs via Google. Boston and Cambridge are very expensive.</p>
<p>Most undergrads live on campus, even those from the Boston area. If you can, live on campus because the interaction with other Harvard students – discussions in dorms and dining halls, activities in the hundreds of extracurriculars including some that are at a professional level – are what makes Harvard so special. You’ll miss the heart of being at Harvard if you live off campus.</p>
<p>Of course there are finance classes at Harvard. There is not a specific finance concentration at Harvard, however. But within the economics concentration there is a “quantitative finance track” that certainly satisfies many of the most rigorous financial firm recruiters.</p>
<p>@Sewhappy.
I actually think that track is under the stats department, but I can be wrong. In any case, most of the courses under that track is still under the economic label, and not finance, and the course is probably more theoretical in nature than typical for courses for business students. </p>
<p>In think students in that track often (if my memory serves me correctly) need to (or at least do) take a few courses at MIT as well. As to whether financial financial firms are ok with the lack of a finance concentration at Harvard; let’s just say I know history concentrators going to work for Goldman.</p>
<p>@Netracer: you should probably be able to find a few/some courses in the econ, stats and/or applied math that should be close enough to what you need for course credit at your current institution.</p>
<p>there are a few finance-oriented courses in the economics department, check out the course catalog. like corporate finance, or capital markets, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks so much to all. I have carefully read through the course offering by Economics and although corporate finance and capital markets sounds good, I have already completed capital markets and will be doing corporate finance this semester at my university. The following is a list of the finance courses that still needs to be completed. If anyone knows of a course that is similar to the following, please advise and let me know. </p>
<h1>FINS2643 Wealth Management (6 UOC)</h1>
<h1>FINS3623 Small Business Finance (6 UOC)</h1>
<h1>FINS3625 Applied Corporate Finance (6 UOC)</h1>
<h1>FINS3626 Int’l Corporate Governance (6 UOC)</h1>
<h1>FINS3630 Bank Financial Management (6 UOC)</h1>
<h1>FINS3631 Risk and Insurance (6 UOC)</h1>
<h1>FINS3633 Real Estate Finance (6 UOC)</h1>
<h1>FINS3634 Credit Analysis and Lending (6 UOC)</h1>
<h1>FINS3635 Options, Futures&Risk Mgmt (6 UOC)</h1>
<h1>FINS3636 Interest Rate Risk Management (6 UOC)</h1>
<h1>FINS3640 Investment Mgmt Modeling (6 UOC)</h1>
<h1>FINS3641 Security Analysis & Valuation (6 UOC)</h1>
<h1>FINS3642 Strat for Investment Mgmt (6 UOC)</h1>
<h1>FINS3650 International Banking (6 UOC)</h1>
<h1>FINS3651 Int’l Financial Services (6 UOC)</h1>
<h1>FINS3655 Behavioural Finance (6 UOC)</h1>
<h1>FINS3775 Research Methods in Finance 1 (6 UOC)</h1>
<p>Thanks again to all. I really appreciate all your help.
p.s.> about living on campus, as a visiting undergrad, I don’t think I’d be allowed to live on campus, though I am trying to look for some ways to get around that.</p>
<p>Finance is certainly not my area, but I am aware of two courses in the Statistics department about quantitative finance. They are</p>
<p>Stat 123: Applied Quantitative Finance on Wall Street</p>
<p>and </p>
<p>Stat 170: Introduction to Quantitative Methods in Finance</p>
<p>The courses are similar to each other, with 170 requiring more of a math backgrounds, and my understanding is that they are focused largely on options or derivatives. (As a Statistics major I am considering taking one of them myself this semester).</p>
<p>There is a Quantitative Finance concentration within Statistics for undergrads.</p>
<p>Thanks for that information.</p>
<p>Are there any other relevant finance courses under the Quantitative Finance concentration other than Stat 123 and Stat 170? I went through the course catalog and was unable to find any.</p>
<p>I’m in two finance clubs in harvard that are very good substitutes for a finance major, plus they help get internships.</p>
<p>They basically replace that major</p>
<p>I will be really surprised if you can’t find courses on options, risk management, behavioral finance, and international banking. Those are kind of big, juicy, not-limited-to-B-School topics.</p>
<p>millerlite</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Could you please name the two finance clubs, so I can tell my kid who is a freshman?</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply Millerl1te, how can clubs be substitutes for a major? I mean like is it possible to get course credit for being in the clubs? Could you please explain this a little more.</p>
<p>In response to JHS, I was a bit surprised to but I haven’t been able to find any courses on risk, options, securities, behavioral finance etc at Harvard. If you know some, please let me know.</p>