<p>(I also posted this thread in the Investment Banking, College Selection, and Pton subforums...if anyone wants to check those responses out)</p>
<p>Hey all!</p>
<p>I'm a high school senior deciding between Harvard, Princeton, and Yale for college. In high school, I'm one of the top students in math in the country, but I don't think I can tackle a research career in pure math. After reading some material in economics, I think finance is a more suitable career option. Since Yale is relatively weak in math comparing to H and P, my choice will be between H and P, unless something really changes my mind during my visit next week.</p>
<p>I was doing some research these days, and found out that the degrees offered by Harvard do not suit my needs. For example, there is no joint concentration (double major) in Econ, Math, Applied Math, or Stats. My intended major, Applied Math, does not even allow a secondary concentration (minor). So essentially, I will choose between taking a large number of pure math courses to get a (pure) math major, or get the not-so-quantitative Econ major, forgoing my strength in math. Since I heard Harvard has the best placement record on the IB recruit market, I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a common degree option for a Harvard ==> IBanker==>quant trading/hedge fund career. On the other hand, the Princeton ORFE degree, with a certificate in Finance, sounds like a perfect match. Any input on that program would be great, too.</p>
<p>That being said, there are other factors in this decision. I drool after the prestige of the Harvard name and love the Boston and Cambridge community, but also want a quality undergrad education which Harvard severely lacks. I also want to be in a well-rounded student body, with a slight tilt to the sciences (I know..I'm picky).</p>
<p>Thanks a ton! Be biased and offer your opinion! I really need an informed decision in two weeks!</p>
<p>They’ll both give you excellent opportunities. Harvard, however, has the Veritas financial group. If you join that, you’ll truly become “well-connected”.</p>
<p>Go to Harvard. I am usually the first to say, “you can’t go wrong”, but I think Harvard would suit you more than Princeton would. Furthermore, you seem like someone who would try to double major at some point… you can’t do that at Princeton. You can, however, pick a joint concentration at Harvard.</p>
<p>At Harvard, why wouldn’t you do a joint concentration between Econ and Math? That seems ridiculously logical and easy, especially if Econ is the principal field. You wouldn’t have to take scads of theoretical math courses – you would take whatever math you were going to take anyway as a freshman, and then as few as three other courses (with a distributional requirement that might, maybe, make you take one course you wouldn’t otherwise take). And the Economics requirements seem really minimal if you don’t pursue honors. Moreover, I am pretty certain that, given the ability of undergraduates to take graduate courses, the Econ major can be as quantitative as you choose to make it.</p>
<p>I will admit to not knowing anywhere near enough about Applied Math vs. Math, but I have noticed in the world that financial applications seem not to be what Applied Math is about (although certainly the financial world has plenty of Applied Math PhDs and the like in it).</p>
<p>Well, just remember that at Harvard you are not allowed to do a joint concentration with Economics. So what you can do is get a primary concentration in Economics and a secondary concentration in Math, or the other way around. It is the same at Princeton. You can get a concentration in Econ and then do a certificate program in Math, or vice versa. The academic choices you have listed for Princeton are more vocational than those available at Harvard. But remember, the extracirricular opportunities at Harvard are an integral part of your overall education and seriously, no one can beat Harvard when it comes to extra cirriculars. In terms of the strength of the two departments at these schools. While both of them are amazing, I’d say that Harvard definitely has an edge, and the on campus recruiting is bettet as well. Good luck deciding.</p>
<p>Actually, at Princeton I don’t think one can get a certificate in pure math, only applied. And you would have to pick which subject to go further in, since in one you will write a senior thesis and in the other you won’t.</p>
<p>in response to something said earlier, then how would the applied math degree at harvard w/ say a decision and controls or econ emphasis differ from concentrating in econ and pursuing a math secondary?</p>
<p>Let me preface this by saying I really don’t know anything about ORFE at Princeton, other than a vague awareness that it’s a top notch program.</p>
<p>If you want to be a quant, you’ll have plenty of chances to chase that goal at Harvard.</p>
<p>First, let me give you a bit of personal experience. I am by no means a math genius - the only really quant courses on my transcript are Applied Math 21a and a couple computer science classes (on programming, not theory). This was enough to get me a few first round interviews for quant internships - including Goldman and JP Morgan (I didn’t really apply to the quant hedge funds). I, of course, got destroyed at these interviews… but the point stands - these firms really, really really want Harvard students.</p>
<p>An aside on point 1 - I discussed mostly quant options, because I feel like the more you learn about what being an investment banker is, the less you’ll want to do it. It’s a waste of a good brain, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Second, if you go to Harvard, it really doesn’t matter much what you concentrate in. I was getting interviews with a biology concentration. Firms would probably respect you more a bit more if you have a quantitative concentration, but you’re also okay taking a “softer” concentration and then just taking quantitative electives to demonstrate your brainpower. They really don’t distinguish much between Ec vs. Applied Math/Ec vs. CS vs. whatever. And a lot of those concentrations can boil down to mean pretty much the same classes when you look at it. That said, if you do want a “quant” concentration Stats offers a “quantitative finance” track you might like - [url=<a href=“http://webdocs.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/ugrad_handbook/current/chapter3/statistics.html]Statistics[/url”>http://webdocs.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/ugrad_handbook/current/chapter3/statistics.html]Statistics[/url</a>]</p>
<p>In summary, if you go to Harvard, you’ll have crazy job options (assuming wall street doesn’t destroy itself before you graduate) and the ability to have a lot of flexibility in course selection.</p>
<p>if you want to go into finance, you cannot go wrong at Harvard. they dont have a finance concentration, but a ton of people, regardless of concentration, go into finance in some shape or form</p>