<p>My son, a high school senior, may be interested in this field. His plan is to apply for a few top 20 schools and our state school. We understand that he will have to join a few clubs in college to sharpen his leadership skills and develop his professional network. However, we are looking into various curriculums. Some colleges offer a finance certificate while others do not. We tend to believe that it is beneficial for him to get into one of those colleges that do. However, we do not want to overlook the others. How should he prepare himself, while in college, to be successful in the field of i-Banking? Is the following a good plan to follow? He will have over 10 AP credits so he should be able to satisfy some of the gen ed requirements.</p>
<p>a) (Economics for critical thinking skill + finance certificate) or (Finance major + Econ minor) - We assume that several accounting courses will be necessary.
b) Computer science (or 2-3 courses and be capable of programming in MatLab) Is it a powerful tool for prototyping a financial model? He will take a course on object-orientated programming in a CC in his senior year. Would this be a useful background to be able to work with the quant team in the future?
c) 3-4 courses (beyond AP Calc BC/AP Stats) in applied math / statistics for quantitative skill
d) International / Global culture + some law courses</p>
<p>The idea is to cover all the basics so that he does not need to spend the money to get a MBA degree down the road. What would be your recommendation?</p>
<p>You would be wrong in this regard. Ibanks actively recruit at many schools that do not even offer finance or accounting courses. If you don’t take advantage of the opportunities offered, that’s one thing, but if you’re at Brown or Williams, you’re not going to be penalized because you never had the opportunity to take financial accounting.</p>
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These courses are completely irrelevant to anything your son will be doing. If they are of interest, sure, go ahead and take them. Otherwise, they could just as easily be replaced by courses in interpretive dance or music theory. </p>
<p>As to your other questions, your son needs to learn the difference between the various roles in finance before you can get a meaningful answer to this question. Advanced math and object-oriented programming are beyond useless in investment banking. They may, however, be absolutely vital for a quantitative finance position. It needs to be stressed that these positions are essentially different careers. Although they are both technically finance, investment banking programs will target econ majors straight out of undergrad where as quant positions by and large look for math or physics phds. </p>
<p>Also, this should go without saying, but the fact that you’re creating this post and not your son is a huge red flag. Your son needs to be the one showing the initiative, not you.
There are very few positions (if any) that require anywhere near the number of hours that investment banking analysts and associates work. Before you start, it’s hard to imagine the toll that working a month straight without a day off or pulling back-to-back all nighters takes on your body. It is not a decision to take lightly.</p>
<p>You don’t need a finance degree to get into investment banking. Also, unless your son attends a school like Wharton that has a very strong finance program, most of what you need to know to get the job you will have to self study outside of class. There are plenty of interview/job guides for that. </p>
<p>Programming classes are not useful for investment banking, but would be for more quantitative trading firms. International and legal classes are also not relevant for most finance jobs. The math classes are good to have on your resume, even though you usually only need basic algebra. </p>
<p>That being said, your son should still take a wide variety of classes and learn things that interest him. </p>
<p>People in finance usually don’t get an MBA to learn new things. It’s more about just having the degree on your resume. Most PE firms/investment banks/consulting firms will prefer candidates with an MBA, so an MBA may be unavoidable regardless of what you’ve learned in your undergrad.</p>
<p>Thanks for the insights. Your red flag is right on the mark. He has his own channel of learning the system. However, I am an engineer with middle-class income, and since I may have to shell out up to $100K for his college education depending on where he goes, I would need to do my due diligence. </p>
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<p>I am concerned that his ability to analyze the income statement/earning projections of a company may be lacking if he does not take any advanced accounting courses. Does it not concern a future employer if he must teach new analysts all these skills from scratch? </p>
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<p>Do finance professionals from these two areas talk to each other? Would they need to discuss if the quant teams predictions were validated or require further improvement? If he has an indicator he would like to be included in the sophisticated quant model, how would he be able to convince the quant team to try it without having some in-depth understanding of what they do? </p>
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<p>He is aware of the demanding schedule. He will have to figure out whether he can handle the pressure and survive the “residency”. I hope that he can enjoy the work, learn the system, and maintain healthy quality of life going forward if he indeed gets into this field. </p>
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<p>Both of you advised above. I am just wondering if there are cases that an analyst would be involved in a deal with a foreign company, which will require substantial knowledge about the local market and even the language. Engineering teams in my company have weekly telecon with major domestic or foreign customers to go over items of concerns. In some cases, we will need to work with suppliers to make sure they have any difficulties of delivering exactly what we want. Would the analysts need to have frequent teleconferences with or even visit some foreign companies? In the era of global M&A, would this be very critical?</p>
<p>Additional advices are very much appreciated.</p>
All of the major banks start off their analyst programs with classroom training, complete with homework and tests. This will help those without an accounting background get up to speed. The rest is learned on the job.</p>
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<p>No. Regulation has essentially made this impossible. Even if the regulation didn’t exist, he wouldn’t have anything close to the skill set necessary as a banker.
The closest an investment banker will have to any type of quant team will be with risk. Even then, you will stick to your respective roles. </p>
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It’s possible I guess, but I’d doubt taking a few international business classes would even be helpful in this regard. Studying abroad would be much more beneficial. </p>
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Harvard students can (any many do) take accounting courses at MIT, so your point is essentially null and void.</p>
<p>My son’s chance of getting into Harvard is like winning a lottery. However, I do think that the Harvard students can take some accounting courses at MIT. In most cases, it is possible taking these courses at another school.</p>
<p>Thanks for the clarification. I was not aware of the regulation about preventing the two functions to interact. Your advices are greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>What’s more important than knowledge for the job is knowledge to land the job.</p>
<p>Basic accounting, basic finance, and valuation is what is academically required (tested in interviews). And most of that can be self-taught from various resources (many are online). </p>
<p>I would let him major in whatever he is interested in, but if he is going to a state school, then Finance would be his best bet.</p>
<p>Thanks for the note. It certainly look like the name of the school will give him the best chance. If that does not work out, our state school (IU) has a pretty decent business school (Kelley). The IB workshop in Kelley send their top students to wall street. The concern is that it is pretty difficult to get into the IB workshop. Otherwise, it is really a good choice.</p>
<p>Kelley also has the Investment Banking Seminar, an eight week program for high achieving seniors that ends just prior to the beginning of fall recruiting by investment banks, helping to place finance majors who were not selected to the IBW.</p>
<p>Also, most of the top finance students in Kelley take cost accounting and intermediate accounting I and II (none of them required for finance majors, but worth taking as they can be substituted to meet graduation requirements for some less useful finance and accounting classes electives), which gives them plenty of exposure to financial statements.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link. I did not see that one before. I think that students in IB seminar have limited chance breaking into IB. The handpicking of the IB Workshop members also scared me quite a bit. Students with GPA of 3.9 may be rejected. DS3 is not very socially amiable. On the contrary, he could be more sarcastic than humorous most of the time. I am trying to change him for the last half year with limited success. Professor may not like him in the IBW. If that happens, his chance of getting into IB is greatly reduced. In fact, I am wondering if he can secure a great LOR from a second teacher (in HS) for his college admission. Well, if that happens, he will learn his lesson.</p>