<p>Hello everyone, i would like to start out by saying i am a senior in HS , and i have decisions to make about college. I have decided that business is my interest, and i really like the idea of finance. After reading a lot of blogs and stuff, it looks like Finance and Accounting go hand in hand, and that it'd look good to atleast dual-major, or minor in finance or accounting depending on what i choose to major in. My question is what are your thoughts on this? because id like to just do finance, but ill do what it takes to get a good job, and make money directly out of college. I am not the smartest student, my average through HS is a 84, so i was wondering how difficult do you think it would be for me to do both? thank you everyone for you input,</p>
<p>If your goal is to get a job straight out of college this is the trick:</p>
<p>do a few things and only a few things at a time. Do them well. Think varsity sports, leadership in a club or something similar. Be disciplined enough to say no
inflate your GPA by any (hopefully ethical) means necessary.
internships. Do them, 3 or 4. balance relevance and prominance(Big companies that are well known gain more attention by recruiters than they should, abuse this psychological bias)
your major matters less than you think. It’s a single line on your resume. The exception here is if it grants you some special technical skill or qualification(engineering, comp sci, applied math/statistics, CPA) A 3.8 GPA philosophy major with the level 1 CFA passed and internships(Merrill Lynch/Citi/UBS Wealth Management, IB at a boutique, Corp Finance Co-Op) in finance will be getting more opportunities than a 2.8 GPA finance major who worked at Panda Express</p>
<p>make a sample resume for yourself and a “dream” resume for when you set foot on campus your senior year.
[How</a> to Write an Investment Banking Resume | Mergers & Inquisitions](<a href=“http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-resumes/]How”>http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-resumes/)</p>
<p>ok thanks a lot for your help!</p>
<p>That recommendation makes zero sense to me… you aren’t going to have much luck getting an internship at an investment bank or an accounting firm with a philosophy major. You will have much better luck with finance, accounting, or econ. You should be able to double major, but get to college and try out a couple of classes in each area before declaring if you can. They are somewhat different, but you sort of have to give them a try to confirm if you like both or just one.</p>
<p>It is true that internships make a huge difference in post-graduation employment. So don’t mess around with this… start applying for internships around Christmas of your freshman year for the next summer. You might not land something very prestigious the first year, but you can work you way into a better one the next sumer, etc. Even an internship with a company that is not a big name is good if you are getting some decent experience. If your college offers a co-op semester of some kind where you can work in your field, that could be a good opportunity. Be creative on this… for example, if your college doesn’t have a co-op option, some colleges offer a Washington DC semester – you could get an internship in the accounting office of a government agency (I know a student who interned in the budget office of the Department of Agriculture, for example). Just be sure you will be able to get all your classes to graduate on time if you do take a co-op or semester during the year.</p>
<p>It is also true that you need to really keep your focus on your grades in college. There is very little concern for ECs on your post-college resume. A little is needed, and there are some that can add to your resume. For example, my D was a writing tutor in the school writing center. That looked good on her resume. But try to do at least one thing for fun as well, since college is supposed to be at least somewhat fun. :)</p>
<p>To answer your question: Not difficult at all.</p>
<p>I am currently a finance/accounting major at a top 10 business school (Businessweek rankings). You’ll find that many of your required courses for finance and accounting can be used interchangeably for the other, which is a huge time saver. Much of the curriculums overlap as well–corporate finance is essentially a continuation of accounting, just applied in a different way.</p>
<p>On the value of pursuing both majors: I definitely think it is worth it, even though you said you only have an interest in finance as a career. Most finance jobs (investment banking, corporate finance, securities and investment analysis, etc.) will require a heavy dose of accounting knowledge if you really want to be great at what you do. Getting a more in depth view of accounting while still in college will definitely give you a leg up over pure finance majors or finance and economics majors.</p>
<p>Hope that helps. Feel free to come back with anymore questions.</p>
<p>thanks alot guys, your help is very much appreciated!</p>