I want to go into finance after college, but I’ve seen a lot of mixed opinions on whether or not an undergraduate business degree is worth it.
I am a direct admit to the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, which means I’ll be starting as a business major as a freshman. Do I go to Kelley or do I get a STEM degree from northeastern or Wake Forest, which I have a really good shot at getting into.
An economics degree in arts and sciences will prepare you for a finance career. A STEM degree will not.
How would a finance degree from Kelley compare to an econ degree of william and mary, northeastern, or wake forest?
Go to Kelley. It is a fantastic program and if you want to go into investment banking, they place exceptionally well granted you get good grades and internships.
I disagree somewhat with post #1. I agree that an economics undergrad would be good for finance, but so would some STEM degrees, specifically in mathematics.
If you like engineering, then major in that as an undergrad. Then, you will have options later after graduation, on whether to pursue a career in banking or consulting or stay in engineering (assuming that you get good grades and internships while in college.)
If you want to get a job in finance after college, then a business degree would be a help.
Economics and finance are two very different courses of study. One is not better or worse but you should research the differences before deciding what school you want to apply to and/or attend. Economics is a pure liberal arts course of study. At the higher levels, economics is very theoretical. Finance is a business course of study. If you are in a business school you will take a business core curriculum with introductory classes in subjects such as accounting, finance, IT, management, (as well as 2 economics classes). Look through the classes you would take in different majors and decide where your interests lie. Nobody on this board can answer that question for you.
I went to an undergrad b-school after transferring from a core curriculum (although I was a declared business major, it was essentially a 2 year liberal arts study + 2 years business school curriculum) my freshman year at a large state school and it was a drastically different atmosphere. It’s much more competitive (not necessarily in the quality of students), but it’s a nature of how corporate recruiting habits affect curriculum and students. The majority of students going into undergrad b-school have a definitive notion of what they want to do, where they want to be, and only until recently are a lot of undergrad b-schools adjusting their curriculum to make it easier to explore other majors. This is also tied to recruiting habits and student demands as “entrepreneurship” has opened the doors for business acumen to be tied to virtually any industry.
I went in double majoring in finance and econ, but later switched my econ major it management. Not speaking for everyone’s experience but my time at an undergrad b-school was definitely worth it even though I explored many different fields and didn’t end up in a career that I originally majored for. Top undergrad b-schools have significantly more recruiting events, giving you more opportunities to open doors, the school name and degree itself won’t get you that far without your own perseverance but they definitely give you a leg up.