<p>I am a junior (high school) who plans on majoring in engineering (Industrial or civil or other options) with a minor in economics. I want to major in engineering because it gives me the most possible career paths. My father is an engineer and owns a company that he wants me to take over one day. Personally, I want to become an investment banker because I am very intrigued by the industry (and i won't lie the money would be nice). The thing is Investment Banks are all about prestige, gpa, and internships and I was wondering if getting the latter two would be realistic with an engineering major. I think I can get into the top schools including the engineering ivies as well as MIT. Which of these top schools would be easiest to get a high engineering gpa so I can on day become an investment banker? Please no one mention that I am just doing it for the money or I shouldn't be so corrupted by greed because I just want some advice.</p>
<p>Back office or front office? My dad’s old firm hired engineers for back office things like trading system. If you want to break into front office with engineering, M&T from UPenn would be ideal. Columbia is good(proximity to Wall St.) And my dad says it’s usually physics majors/other “hard” engineering majors who are hired as they are seen to have the brains/hard-working capabilities.</p>
<p>I want to work front office and maybe from there move onto PE. Engineering just gives me so many good options and is a great back up just in case I’m not competitive enough when investment banking recruitment occurs during my junior/senior year. I am thinking about minoring in Econ. Do you think that going to a school on the west coast like Stanford would hinder me in recruiting because I live in NJ and am very close to NYC. And can you clarify what other engineering majors are hired. Are you saying that civil or industrial engineering are less favored than other majors or something else? @RChandler</p>
<p>Going to Stanford will not hinder your prospects; it would help quite a bit.</p>
<p>oohcollege Stanford would more likely be recruited into Tech Firms/Consulting firms on the west coast BUT they do send people to NYC, just not high as Wharton/NYU/Booth/etc. I have never met a civil/industrial engineer at a bank/hf/vc/etc, I guess it’s possible to major in civil and go onto banking but I’m under the impression(false or true) that civil engineering is the “joke engineering major”. Other majors(Physics/math-related) have higher chances of recruitment.</p>
<p>I think the best path for you to take(again personal opinion) is to get an engineering degree, then go on to work for a consulting firm. MBB is best, just don’t do Accenture. After you work for a few years(4-6), go to a good MBA school and switch to private equity.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. Consulting does not seem like a bad option and I have looked into it. </p>
<p>@RChandler: what’s wrong with Accenture?</p>
<p>It will suck you dry. And it has horrible exit ops. No MBB firm ever recruits from Accenture, usually people end up having to work at a second tier firm like Deloitte instead and then move to MBB. Their salaries suck too.</p>
<p>^I’m confused. I still see Accenture as a consulting firm hatched from an accounting firm. Are you saying Accenture is first tier and Deloitte is second? Are you implying that Accenture pays less than the consulting groups in the accounting firms? Also, I think you’re mistaken about exit ops from Accenture or at a minimum exaggerating the issue.</p>
<p>Accenture is bottom tier. Firms like Deloitte are middle, MBB,Strategy& are top. MBB never recruits from accenture, so to go from Accenture --> MBB, you need to go to Deloitte first, etc. And yes it is. Accenture hires anybody they can get. Therefore companies look less favorable on Accenture alumni, also salaries there really suck. My dad was offered 1/5 his current salary to work there.</p>
<p>I know someone who went Civil Engineering -> BB bank in their public sector/government group.
Another CivE -> Infrastructure PE.
My friend from undergrad, a CivE -> project finance group at a BB. </p>
<p>Infrastructure as an asset class is gaining traction now that the gov’t is broke (political pressure not to borrow money). Although the things you learn from engineering won’t be directly applicable, it’s a good background to have. </p>
<p>@RChandler: sounds like sour grapes over your dad not getting hired there. Can’t imagine him giving up what had to be over half a million in salary to accept 1/5 from Accenture, seeing as all their experienced hires make six figures. They earned $30B in revenue last year consulting for almost every industry. They must be doing something right to be the world’s largest consulting firm. If salaries suck so much, why do their 300,000 employees continue to work there? Your assertion that MBB never recruits from Accenture may or may not be true (I have no idea), but so what? Consulting for MBB is not the desired end game for everyone.</p>
<p>@Chardo: I’m not mad at all, my dad makes much much more than he could have at Acc. I’m just putting it out there that Accenture pays different. For all I know maybe they didnt like my dad. And I’m not disclosing exactly how much he made but Accenture offered significantly less. Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better, remember quality over quantity. McKinsey & Bain pride themeselves on well established employees. I’m not saying Accenture doesn’t but certainly not as significantly as standard. Also take note that you can’t just compare the amount of money they taken. McKinsey has a fraction of the staff yet their revenue/consultant is significantly higher. MBB does not recruit out of Accenture is almost a given fact(actually BCG might but very rarely). You have to end up at tier 1 firms like Deloitte or OWyman. The salary for Accenture is around 100-150k(MBA assosiciate /w bonus) which is certainly not bad and thus a lot of people work there, but firms like McKinsey easily hit 200k even for first years. Salaries sucking is relative, to me 150k isn’t a lot of money, to many others it might seem like a great amount. And usually with consultants, MBB is end goal, and I assumed that was what OP wanted. Remember this is all my opinion, its up to you how you want to perceive my viewpoint.</p>