<p>So I just got a likely email from Columbia last Friday, definitely my first choice. I applied to the College because I didn't have a chemistry or physics SAT II, but I want to get a job in banking, either IB, private equity, or quant. Is there a major that is fit for these career paths in the college, and also, how difficult/necessary would it be to transfer to SEAS so I could major in financial engineering? </p>
<p>Thanks for the input guys!</p>
<p>First, I think being in the college is great for finding a career in the financial services industry. Economics is a highly recruited major and has quite a bit of grade inflation, so it’s not hard to maintain a 3.5-3.6 GPA. That said, financial engineering and engineers in general work harder than students in the college and I’m not sure if engineers get better jobs. Financial engineering is different because it comprises the top students in the engineering school. The only apples to apples comparison would be the top 20 students in CC studying economics vs the FE program.</p>
<p>However, the top spots at GS/MS/JPM tend to go towards top students in CC. I think that at GS, the IB analysts were all from the college. It’s really a snowball effect, economics majors recruit more economics majors which creates a positive cycle. Also, a lot of the recruitment process is about being well-liked. There’s a stereotype, probably a true stereotype, of engineers being nerdy and less outgoing. There’s a bit of self-selection but the workload the engineers have doesn’t give them much time to go out, unless they want to tank their GPA and really torpedo their chances.</p>
<p>I honestly wouldn’t transfer to SEAS. I don’t think any student has done this in the past 3 years. You’re in a good spot for finance recruiting. Work hard to network and find internships. With the amount of time you save not studying engineering, you can really find a great job by directing your energies towards other endeavors, even social ones.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply beard tax, it was very insightful. Are you a former columbian?</p>
<p>I resonate with the notion that non-engineering students have more time to pursue extra-curricular and social activities which is crucial to me. What specific major at Columbia College is best for the banking jobs I described… financial economics or economics - math, or something else? Also, I think that majoring in economics will allow me to highlight my personability more, a skill that all engineering students may not have and may help me distinguish myself from students who are just as smart/smarter than me at the math side of things. Am I correct in this assumption? </p>
<p>I’m a bit worried that I’m being slightly idealistic when it comes to my chances of getting a prestigious banking job… if I’m able to maintain a 3.5-3.8 in an economics major at CC and involve myself heavily in internships and network well (I would say my greatest skill outside of math is definitely communication and networking), what are my realistic chances of landing a top banking job? Do only the top 20 CC students land those jobs? </p>
<p>Also, how does a student from columbia’s chances compare to a similarly qualified student from Wharton, Harvard, or Stanford?</p>
<p>If you’re not Asian and have a 3.7-3.8 in economics, you have a great shot at Wall Street. There’s a lot more that can be said, but needless to say you don’t need to worry at this point. Class of 2015 will be in a much better spot than students graduating now, because of the economic conditions. </p>
<p>I can say one thing about the entire recruiting process. It is extremely random and the marginal difference between analyst at Citi and GS is quite small, especially given the competitive nature of recruitment.</p>
<p>how much computer programming is necessary for ibanking? finance, in general?</p>
<p>omggggg can admissionsgeek or confidentialcoll or columbia2002 or ANYONE else please answer this question properly?</p>
<p>No need for programming at all for most front office positions. I mean the job is really quite basic, and the hardest parts of the job are getting in, the hours, and the politics of the workplace. It really depends on what you want to do because financial services is a huge field. I’ve had experience in the trading side and knowing programming definitely helps. If you’re talking about Investment Banking or Equity Research, there’s really no point. </p>
<p>You guys should look on Wall Street Oasis for more information, because there’s an actual community of students and professionals giving advice about the industry.</p>
<p>haha, breakdown, I think you just want to hear that engineering is AMAZING for recruitment. It’s life man. You’re not at a huge advantage against CC students and you’ll probably be burning many more hours grinding through P-sets just to maintain the same GPA. Just be at the top of the class and you’ll be fine. I have a friend who has a 3.6-3.7 in OR with economics classes and he ended up getting a middle office position at a BB when he was gunning for front office positions.</p>
<p>Most important thing: Be well liked during the interview and network way beforehand. The people interviewing you know that it’s not rocket science and they can take so many of the students who are interested and they’d do a perfectly good job. (Sound like anything else that you guys might have gone through?). That’s what I also meant by my Asian comment. There are simply a lot of Asian students gunning for banking and there’s no way the entire analyst class is going to be filled by Asian students. Also, it’s finance man, MS is by far one of the most racially homogeneous white-shoe firms. When something as small as ear piercings can make or break an interview ([Are</a> Ear Piercings Appropriate for BB IBD Analysts?!! | WallStreetOasis.com](<a href=“http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/are-ear-piercings-appropriate-for-bb-ibd-analysts]Are”>Are Ear Piercings Appropriate for BB IBD Analysts?!! | Wall Street Oasis)), you better bet that your race matters.</p>
<p>Btw, major is way less important than being well liked. The point of the process is make sure that: </p>
<p>1) You’re smart and can do the work
2) You’re committed to the job
3) You’re someone that I’d like to sit next to on a daily basis and grab a beer with</p>
<p>Differences between majors matter much less than you think. Be smart (it’s not rocket science) and be well-liked.</p>
<p>beard tax, i’ve talked to numerous columbia students both in person and on this board, and all of them have told me that columbia seas is great for finance. i believe about 1/4 of seas goes into finance!</p>
<p>Columbia is great for financial services, I never said that it wasn’t. Besides Harvard and Wharton which are clear leaders, we come in the second tier along with Princeton, Dartmouth, Duke, and other business schools (Emory, Brigham Young, Stern). </p>
<p>The economy is down, very down and recruitment for the financial services has been low compared to previous boom years. We are still in recovery mode so keep in mind my perspective is from that angle. </p>
<p>What kind of financial services recruitment are you looking for? I’m talking about front office roles at bulge bracket investment banks. This includes Investment Banking, S&T, and Equity Research. There are about 6-7 banks that recruit on campus heavily </p>
<p>You can always work at a boutique investment bank, Treasury and Security Services, wealth management, asset management, risk management, and various portfolio roles at Blackrock and other asset managers. However, there aren’t considered front office roles and the nature of recruitment makes these starting jobs less recruited by business schools and various other prestigious buy side opportunities. </p>
<p>I’m surprised that only 1/4 of SEAS students go into finance. I think the interest level to finance is almost half of SEAS if not more so this highlights the difficulty of breaking in. I’m sure it’s similar in the college, but my point is whether the marginal improvement in recruitment is worth the increased workload.</p>
<p>what are some courses you recommend for getting into finance?</p>
<p>don’t need any programming unless you get into a quantitative research group that deals with too much data or too much stat for excel. general ibanking, trading, equity research, portfolio management - you don’t need much / any programming.</p>
<p>seas majors are cut some slack on the GPA front (~ +0.3), and wall street values engineering majors from a school like Columbia, because they’ve shown that they have the analytical skills and work ethic to cut it and recruiters hope they find engineers with some personality at Columbia - not considered a traditionally nerdy school like mit, caltech or carnegie mellon. I’d say it’s easier to get a 3.6 in the college than it is to get a 3.3 in seas, but seas prepares you well if you are asked quant questions in an interview and prepares you to do well once you get an offer and start a job. </p>
<p>In college all you worry about is getting a job, but you should probably also worry about developing the skills to keep a job, excel in it and climb the job pecking order once you are on wall street. It’s quite cut throat to get in, but even more Darwinian once you start. That’s why CEOs often don’t come from ivy league colleges, and why high pedigreed grads are often unemployed or not in their industry of choice. Most second year investment banking analysts hope they find something better/different for their third year and that process is much easier if they’ve impressed clients and managers with their work.</p>