<p>How proficient do we have to be in math to be a successful ibanker?</p>
<p>Do we have to be math whizzes?</p>
<p>If anything, my skillset edges more towards the humanities side of the academic spectrum and I can do math if asked, but would prefer not to major in it if I want to get a very high GPA. </p>
<p>BTW, how heavily is Cornell recruited?</p>
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<p>not at all, but you should still be comfortable with math</p>
<p>unless you want to do structured finance or some exotic products</p>
<p>In trading, analytics and structuring, the math can get fairly involved. For 99% of people in IBD basic arithmetic will suffice (roughly 4th grade level).</p>
<p>If you are talking about investment banking and not intensive structured asset finance, or quant trading, you can pretty much get away with not knowing much more than algebra. Banking is not heavily math intensive - I mean if you think of the financial statements and basic financial formulas, it is all algebra-based, and simple math. Sure, there will be instances where it might help to know something more, but as far as a general day-to-day need is concerned, algebra is fine. </p>
<p>To your second question, Cornell has pretty strong recruiting. </p>
<p>IBanker</p>
<p>If you think you have the math skill, you can try to see the kind of brain teasers asked at top bank interviews. These are for quant interviews, which is way above what required for IB positions.
Something like this [Quantitative</a> Interview questions/answers - QuantNetwork - Financial Engineering Forum](<a href=“http://www.quantnet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1152]Quantitative”>http://www.quantnet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1152)</p>
<p>If arithmetic is all that’s needed then what math do you learn at your MBA classes? Don’t they still teach you math in it?</p>
<p>In MBA classes you learn how to bullsh_t and act like you know, even when you don’t know jack. Tough second year MBA class: how to be a global d-bag in a global world. Obviously, no math required. Just bring your suit-with-shirt-darker-than-tie, gelled hair and arrogant attitude.</p>
<p>What are you talking about? MBA programs do at least teach one math class, don’t they?</p>
<p>If not, then what is the curriculum all about? Why would you take the gmat then since it has math in it? Are you saying top mba schools don’t even teach a shred of math in the program?</p>
<p>^MBA is for networking and career advancement, GMAT is simply to weed out the idiots</p>
<p>the fact that those problems even make sense to other human beings on this planet makes me quit</p>
<p>baller4lyfe: That’s my point. MBA classes are not designed to be challenging or teach you much that isn’t self-evident. The point of the degree is to network and learn to bullsh_t, not learn mathematics.</p>
<p>As has been said, the GMAT is just to weed out the idiots. And no, top programs do not require math; only if you choose an elective in derivative pricing might you have some (dumbed down) quantitative content. </p>
<p>This is one of the reasons that professional degrees like the MBA are not as respected as proper graduate degrees such as M.Sc, Ph.d, etc. An MBA can help you get a better job and higher salary, but it doesn’t really say much about your intelligence.</p>
<p>For I-Banking you just need to know what it means to add, subtract, multiply and divide. You don’t actually have to do any math–you enter the data into excel and the computer does it for you…</p>
<p>well they might ask you probability questions in an interview.</p>
<p>They only ask probability questions for Sales & Trading. And if you want something even more hardcore, you can do structuring…the requirement for the highest position is a PhD in Physics from MIT/Caltech</p>