Minor in CS, but what to major in?

College Majors Business Major
1

I have a few questions

  1. My goal is to acquire a finance + technology quantitative background and work in either the corporate finance or high tech/software development field. Though, I’m not too sure what specific jobs are available for those with this certain background. Any good jobs that are in high demand?

  2. I’m minoring in CS (taking ~10 CS classes), but I’m not sure what to major in. What are some quantitative business majors? Majors like marketing, business admin, and IT all seem useless. And majoring in finance would be too redundant since I want to focus on that subject during grad school… I was thinking about going with accounting, but I’m not sure if that’s quantitative enough or helpful/relevant in the corporate finance/high tech field. I also find taxes and audits boring and don’t think I’ll get the CPA since I don’t want to work in public accounting, but I’ve heard majoring in accounting and not getting the CPA is weird. Any advice?

  3. I definitely want to get some sort of master’s degree, preferably from a top 10 ranked university. Would doing an MBA w/ a concentration in finance be a good idea?

2

Have you taken any college coursework yet?

Is ten classes in CS enough for a major (or close enough that it is worth doing?)

3

@happy1 Yes, I dual enrolled at my local college during high school and received credits for some general ed classes.

For the CS major, in addition to the 10 CS minor classes, I’d have to take 12 more CS classes and 5 math/science classes for a total of 17 more CS major classes. For the business major, I’d have to take about 15 classes total.

4

Here are a few comments:

–I think you are getting ahead of yourself. Take some introductory classes in disciplines you are considering and see how you do, where your interests lie, what you are good at etc.

–Most, but not all accounting majors do go for a CPA. A CPA now requires 150 credits (most BS degrees are about 120 credits) so many people who want a CPA go on for a one year Master’s in Accounting.

–I would look carefully at the college programs/requirements. I don’t think there is any major that requires 27 classes. In a typical 4 year college a student will take approximately 32 - 40 classes in total.

–Generally undergraduates get hired more because of their major then their minor.

–Don’t worry about getting a MBA at a top 10 university yet. To have a chance of getting into one a top tier MBA program you will need: an excellent undergraduate record, 3-5 years of significant work experience, outstanding GMAT scores, and very strong recommendations. Best to take one step at a time.

5

@jake0810

  1. Corporate finance wouldn't utilize a CS degree really. If you are truly interested in a CS + Finance dual degree then then quantitative trading fits nicely so you would be looking at companies such as DE Shaw or Jane Street.
  2. If you are set on pursuing CS but unsure of what other business majors could complement it, both marketing and business strategy work well for applying to roles in tech companies today. Why do you think Marketing or Management majors are useless?
  3. Do you know why you want an MBA?
6

@jake0810 I am also thinking along the same lines. But the major I plan is Finance. Like @AoDay mentioned a quant path may be a option. But my dad said, doing CS provide option as all, if not most of the business are computerized so have sufficient knowledge in CS help. By the way, CS in LAC is more Algorithm oriented where else in Eng school is more applied. My preference is CS in LAC (learn the basic) and apply to Finance (modelling).