<p>I was wondering how good the ORFE program at Princeton is. If I want to go into banking, hedge funds, and the such, would an ORFE major look better than an economics major for recruitment?</p>
<p>Also, on a broader scope, how is recruitment from Wall Street at Princeton?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>ORFE is very good here, one of the best. Wall St. recruitment is, again, very good here; it’s proximity to NY and rigorous undergraduate education often makes it the first stop for most firms.</p>
<p>Just going to Princeton is enough to get a Wall St. job, majoring in econ puts you slightly ahead of the game, and majoring in ORFE puts you in a great position.</p>
<p>ORFE is far more quantitative than econ, it’s essentially applied math + finance + computer science; it’s a pretty versatile major, even if you don’t want to work on Wall St.</p>
<p>^ really helpful, thank you 
I always thought an Econ or ORFE major was essential; what other majors would make a Wall Street job possible? Even something as non-Econ as Psychology, Anthropology or Biology? (I want to get a Finance major to go along with, and I’ll definitely take a lot of Econ classes.)</p>
<p>Banks recruit even history and English majors. You can get into banking (trading specifically) from Princeton by doing basically anything you want, as long as you show quantitative aptitude and interest (and a solid GPA to go along with it), and I’m sure a Finance certificate would be a perfectly good indicator of that.</p>
<p>While most of what FightTheTide11 said is true, you’ll have a hard time getting a job as a trader if you don’t major in economics, ORFE, math, computer science, or engineering. Less quantitative finance jobs like investment banking are more willing to hire humanities majors.</p>
<p>So ORFE won’t give you an edge over other majors when it comes to recruiting in Princeton?</p>
<p>Like other quantitative majors, it will give you an edge over humanities majors if you’re trying to get a quantitative finance job. But recruiters aren’t going to see your resume and say “omg ORFE dis kid must be teh smartest!!!1”. ORFE is a cool subject and there are plenty of good reasons for choosing it as a major. But trying to get ahead of math, CS, and economics majors in the job hunt is not one of them.</p>
<p>^ Gosh, then I will have a really tough time deciding between ORFE and CS…might need an hour long special on espn to announce my decision.</p>
<p>I’m still trying to decide between ORFE or Economics. What are really the advantages of selecting ORFE? Is economics easier than ORFE? What really should I base my decision on?</p>
<p>Don’t over think the differences between economics and ORFE. For most finance jobs, neither has an advantage over the other. Even for very quantitative jobs, a math-track econ major and an ORFE major are pretty much on par and equally difficult.</p>
<p>Here’s how you decide which major is right for you:
Step 1: Open the Undergraduate Announcement.
Step 2: See which course topics seem the most interesting to you.
Step 3: Pick that department.*
(Step 4: Also take interesting courses in other departments.)</p>
<p>This is true for all major selection, not just econ v. orfe.</p>
<ul>
<li>You also want to talk to other students in that department about their experiences. They give the best advice.</li>
</ul>
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<p>Love it :)</p>
<p>A think to consider about ORF v. econ is that ORF requires you to take engineering core curriculum. If you like physics and chemistry even if they’re not strictly relevant to finance, that’s a plus for ORF. If you don’t, it’s a minue. ORF also doesn’t have a senior thesis (I don’t think, anyway…) although I’m sure there’s some kind of independent work. I’m CBE and we have one, but I always thought we were the only engineering department that did.</p>