<p>if i could choose according to what i want, i'd go with economics as my concentration since i really like economics concepts. but at the same time, i'm also interested in applying to the woodrow wilson school because i really love current and international affairs too. i'm good with numbers, but i've never thought of myself as an engineering or math major.</p>
<p>because of my interest in econs, i might be open to i-banking. but so many people take ORFE - so is operations research and financial engineering the best major if i want to go to i-banking? its just so much dry and boring math for me, but it seems like anyone who's interested in i-banking is taking it. i'm not averse to taking Engineering and Management Systems (EMS) certificate offered by the ORFE department, or the Finance certificate, though. </p>
<p>so now my questions:
1) if i major in Economics or Woodrow Wilson school and take the EMS or Finance certificate, would i still be competitive enough vs pure ORFE majors? how much consideration would recruiters give to an EMS or Finance certificate, and would i be attractive to recruiters if my major/concentration is Econs or WWS with an EMS certificate? would the EMS or Finance certificate "save" me?</p>
<p>2) how tough is ORFE?</p>
<p>3) i want to attend WWS in some form, even as a certificate program. but they don't seem to allow economics majors to take the WWS certificate. is that true? have they made exceptions before?</p>
<p>Economics majors with finance certificates are extremely competitive in the job market. You definitely do not have to be an ORFE major to get a job at a top investment bank. For that matter, you don't have to be an econ major or math/science major. Investment banks are looking for people who know how to think. It's important to take some economics classes to demonstrate interest, but you should major in what you're interested in.</p>
<p>screwitlah, I'm planning to go into i-banking too! Stick it out as an analyst for two years... and then maybe go to B-school or somewhere less gruelling, do something I love. I don't really have any fixed plans and these hazy ones will probably change when I get to P i guess. What about you?</p>
<p>Lately I've been hearing a lot of what Weasel8488 is saying -- that if you go to HYP etc etc, you can pretty much major in anything and it doesn't have to be math/science/econs to land a WS job. If this is true, I would love it if more people could provide some input. I'd love to be an English / Psych / Art major.</p>
<p>It occurred to me for about two milliseconds to do ORFE. Then I watched the lengthy "Intro to ORFE" video on the princeton ORFE website... A little part of me died inside. Hahaaaa</p>
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Lately I've been hearing a lot of what Weasel8488 is saying -- that if you go to HYP etc etc, you can pretty much major in anything and it doesn't have to be math/science/econs to land a WS job. If this is true, I would love it if more people could provide some input. I'd love to be an English / Psych / Art major.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Weasel's absolutely right. One of the greatest things about going to a place like Princeton is that employers tend to trust that you have the brains and work ethic to hack it in any competitive environment. I've known friends who've gone into investment banking and consulting from majors not remotely related to ORFE/Econ - slavic literature, chemical engineering, history, etc. Consider yourself lucky - there are very few places where a person can study anything he wants and still be competitive for a high-paying job.</p>
<p>While it's probably in your best interests to up your odds by showing that you're legitimately interested in business by taking some coursework in the field, I've known guys who had never seen financial statements get into top banking firms. And last year, the highest average salary upon graduation went not to the ORFE majors or Econ majors, but the Philosophy majors.</p>
<p>Since we're on this topic, the Prince just reported the valedictorian and salutatorian for the Class of 2008; one majored in classics, the other in chemical engineering. Both are going into finance post graduation. I think this is the first time in recent memory that the val/sal have gone into business rather than graduate school on some prestigious fellowship.</p>
<p>For the record, I should say that I don't believe that finance is for everyone. There are definitely people who'd hate it. I'd caution anyone from entering Princeton with the goal of ending up at an investment bank. You'll find that there are a lot of great directions to go once you get here, and if you limit yourself too quickly - however sure you are - you'll end up losing out on some other great possibilities.</p>
<p>Silly Puddy -- thank you so so much! I can breathe free now...</p>
<p>Out of interest, the fact that Philosophy majors have the highest average salary upon graduation came as a big surprise... What are they doing? Are they going into finance? :D</p>
<p>Unless you become a big-shot (Princeton does not guarantee that), get ready for 15 hour working day with a iBank. Before you get too excited about iBank, browse through these two books. It will give you some idea how things are going to be even they are talking about quants</p>
<p>banks are downsizing. not too worry, people going into finance do it for cash, and not really much other than that. in fact, the profit of banks is looking pretty bad, and will continue to trend down... people didn't think bear would blow up</p>
<p>wsj even says finance will start becoming less and less</p>
<p>aka, you have to have a real skill... something tangible that many don't have.</p>
<p>the above poster has it right. how many people graduate princeton thinking they are starting a very important career? if we keep score in dollars, then most of the forbes list isn't even ivy</p>
<p>do you want to write book reports at 1am on holidays? that what you'll be doing</p>
<p>i have read so many fb notes of other alum from ms and ubs and they are pretty funny of how crap the job/pay is.</p>
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It occurred to me for about two milliseconds to do ORFE. Then I watched the lengthy "Intro to ORFE" video on the princeton ORFE website... A little part of me died inside. Hahaaaa
[/quote]
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<p>annabell, i couldn't have put it better myself!!</p>
<p>Thanks for the link. I have no idea how you found it, because I swear I can't find a link, but maybe I'm just an idiot. (Wouldn't that bode badly for my prospects in ORFE? ;))</p>
<p>yea well, no where on your degree does it say anything about being computer literate... i guess you can just hire someone to do your excel spreadsheets</p>
<p>im pretty strongly against doing orfe for money because the degree is really applied math with some programming and would caution any prefrosh thinking of orfe to consider doing sociology or english since you'll realistically pull a higher gpa and that is what an ibank is looking for - gpa.</p>
<p>More or less as much as you want it. A very large number of ORFE students take ECO 100 (intro microecon) and ECO 310 (the harder upper level math-based microecon course). Other than that, it varies widely. Lots of ORFE students do the finance certificate and so will take ECO 362, 363 and some other electives, while others just take economics for fun. Personally, I'm probably going to focus on investments, derivatives, and that kind of stuff, and so will take a bunch of economics related to that.</p>
<p>There are no economics courses actually required for the ORFE degree, however. Economics works in extremely well with ORFE, but it's really your choice.</p>