<p>I want to work in investment banking...I got into both and the financial aid packages are comparable. Which one would be better in terms of recruiting/opportunities---financial engineering at Princeton or Applied Math--Econ at Harvard? Which one is harder? Which school has more grade deflation?</p>
<p>Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>First and foremost, you might want to check about investment banking given this economic recession. I believe most if not all are bankrupt and already gone. Who knows though, maybe invest banking can come back by the time you graduate.</p>
<p>In any case, I can try to answer some of your questions on Princeton’s side, as I was planning on becoming an ORF major (I’m currently a freshman). </p>
<p>I feel that the question of which one is better in terms of recruiting purposes should be disregarded completely. BOTH are fantastic schools and many employers want to hire students from either. Recruiting doesn’t really take your major into account that much, especially when it’s the minor difference between financial engineering and applied math/econ. </p>
<p>ORFE’s difficulty in my opinion depends on how good you are at math. If you’re pretty good at math, then the classes really shouldn’t be hard. Note you can probably get by without having to be EXTREMELY good at math (proofs, pure math, etc.). However, I don’t recommend you pick the one that’s easier. You should pick the one that seems more interesting to you.</p>
<p>Princeton has more grade deflation. That’s a certain answer.</p>
<p>Hope that helped. Feel free to pm me if you want to ask any more questions.</p>
<p>I got into both and the financial aid packages are comparable. </p>
<p>You’ve said repeatedly on the Harvard board that you were waitlisted for Harvard…</p>
<p>having majored in applied math - economics for undergrad, and going for financial engineering gradschool at princeton, i’d agree with opqop that the difference in recruiting efforts are miniscule at most. pick somewhere you’d be more comfortable in.</p>
<p>N.B. you don’t need to major in ORF/AM if you want to do traditional investment banking. the aim of these majors are more towards the financial engineering side of things. apart from the fact that you’d be demonstrating your quantitative ability via this major, you probably won’t use any of the specific knowledge you’d gain on a corporate finance deal.</p>
<p>misnomer sorry i don’t think i’ve ever even posted on the harvard board and no i didn’t get waitlisted…</p>
<p>Princeton is not at the same level as Harvard period
Princeton is not as selective as Harvard.<br>
Recruiters know this.</p>
<p>So would it be a big deal if I got a lower GPA at Princeton than I would at Harvard because of grade deflation? Also, does Applied Math–Econ go a lot deeper into math than ORFE does?</p>
<p>jomjom go die…</p>
<p>@hello1991, if you’re interested in getting selective jobs (i.e. good investment banking), all GPA does (along with which school you come from + your resume) is get you the first round interview. After that, it’s all about how well you do in your subsequent interviews. GPA will hardly be a factor anymore in whether they decide to take you or not. Coming from Princeton/Harvard, getting the first round interview is not going to be too difficult… probably something like 3.3+ (straight B’s) will make you have a very good chance at getting the first interview for the most selective finance jobs. Even with the grade deflation, a 3.3 is not difficult to maintain (indeed this is just my opinion, but I think most students at Princeton would agree with my opinion). Hence, in your case, the only reason you would want grade deflation to be a factor in your decision is if you want to work easier at Harvard RELATIVE to Princeton. However, the fact remains you don’t have to work that hard to maintain a 3.3 at Princeton anyways…so overall I don’t think grade deflation should be a concern.</p>
<p>As for your other question regarding “going deeper into math,” I’m not sure what applied math/econ at Harvard exactly is (I didn’t get into Harvard). I assume it’s just applied math + economics grouped together? In any case, ORFE is pretty much the applied math here at Princeton. I’ve only taken two sophomore ORF courses, and from what I’ve seen so far it doesn’t get (and I don’t think it will) that “deep” into math. Note when you say “deep,” I assume you mean “theoretical/abstract/proof-based/more closer to math major material.”</p>
<p>And just in case, jomjom is a ■■■■■ so please disregard his posts.</p>