Most people tend to say recruiting for finance is best at the overall top elite schools, including the top LACs like Amherst. Would you say this is true? Amherst doesn’t seem like the place for kids interested in finance/business/wall street, etc. However, I have come to love the type of environment like the small size, actually knowing professors, open curriculum, and overall tight knit feel. Would Amherst be a bad fit for someone looking to go into finance right after college? Being a liberal arts college, I would think most people go onto grad school/law school/med school. Amherst seems like the perfect personal fit for me but not so much for my career goals.
A few things to look at/consider.
Finance people can major in anything but they often choose Econ, to a lesser degree Stats, math and the like. Amherst has a LOT of econ majors.
The Amherst career web site: https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/careers/amherst-careers-in/business-finance-entrepreneurship - I don’t think as a non-student you have access to the calendar of companies coming to campus over the past year or so but if you are an admitted student you might ask.
Amherst has a partnership with Harvard’s business school: http://amherststudent.amherst.edu/?q=article/2015/05/06/amherst-partners-harvard-business-school-program
Some finance immersion programs: https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/careers/amherst-careers-in/business-finance-entrepreneurship/get-involved
Finally, I’d check linkedin’s list of colleges that feed finance firms: https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/edu/rankings/us/undergraduate-finance
@OHMomof2 The immersion programs, especially the nine week intro to finance workshop, are very interesting. I also read on their website that about 30% of each class goes into financial services. This was a lot more than I was expecting. Would I be at a disadvantage “knowledge wise” by majoring in Econ/math compared to going to a undergrad b school? The workshops are great but I don’t understand why employers would choose someone with Econ rather than someone that took classes like “futures, options, and financial derivatives” or “fixed income securities”? I personally don’t mind studying either one but I don’t understand why an employer would pick someone with Econ or even just math.
I do not work in finance but it’s my understanding that employers prefer to hire those who CAN do that work, not who necessarily already know how to do specific things like that. I think they prefer to train people who have proven ability to think, analyze, write, etc. Quantitative skills are valued so math, stats, etc majors are desirable. Econ is kind of the default “Wall St” major as far as I know.
But you might do well to search for or start a topic on “the best college major for finance/consulting” in the parents forum because I know a lot of parents here are in that field.
Because the top firms are looking for brainpower, not someone who has had undergraduate vocational training.
If you look at the list of colleges that feed the major finances firms, posted by OHMom above, you’ll see that they are for the most part schools that don’t offer “business” degrees or even many (if any) undergrad classes in “futures and options” or “fixed income securities.”
These schools include Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth, Amherst, Brown, Harvard, etc. etc.
The course of study/major at these top schools for those interested in a career in finance would generally be economics and/or math.
I’m a student at Amherst College going into investment banking. It honestly is not that hard to go into finance or consulting here, especially if you know you have an interest in those fields during your freshman year. Most bulge brackets and a few elite boutique investment banks recruit here, as do a lot of consulting firms. If you get into Wharton, obviously go there. But other than that, if you like Amherst, you can come here and still end up in finance if that’s what you want to do.