After college, I want to get a MFE, but I don’t know what I should major in. “Engineering Mathematics and Statistics” sounded interesting and is applicable to financial engineering, but I have never heard of this major anywhere else. Have any of you guys? I was also considering computer science but you can only get a BA at UCB unless you major in EECS, which is apparently very difficult. If anyone else has any ideas, I’d be glad to hear them.
Double in CS and Applied Math or Stats. You could minor in CS if you wanted to but with Applied Math its literally one more class to get the double.
Also the BA doesn’t matter. Grad schools will care about your coursework more than anything else.
As a side note, coming out of Berkeley as an undergrad with CS/Applied Math will probably get you the same compensation as an MFE would. Just saying. After taking some CS courses your preferences might change, so I would keep an open mind.
^seconding the vote for math major/mathematical statistics
Any of the following L&S majors, with appropriate in-major and out-of-major elective choices, can be suitable:
applied math
computer science*
economics (math-heavy)*
operations research and management science*
statistics*
*These majors have capped enrollment, so you need a high enough GPA in the prerequisites to declare these majors.
In the CoE, the following may be applicable to some extent, though the elective space may be less:
electrical engineering and computer science
engineering math and statistics
industrial engineering and operations research
Recommended prerequisites for the MFE program at Berkeley are listed at http://mfe.berkeley.edu/academics/prerequisites.html .