<p>I'll be starting school at Penn this fall (2014), and I'm in the LSM (life sciences and management) program. So initially when I applied to LSM, I thought I would be pretty interested in doing things like healthcare investment banking/healthcare private equity - basically areas of finance that require both finance and bio/science knowledge.</p>
<p>However, now after thinking about it and reading various people's accounts on the Internet, it seems that doing both a bio and business degree might also disadvantage me if I'm trying out for really high finance options like private equity. Cos' when those hardcore finance kids are spending all their time reading about finance, I have to juggle both bio and business bits, and well, I guess learning about respiration and cancer probably won't help much with my finance knowledge.</p>
<p>So just want to ask are LSM students really at a disadvantage when it comes to recruiting at BB banks, specifically for I-banking/M&A stuff, or private equity, or hedge funds? Should I drop out of LSM and just stick to doing a single Wharton degree, and then take a minor in computer science, would that place me a better position during recruiting season?</p>
<p>On the life science side, I'm actually considering to do a computational bio major. I have <em>absolutely no</em> intention of going to medical school, and little intention of going to grad school, so I was thinking that computational bio would be the most real world/practical major to do. Even if the bio side doesn't work, I'll be left with some computational skills that may help with my finance job. Does this make sense? Or am I spouting rubbish?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for the help! I'm really quite worried about this, because I don't want to make a rash decision. And if I really do want to drop LSM, I guess I'm better off doing it earlier on, maybe in freshman year, so that I can have more time freed up to do Wharton courses.. Any advice? :)</p>
<p>Don’t overthink it. I’m in Finance, and will tell you that a specialization + Finance is (to me) more impressive than only Finance. I’ve been hiring math majors over business / finance majors recently with great success. Computational Bio (whatever that is) sounds like a nice niche.</p>
<p>When you’re at Penn…my advice…learn to think. Learn from everyone around you, especially the non-finance majors. Take a few classes that expand your knowledge beyond finance. The world is about problem solving. 25 years ago people typed term papers, computers used punch cards, telephones had answering machines (with tapes) attached for when you were out of the house. If you think you have any idea of the difference LSM and Comp bio will have on your life…you’re fooling yourself. Life is a series of accidents. You got into Penn so you think you’ve got things figured out…but you’ll see…</p>
<p>Do what you love, and success and happiness will follow. Do what you think will get you hired by a hedge fund, and you’ll quite possibly be wealthy and miserable.</p>
<p>BTW - stop worrying. nobody else has it figured out either. Some are just better actors than others.</p>
<p>What are you taking first semester on the life sciences side? You worked hard to get admitted so why not stick it out at least for the first semester to see if you like it.</p>
<p>And please don’t think that to be successful in finance, you have to read about finance all the time. You will certainly meet Wharton students who do that (though more of it is talk than reality) but those guys are one dimensional. Recruiting at Wharton is tough in part because everyone’s resume looks the same – finance concentration with a second one in something like accounting or OPIM. If you have something different or a story – you stand out in a good way. Something to keep in mind for the long term.</p>
<p>Be smart, don’t drop LSM, just don’t take any of the classes but keep it on your resume until you graduate. You will graduate with a Business degree, with a GPA of only business classes and have LSM on your resume.</p>
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