<p>So, I will be a Stanford freshman this coming fall, and would like to know what undergrad majors/master's are most looked upon favorably by IB and consulting recruiters.</p>
<p>So here are my options for undergrad (choose 1 or 2) (in order in which I prefer)</p>
<ol>
<li>Chemical Engineering</li>
<li>Mathematics and Computational Sciences</li>
<li>Management Science and Engineering</li>
<li>Economics</li>
<li>Applied Mathematics</li>
</ol>
<p>Also, at Stanford, you can pursue a master's degree during the 4 years there. Here are what I think I might do:</p>
<ol>
<li>Financial Mathematics</li>
<li>Management Science and Engineering</li>
<li>Computational and Mathematical Engineering</li>
</ol>
<p>Last question: I also plan to pursue an MBA after I graduate. Which majors and/or coterm programs should I be doing?</p>
<p>For consulting, your major doesn’t matter at all. GPA and leadership count, not major.
For banking, MS&E and Econ are heavily recruited, mainly because they learn finance in classes, but if you take at least a basic finance class (Econ 140 or 135) and a basic accounting class (Econ 90 or MS&E 140), you’ll be on an equal playing field knowledge-wise.</p>
<p>As for Masters, MS&E is a great program that complements an undergrad Econ degree, and is very popular. Fin Math is extremely quantitative and designed for people who want to become quants/quant traders. Only do it if you’re very comfortable with advanced math and stats.</p>
<p>In all honesty, though, you should pick a major based on what you’re interested in, NOT simply based on what you think will get you a job. Recruiters at Stanford care very little about your major. I’ve seen English majors go to McKinsey and philosophy majors go to Morgan Stanley. A high GPA combined with substantial achievements outside of class will make you a good candidate for any job, no matter what your major.</p>
<p>^ Well… so I think I’m going to major in Chemical Engineering since I like Chemistry, Physics, and Math. However, I’m also thinking whether or not to be involved in research since it is very likely that 1) I will most likely not end up being a chemical engineering and 2) it would take my time from doing other “leadership” stuff. What’s your opinion on this?</p>
<p>Also, what do job recruiters take into account? Leadership is definitely one. BTW, what do you mean by leadership? Is it like high school - being presidents of clubs or is there something more? Also, I heard that to get a decent job after graduation one must also do internships at top firms?</p>
<p>If you’re interested in ChemE, by all means, major in it. Research is a great experience too. You can definitely do it and still be involved with other on-campus activities.</p>
<p>There are numerous pre-business and finance organizations on campus, none of which are insanely time-consuming. Most meet once or twice per week and require perhaps a little bit of outside work. Joining them is a great way to learn about finance and business outside of an academic context, meet people who are also interested in those careers, and they’re of course great resume-boosters.</p>
<p>Leadership can be demonstrated in a variety of ways, the most straight-forward of which is having leadership roles in organizations - president of XYZ club, director of something else, etc. But it can also be demonstrated in a non-traditional way - if you’re an RA in a dorm, for example, that’s looked very favorably as leadership experience. Basically, anything that shows that you’re in charge of some group of people and have influence demonstrates leadership.</p>
<p>Leadership is more important if you don’t have much intern/work experience. I know someone who’s done so many internships that he left 1 line on his resume for clubs/ECs…which worked out well b/c he wasn’t very involved in any of them. Still got offers from GS, BX, JPM, and a bunch of other places</p>
<p>Graduating in 4 years with an undergraduate engineering major + an MS is very, very difficult. Also, if that MS is financial mathematics (and also CME, to a bit lesser degree) it becomes even more difficult. fin math is not for people who just got a 5 in calc bc and took an extra calculus class outside of their high school. it’s really for people who have basically aced most all undergrad math.</p>
<p>engineers are recruited heavily by IBs and consulting firms, any engineering degree would be fine for recruiting purposes.</p>
<p>Is it possible and if so, how would it be beneficial to pursue Economics BS and pursue either Financial Mathematics or MS & E at the same time during those four years there, as abcdeff proposed? When do you have to start applying to the two Master’s Degree programs?</p>
<p>It’s certainly possible to get a BA in Econ and coterm in something else in four years. The BA in Econ + MS&E MS is actually quite common. I don’t think it’s particularly beneficial because you’ll likely end up in the same careers that you would with just a Bachelors degree - banking, consulting, etc. Most people do it because they’re achievement oriented and think of getting a Masters as a worthwhile achievement. It’s not required or even that helpful in terms of job prospects. The academic material in the MS&E program is generally quite fuzzy. </p>
<p>A FinMath degree, on the other hand, is much more quantitative and designed for people who want to go into quant roles. In this case, the degree is very helpful because it’s a signal that students have a proper academic background to be a quant - advanced math, stats, CS, etc. Pretty much all the graduates of FinMath end up doing something very quantitative, either within a BB trading desk or a quantitative hedge fund.</p>
<p>You can apply for a coterminal Masters degree after you have completed 120 units, which for most people is the middle/end of their junior year. The students who complete a coterm in four years usually finish all of their undergrad requirements by the end of their junior year and spend their senior year taking all of their graduate courses.</p>
<p>There are much more engineering opportunities at Stanford because its engineering school is much larger, more well known, and has strong ties to Silicon Valley.</p>
<p>Opportunities in finance and consulting are comparable. One thing to keep in mind is that Stanford is primarily recruited for the west coast, so if you want to work in New York, it may be a bit easier from Yale.</p>