Hi, I want to end up in a great finance job, preferably on Wall Street. I have read that it is in fact a BAD idea to undergrad major in business if you want to get an MBA. Why is this so? It is so counterintuitive… So what should I major in if I want to graduate with BUSINESS job offers without having to get an MBA?! Thanks!
I’m confused. Are you hoping to go into business or finance?
Economics or Finance
Then you should major in economics or finance. If you’re looking for wall street jobs, then probably finance.
Finance if you want to get into trading and underwriting securities. Economics if you want to do market analyses.
My niece is a finance major at Northeastern and has a coop this semester with a big hedge fund based in Boston. There are a good number of finance jobs there too.
Economics, finance, or engineering/mathematics/computer science. STEM majors are very much in demand on Wall Street.
If you want to work on Wall Street, you need to attend a “target” school and major in something quantitative (math, stats), although at some schools it doesn’t matter (Art history from Williams-> Wall Street).
If you major in Finance, pick a school with a strong reputation and work on your math - you’d need to have the highest possible level of calculus when you start college (be it AB, BC, or multivariable).
To work in a business, you need to 1° find a major where you’ll be successful. Yes, ANY major. Add a few classes in statistics, probably one in computer science, perhaps a business-related minor (avoid the “general business” program though, pick something specific). 2° get to know the career center at your college as soon as you arrive. Start with a job, even a random work-study job, and try to climb the ladder. Ideally, get into research, perhaps help a professor over the summer after Freshman year. 3° Thanks to your non-empty resume (good grades, work, research), you’re ahead of most sophomores and get a summer internship; or perhaps you have a “study away” semester Spring of sophomore year that includes a semester and you turn that into a summer internship offer. 4° Keep going with internships (preferably paid).
MBA programs are meant for professionals with a few years of experience. They’re not a continuation of undergrad. In fact, the best classes are made of a variety of profiles and majors. At top business schools, about 75% applicants majored in business but fewer than 50% of the spots go to business majors (typically from top business schools - from Stern to babson to Kelley; the random finance major from a directional business school would need to show something truly exceptional; and “general business” is considered pretty useless). 25% applicants compete for the other 50% spots. Among those, Math, Engineering, CS are well-represented, as are Economics, Foreign Languages, Philosophy, etc. Most top schools will assume fluency in one foreign language (Harvard lets to input up to 8 foreign languages). On Poets and Quants you’ll see that some profiles are also atypical combinations (like double majoring in Physics and Visual Arts, or French literature and Statistics).
Stanford is a bit more -stem-y than average, but note that only 14% admitted students have a business degree.
http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/programs/mba/admission/evaluation-criteria/class-profile
Agree with @honestmom’s assessment of difference between Finance and Economics majors.
Most Business undergrad programs are light on Math and have significant non-financial coursework These are good for students who want to enter the fields of marketing or operations. For Wall Street trading, choose a program that requires at least Calculus 3 and preferably Linear Algebra, and has a significant amount of exposure to the underwriting of financial instruments.
My experience has not shown that STEM majors are in demand on Wall Street except perhaps for Math majors with a double major in Finance.
STEM majors are definitely in demand. I see cs/ce/etc majors hired all the time. Any kind of computational or data analytics-related major is golden.
@MYOS1634 Your response is extremely informative and quite helpful. Do you think financial engineering at Columbia would be a good major for a future in a top paying Finance job? Or would a math related degree with maybe a double major in Finance or different business minor from Stern be better for job offers? I am stuck between Columbia and NYU - need help deciding!
ABSOLUTELY!
Financial engineering (or almost anything else, but financial engineering most absolutely) at Columbia would be perfect for a top finance job. As would a Stern degree with a math minor.
If you’ve been admitted at both, the big difference would be the core curriculum at Columbia along with the more technical curriculum, vs. Stern which will include almost no technical classes and wide variety of choices for gen ed, including a possible math minor (with the courant institute!)
@MYOS1634 Thanks again for your response. Do you think one program has an advantage over the other? Does school matter that much in the Finance world? My third choice is Rice University (which I love soooo much except am worried that it’s location and the fact that it doesn’t offer a finance major puts me at a disadvantage)