Why do so many EEs end up in banking/finance?

<p>is this an assumption or fact if you read a title saying: Why do so many EEs end up in banking/finance?..SO, are there really many EEs end up in banking or it is ZERO, NADA, zip…zip, nothing at all?</p>

<p>so, IF there are many…and in fact so many EE grads going into banking THEN why they have to undergo difficulties in Engineering while they can go the easy way doing Finance and Banking?..Then again, I did not create this post…</p>

<p>go ask the OP whether this is a true statement that lots of EE grads going into banking industry or just HOAX…??.</p>

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To answer your question, I agree with CPT.</p>

<p>You may want to also take a look at this:
[Will</a> High-Frequency Trading Firms Continue to Take Top Talent Away From Goldman Sachs? | Welcome to StreetID News](<a href=“http://streetid.com/newsblog/?p=2290]Will”>http://streetid.com/newsblog/?p=2290)

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<p>KrLililes: Thanks for info so I guess there is a trend (or opportunity) that those investment banking will need any Engineers in the near future.</p>

<p>So, I am not surprised if some will float the idea and write an essay for engineering grad school admissions as follows: I will pursue Master or Phd in EE/ME/Civil Eng because I want to work in the banking industry (investment banking) because the money is BIG?..</p>

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Jan2013, what? lol. Why will you write that in your admission essay?</p>

<p>I don’t understand the reason behind you thinking that people get Graduate degrees in EE with the intention of going into Finance.</p>

<p>I went to Stanford an graduated in EE. Less EE majors go into IB and consulting than you think. There is a misconception that has developed on forums like this one. People in these industries like EE majors because they know they are smart but students still have a passion for technology and go to tech companies.</p>

<p>Agreed. As stated previously in this thread, proportionately very few EE majors, even from undergrad, go into finance/ibanking. This is because only in the highest echelons of banking (ie front office of BBs/hedge funds/boutiques) do people make money that is far more than what EEs make. To make it into these areas, one often has to have graduated from a very distinguished school that is not necessarily strong in engineering, but has a very good reputation overall. Let us consider Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering, for instance, and Purdue’s School of Engineering. While Purdue enjoys high rankings in many of the engineering disciplines, very few (if any?) of its graduates each year enter finance. This isn’t necessarily bad though; these students find respectable and interesting, albeit lower-paying work in more typical areas for engineers such as manufacturing. However, students from Thayer get offers from companies that are often in the consulting or ibanking industries, even though Thayer has a very weak ranking in engineering, something in the 40s or 50s (lower than a lot of no-name state schools). </p>

<p>It’s interesting. The best engineering students often go on to do things unrelated to engineering, such as becoming doctors, lawyers, consultants, and ibankers. The skills developed while studying engineering are applicable in a wide range of areas, both directly and indirectly. I can certainly see why employers value the problem solving skill-set that engineering graduates have. To make oneself more marketable, I would argue that its best to go to a school with the best reputation overall, rather than the one with the best reputation in solely engineering, unless of course one is certain that he or she wants to go into engineering. I believe glorious sakky has already said this many a time.</p>

<p>In response to Jan2013: I can certainly see why those who pursue advanced degrees in engineering very rarely enter the finance industry (though they sometimes do). That is because those who pursue engineering at the graduate level have likely already experienced engineering and are sure they would like to have it as a career. I understand why you are confused: the OP was wondering why a significant number of EE UNDERGRADUATES (key) go on to finance. You misinterpreted EE graduates to encompass all EE students, but the OP likely did not mean to include those students as relevant to his question. His question was answered by a number of well-educated and intelligent people. This discussion is meaningful and people have made many valid points. We did not broach the subject of engineering graduate students until much later.</p>

I actually find that EE’s are LESS likely to work in finance than Math/Physics majors…

Not sure where you got your observation from. Finance quants/traders tend to be the mathy types, and EE while somewhat quantitative major, most of it pales in comparison to Math or Physics. See this guy for example:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Derman

To be quite honest, most EE (undergrad) majors don’t learn/practice enough math to be sharp at a top finance firm interview. Usually, math olympiad experience help for these, but those guys tend to major in math. Even at top schools like MIT, it is quite rare to see EE end up in finance. For one thing, it pays well to stay in EE…