I am interested in working at Wall Street in the future and am planning on doing a math and economics double major. I am quite unsure if employers are interested in Cornell grads. Does every prospective Wall Streeter get a job or should I be worried?
No.
Wall St is contracting…
To be recruited to companies like GS, MS, Citi, etc. You still need AEM/GPA at 3.8 to 4.0 and kill the interviews process. ILR students have a tough time with WS recruiting.
What GPA should I get with economics and math double major at CAS and is it hard to get a high GPA?
From what I’ve seen, if you can maintain a 3.7+ your GPA won’t hold you back. At that point, you should aim to set yourself apart from other candidates outside of your classes (research/athletics/leadership/etc.). Cornell places extremely well with all of the BBs and has increasingly been doing respectably with top shops in PE/Hedge. Networking is a big deal and Cornell has a great NYC alumni network and some really strong business fraternities which can help in that regard. Obviously it isn’t as if every economics/AEM major graduates and waltzes straight into TMT at Goldman, but Cornell will open tons of doors for you in finance if you work for it.
As for how hard it is to get a good GPA, obviously that depends on what else you are doing and what classes you decide to take. Getting a good GPA certainly isn’t trivial but the actual effort/time commitment required varies from person to person.
3.5 is the cut off for most firms, citi is lower (3.0).
Thanks everybody for all the responses. What clubs should I join and does anybody have recommendations for easy economics/math/AEM classes or anything related so I can get a high GPA?
3- 3rd...hahaha tell that to my D1. She works in IB ( Although she did have an internship at Goldman between her sophomore and junior yr in Global Compliance because she was still considering becoming a lawyer.. More ILR like I suppose. ). After that internship she became interested in front office.
She is now a trader in FX Forwards handling the Sterling and Franc books and doing well 5 years after graduating. Right now she is trying to buy a place in Manhattan at the age of 27.
Yes you need to have a high GPA. 3.5 or higher is best. You might be considered below 3.5, but it lowers your chances,
They like to see well rounded students, not just students only interested in grades. My D was asked about her dance group and her volunteering to do tax returns for low income people. They look for people with varied interests.
Do computer science + math. Wall Street/financial firms now more need analysts who can code (implement the math models, etc.) than just purely business or math people. Some of my CS friends were contacted by Wall Street recruiters even though they did not even apply, but that the recruiters came across their resumes. But you still need to be good and excel in the interviews, both technical and non-technical, to get the job.