Advice for Finance major

leftrightleft
Tue, 24 Mar 2026 21:06:26 +0000

A few of my kids were Finance majors - I know things change over time but I’ll just re cap my youngest’s path. She never had a major in mind- being the youngest she has been around a lot of career, life discussions. We looked at several schools - she knew what she liked, then thought about what she might like to study, possible career paths.

After ruling many things out I told her to apply to direct entry business programs as easier to exit that than try to get in later. She wasn’t applying to Wharton so this may not be of interest to OP or anyone looking at elite schools but she was admitted to: Mendoza, Gies, Kelley and UWisc business. She had no intentional finance/business related EC’s obviously because she never had any idea what she wanted to study.

She had course rigor in all the major subjects, took Latin which was not a popular choice at her HS ( she loved it and Latin Club ), was a 3 time All American in her sport, had a job every summer, volunteered ( because that’s what our family does ) and had high grades/test scores. And yes, she’s a kind, confident young woman with great people skills.

Her summer jobs were regular old jobs, no internships. She went on to find internships starting sophomore year and a job offer after one of these and is incredibly happy in her career. She hasn’t been out of school very long but yes I know things change and if you’re applying to tippy top schools her path might not work. However, I think the schools she was accepted at are plenty good. Best of luck.