Economics, Mathematics, Computer Science

MatzeMatze
Fri, 11 Jan 2013 02:35:28 +0000

Hello CC,

I have been considering having a career in the financial field. I’ve always dreamed of being a trader (self employed or at a firm), but I majored in engineering because it was safe. I recently switched my major to economics/mathematics and added a minor in computer science. I attend a top 60 public university.

I’m only a freshman with no internship experience whatsoever. I don’t even know what the different acronyms for financial positions mean (with the exception of IB, S&T, consulting and quant). I would like to work in a heavily quantitative field. I didn’t want to major in finance because: 1) It’s part of the business school and I have an innate repulsion towards it, 2) I feel like learning finance at my school wouldn’t help me land an actual good job.

I was wondering how difficult it would be for me to break into financial positions with my current majors. I also don’t attend an Ivy which may or may not be a problem… I am certainly capable of transferring to Cornell, CMU, Emory or Vanderbilt. I currently have a 4.0 and I expect to maintain a GPA close to that in mathematically intensive economics courses and higher level math courses.

TL;DR Is it possible for me to get a job in finance and if so, what would the position be? What extra steps should I take to get there?

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