<p>Goldman was looking for students who had demonstrated an ability and willingness to work hard, and who excelled at: communication, identifying trends and patterns, using evidence to support arguments, and grasping complex concepts quickly. Certainly a strong quantitative background was essential, but beyond that our bias was that business majors were more narrowly focused; while they knew Black Scholes and a set of financial formulas, they were not as creative and thoughtful. This perception could certainly be overcome by taking liberal arts courses (or a double major or minor in liberal arts), studying abroad, or fluency in a foreign language. </p>
<p>If you study the backgrounds of the top management at any of the Wall Street firms, you will find very few undergraduate business majors.</p>