Need help choosing a major (Highschool senior)

[CyP]

Hi everyone!

I'm a high school senior who's set on majoring in CS, but really need help on figuring out a suitable dual major to make me more competitive for grad school.

I am debating between, econ, finance, and mathematics. Feel free to recommend any other majors. Please note I am not going to a target school, and will be attending the University of Portland because I got a full ride.

The languages I know are python and I would say an advanced knowledge of C# but not an expert. I've also been a discretionary trader of the markets since I was 14. Mainly day trading stocks and futures, but I've been learning C# to program in ninjatrader to create my own system.

 

[IntoDarkness]

dude i will take 200k loans to attend better colleges

 

[CyP]

Hey dark that's not a possibility and ice already committed so if we could keep this on topic I would appreciate it! Really just looking for a strong second major that compliments CS that will help me be competitive when I apply to grad school!

 

[IntoDarkness]

in finance, grad school should be a 2nd option if u fail to find a job. dude transfer to a better school as soon as possible, or attend a community college that has transfer guarantee program with places like berkeley and cornell. if u want algo trading, most places hire smart undergrad straight from target schools. master degree is redundent.

 

[Yike Lu]

Physics, applied math, or econ. Also, IntoDarkness is right. You may be able to do something with Portland, but TBH you're going to have to hustle, network, etc.

 

[CyP]

I agree and will be trying to transfer out after my sophmore year as long as finances work out. But not a giant fan of physics and I'm not looking to get placed into a top firm just looking to further my knowledge and better enhance my own trading and if someone likes my attitude and work ethic then all the better! But thanks I'll talk to an advisor about what degree is stronger at Portland!

 

[Parallax]

CyP -

I personally wouldn't listen to someone who suggests taking out 200k in loans to attend a "better" school. You may have a more direct path to "Wall Street" through the top schools, but attending UP isn't going to be huge obstacle to getting a good gig. Networking and skills have always, and will always, be more important than where you went to school.

I'd recommend computer science and applied math; both are directly applicable to finance, but can also be easily applied in other fields if you end up changing your mind at some point. Physics may also be another good option, but it would be a more difficult four years of undergrad, IMO.

 

[Jedison]

CyP -

I personally wouldn't listen to someone who suggests taking out 200k in loans to attend a "better" school. You may have a more direct path to "Wall Street" through the top schools, but attending UP isn't going to be huge obstacle to getting a good gig. Networking and skills have always, and will always, be more important than where you went to school.

I'd recommend computer science and applied math; both are directly applicable to finance, but can also be easily applied in other fields if you end up changing your mind at some point. Physics may also be another good option, but it would be a more difficult four years of undergrad, IMO.

I have to disagree, and I wonder why you put "better" in quotes. There are many schools that are measurably than UP. Networking can get you far but it also depends on your personal recourses and in many cases luck. Going to a top school gives you an incredible advantage over every other undergrad in the country looking for a job in finance. Dropping your resume through a company's website will get you nowhere. On campus interviews are where 80% of interns are recruited. The other 20% are kids with parents at top firms. Assuming your Mom/Dad doesn't work at goldman you won't get an opportunity there no matter how smart you are because no one from goldman will come to UP.

 

[Fer Carranza]

go to Portland, get good grades. If you can transfer, great, if not then stay there. do computer science and finance/math whatever you like. intern over the summer, and enjoy your time in school.
who knows where we'll be in 4 years, so do other things, you can't be obsessed with what you want to do, especially when you are that young. you are going to experience many things and will most likely change your mind a couple of times.
of course, you should be focused, but to me, rather than saying 'oh nice, he's been wanting to be a quant since he was 11 and did everything to do so' is a bit freaky. of course, there are people who will be set on that and that's fine, but if you are not 100% convinced then live your life and experience things too. but do get good grades, and learn your things properly, and do internships.
you can always go to grad school to re brand yourself if all else fails.

 

[Parallax]

I have to disagree, and I wonder why you put "better" in quotes. There are many schools that are measurably than UP. Networking can get you far but it also depends on your personal recourses and in many cases luck. Going to a top school gives you an incredible advantage over every other undergrad in the country looking for a job in finance. Dropping your resume through a company's website will get you nowhere. On campus interviews is where 80% of interns are recruited. The the other 20% are kids with parents at top firms. Assuming your Mom/Dad doesn't work at goldman you won't get an opportunity there no matter how smart you are because no one from goldman will come to UP.

I used quotes to signify that a "better" school is entirely dependent on the specific student/consumer. It's a combination of quality of life, quality of education, retention of said education, and career prospects. It's very hard to quantify all of those aspects with any sort of measurement. Many of these measurements are interrelated with the people who actually attend each school (i.e., chicken or egg problem).

Going back to the OP's question, he is looking at best improving his prospects for grad school, and not necessarily looking to get into a top firm.

If getting into Goldman or one of the other big Wall Street firms is what someone wants, then a top school is probably a better choice. All I am saying is it's not the only choice. Networking (not just from mom and dad) and skills are very important, especially if you are trying to get in on the asset management side. Going to conferences, introducing yourself to people, actually have a real conversation with them - all of these will help and are of great importance. These are also attributes that most people of quantitative backgrounds tend to lack. Within the industry, there is a strong correlation with level of pay and proximity to clients. Obviously there are exceptions to this (e.g., proprietary firms/money), but these are skills/qualities that are not necessarily guaranteed from the top schools.

And right along the same lines as Fer above, the OP is still in high school. He probably has an equal chance of not entering finance as he does pursuing it. A full ride to a decent college, high grades, and a retention of the knowledge will prove to be a very good choice. And similar to what Fer said, grad school can rebrand you (i.e., you retain, to a certain extent, the reputation of the last school you attended).

At the end of the day though, to each their own. I wish the OP the best and I think his current situation with UP is a great avenue to take. Work hard, but enjoy college while it lasts.

 

[tfors]

I would suggest to not double major and take applied math as a minor. I expect you'll be more visible as an exceptional compsci student than a merely good double major.

 

[CyP]

Thank you to everyone, who stayed true to the OP I appreciate you just answering the question! To those of you who recommended applied math, U of Portland only has a B.S in mathematics if you want here's a link to all the majors at U of Portland http://www.up.edu/academics/majors/. If workload allows I may also try to add in a minor in Econ/BA/EIM, since my eventual goal is Grad school!

But to reiterate what was said above my goal is not to work for a BB or any other big name firm/bank. I'm really doing this because I've always had a love for it and have been fascinated by the markets and programming from a young age. Really my ideal dream is to apply the knowledge from school and experience In a way that can be self employed at home, or create a start up business taking client discretionary strategies and automating it for them! But thank you to everyone giving feed back it is much appreciated as I know the advice is for my own good!

Edit: If the work for a double major is to much I will definitely be going that route! But, I believe my work ethic is a little above average so hopefully I can get it done! Thank you for the input though .

 

[Yike Lu]

I looked at the Math degree requirements. It's a generalist math degree, so you can probably customize yours to be "applied". I said applied because there sometimes is a sharp divide between pure and applied math majors, depending on the school.

There really isn't an ideal second major or even minor for this general career path. You really have to hack it together, using your experience and judgement guide you in choosing particular courses. A good starting point is to look at MFE and IEOR classes and see if you can find equivalents to take.

 

[CyP]

minor update USF got back to me and if I decide to attend there I would be 20k in debt... Does that change things?

 

[bigbadwolf]

minor update USF got back to me and if I decide to attend there I would be 20k in debt... Does that change things?

No. Stick with Portland. If it was 20k in debt for CalTech, it would be different.

 

[Parallax]

No. Stick with Portland. If it was 20k in debt for CalTech, it would be different.

I agree with bigbadwolf. $20k in loans for a school of similar quality isn't worth it. If we were talking about a top school, our recommendations would likely change. You should view school as an investment. In stock-related terms... you want to buy a good/great company at a good/great price (e.g., UP on a full ride or CalTech with reasonable debt). You don't want to buy a great company at a bad price (e.g., a top school with 100s of thousands of $ debt), or even worse, a bad company at a bad price (e.g., University of Phoenix).

Also, in-line with what Yike Lu said, you can take the elective classes at UP to create a quasi applied math program. Aim for classes that include statistics, computing, time series analysis, etc..

It won't be a true applied math tract, but it's good enough for an undergraduate experience.

 

[bigbadwolf]

Given current and likely future conditions (not too salubrious), I'd opt for full-ride U of Portland. It won't be the best education, won't be the best profs, the best students, but you can pick and choose courses in math, coding, stats, and algorithms to make something worthwhile. I would most definitely not incur even $100k in debt.

 

[Yike Lu]

You guys must be trying to flatter me with references to Caltech.

 

[bigbadwolf]

You guys must be trying to flatter me with references to Caltech.

There was an article some years ago that the average CalTech student is a genius.