undergraduate major?

[Ben Clark]

Hello! I will be starting my freshman year of college in the fall at the 2nd tier state university that is heavy on math and science. Math is my favorite class and so far (I just finished calc II) has been very easy and fun for me. The past two years I have been teaching myself to program for fun. Also I've recently started trading stocks and am very interested in it. I would love to combine these three fields with a career as a financial engineer. I have declared mathematics as my major, but am considering double majoring in math and finance or math and computer science. What do you think would be the best basis to help me become a financial engineer? What about a major in math and a double minor in computer science and finance? Or does the title not matter and should I just major in math and take as many computer science and finance classes as I can. Thank you.

 

[CasanovaJ]

I did dual degree finance + computer science with the CS part including some upper-level math, but if I could do it all over again I would probably do math + computer science with just a minor in finance... the math is key to being ready for a graduate degree, being a good programmer is essential for getting a job, and most of the relevant financial theory really isn't that tough to pick up on the job once you've already learned the basics. Based on all that I'd say that you'd be best off with most of your coursework being in math + CS, and don't waste your time with too many finance courses... just keep trading in your spare time and get a convincing narrative down for "why you'd be a good fit for working in the financial industry."

 

[Ben Clark]

I did dual degree finance + computer science with the CS part including some upper-level math, but if I could do it all over again I would probably do math + computer science with just a minor in finance... the math is key to being ready for a graduate degree, being a good programmer is essential for getting a job, and most of the relevant financial theory really isn't that tough to pick up on the job once you've already learned the basics. Based on all that I'd say that you'd be best off with most of your coursework being in math + CS, and don't waste your time with too many finance courses... just keep trading in your spare time and get a convincing narrative down for "why you'd be a good fit for working in the financial industry."

Math and Econ is a single major in the math department so it is more quantitative econ and less theory. The econ classes look very interesting so I want to major in Math and Econ but do you think a minor in computer science is enough CS or is a major in CS necessary?