Dual BA/MA in Economics or BBA in Economics+Finance

Hey everyone. Been following WSO for a while now but this is my first time posting. Hoping someone can shed some light on what degree would be most useful to break into finance (particularly equity/market research).

I moved to NYC after finishing an associate's degree down south right after high school, and spent a few years working before going back to school to finish undergrad. I worked at a law firm and also temped for a large investment advisory firm. Currently working in architecture doing admin and some minor accounting/finance.

As I'm paying my way through school, my options were limited financially so I settled on CUNY and started at Hunter part-time a couple of years ago. They have a challenging (albeit fairly unknown) dual BA/MA in Economics program that I've done well in so far, but the finance course offerings are scarce. The ones they do teach are a joke. I got lured in by the chance to be "more competitive" for having a masters, and to have a finance-related thesis project to prove my research and data analysis skills. I've got a 3.80 GPA and a few extracurrics, but working full time = no leadership positions. On the other hand, I've got a few years of (arguably finance-related) work on my resume.

Since the only CUNY business programs with any semblance of renown are at Baruch, I looked into taking some grad-level finance classes there, but they won't count towards my program requirements so it would be extra time+money. However, CUNY makes it easy to transfer between schools, and I'm still fairly early along in the BA/MA, so I'm now considering transferring entirely and getting a BBA at Baruch with a double major in econ and finance. I've got the econ major done already, so I'd just need to do the finance classes and I'd finish in about a year and a half. I know I need to get a summer finance internship under my belt next year, so I'm trying to ramp up my transcript with finance classes this summer and fall. I also recently finished the BMC (Bloomberg) certificate course.

I'm already aware of the disadvantage I'll be at coming from a non-target, so I know this choice is akin to picking your poison. My question is: all else equal, is a BBA in both econ and finance better than having both a BA and an MA in economics? Will the quantitative nature of a masters in economics have more weight than having just an undergrad degree? I'm not interested in (and couldn't handle) being a quant, but the econometrics in the MA is likely more intensive than anything I'd see at the undergrad level in finance.

Sorry for the lengthy post. Any insight is appreciated! Thanks in advance.

 

Depends on where you want to work, but I don't think it's worth it. You're likely better off spending the extra time networking and picking up modeling in order to get into a bank (which I'm assuming it sounds like you want)

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there" - Will Rogers
 

Et et maiores vitae consequatur iure. Molestias quo amet enim voluptates vel omnis ut. Quia beatae quia eius quos ab. Pariatur quam sed quibusdam nisi dignissimos iusto.

Ut aut sequi ipsum quod corporis accusamus corrupti. Quia explicabo sit voluptatem laudantium in odio autem. Accusantium sapiente omnis sit ad aspernatur nobis veritatis sunt. Occaecati nobis unde maiores ut aliquam maxime. Est eaque odio amet sint dolores eum quia commodi. Dolor quasi omnis id et reprehenderit.

Amet nesciunt facilis non dolore sunt. Voluptas voluptatibus qui cupiditate incidunt fugiat sint. Necessitatibus fuga aut esse deserunt. Rerum autem voluptas ad neque. Asperiores eligendi molestiae aut maiores amet eos at. Quisquam aut amet porro soluta esse.

Quam facere deserunt eum. Beatae perferendis sit ut laborum reprehenderit.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Perella Weinberg Partners New 98.9%
  • Lazard Freres 01 98.3%
  • Harris Williams & Co. 24 97.7%
  • Goldman Sachs 16 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.9%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 97.7%
  • Moelis & Company 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.9%
  • Perella Weinberg Partners 18 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 16 97.7%
  • Moelis & Company 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (21) $373
  • Associates (92) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (14) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (68) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (206) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (148) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”