Got Milk?

Aight boys and girls I need some advice. I'm currently doing a bachelor of business at QUT in Brisbane but am strongly considering switching into a double degree in Mathematics & Business. Is this a viable option for S&T/IB and is it worth doing a STEM degree to stand out from the other million people doing straight finance? Also should note that I do actually enjoy math. Cheers.

 

Do what you love and it’ll eventually pay off. the major doesn’t really matter in S&T as long as you convey your interest in markets/products.

I also majored in maths and I loved it. I guess it was more useful than other majors on my desk (equity derivatives) but not so much on others. Good luck!

 
Most Helpful

Hey there! 

I did a bachelor's degree in Mathematics in the UK and I'm now interning in IB at a BB while finishing a Master's degree at a Top 3 business school in continental Europe.

During all my interviews no one really cared about my BSc in maths. It could help a bit more with S&T but when you do interviews for M&A positions and they ask you to do some mental maths they'll expect you to be a human calculator (little do they know that you only see numbers once in a blue moon during that degree...).

If you wanna change to a double degree because you truly enjoy maths then go for it! It could give you a slight edge but IMHO not enough to go through the pain that the degree is (if you can't tell I truly hated it lol).

Best of luck!

 

I think its worth mentioning that  is giving advice relevant to recruiting in Europe, which is relatively different to recruiting in Aus. For example, a Masters degree won't increase your chances for recruiting in Aus, instead so many people change or extend their degree (by going part-time, etc.) to increase their chances for IB/S&T. 

If you want to maximise your chances recruiting in Aus: 1). Get a GO8 uni degree (STEM degrees give early pathways increasing your chance of recruiting), 2). Get relevant work experience & participate in uni societies, 3). Get a competitive GPA, 4). Develop strong technical knowledge ( eg). learn the basic fundamentals of the 400Q Mergers and Inquisitions IB question booklet) , and  5). Develop strong interpersonal Skills for interviews 

 

Go get the milk. If you enjoy maths and your no longer loving what your doing and thinking about switching. I’d say switch.

It has to be your decision, I switched what I was doing. If it wasn’t my decision it would have come back to bite.

Good luck what ever you do.

 

QUT business is effectively TAFE given acceptance is 100% for everyone with ATAR over 80. For a look in at S&T you probably need maths, or even better: UQ

 

Is transferring to UQ an option? I say this because BBs hire almost exclusively from the Go8 schools in Aus (USYD, UNSW, UQ, UWA etc).

This is especially the case since the easiest way to break into S&T in Aus is through the Citi & JPM case competitions which QUT students can't even participate in.

Also have never come across any QUT student in all my superdays although I have seen some on LinkedIn on the IB side of things.

Have landed an offer this year and more than happy to answer Qs in DMs.

 

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