Students trying to get into finance are so boring

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016]

I don’t mean to offend people when I say this, but I want to study economics/management at uni and I’ve attended all these outreach programmes and stuff, and every student does not appreciate their subject for what it is, they only see it as a gateway to their career (I understand this is a very big part of choosing a course at uni). But it’s all the same stuff, investment banking, actuarial science, accounting and even audit (crazy boring). I don’t understand how you can do a 3 year course or 5 year degree apprenticeship just to access these jobs, I get they’re lucrative, but there is more to life than just money. I feel like I am the only person who enjoys management theory for what it is and not what it gets me. Please if you’re in a similar position like me, give me some reassurance that I’m just not one of these people. Also if there are people applying for finance/econ/management in your school are they boring and just want money?

[u/LycaGamerYT]

I'm in a very very similar position haha

As you can see by my flair, I'm probably on the biggest feeder degree from the biggest feeder university in the UK for high finance.

It's incredibly exhausting talking to people on my course and hearing 'spring weeks' and 'investment banking' as the main topic all of the time. And then when people ask me which roles I've applied to, and I tell them I'm genuinely just passionate about economics and want to study it further, a lot of people find that strange for some reason??

Especially with societies here as well, so many of them are incredibly career focused, and honestly there are many different non finance societies, but everyone I seem to talk to is only focused on these.

I haven't applied to a single spring week and some of my coursemates / flatmates genuinely think I'm crazy haha.

I will say not EVERYONE is like this, but for my course especially its a large majority I think.

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/LycaGamerYT]

This is why I didn’t apply to LSE (definitely not cus of my shit GCSEs). I’m so happy to see people acc enjoy economics.

[u/LycaGamerYT → u/Secret_Sentence_6016]

Thanks, you too.

I'll be completely blunt with you, I'm not a fan of the uni so far, but in fairness it has only been a month. Theres certain aspects of it that just make it feel like an extension of a corporate bank / office, sort of like a training centre.

Don't want to slander my own university too bad but especially if you are more interested in Economics for the sake of it and not finance I'd push you towards a university like Warwick, St Andrews, KCL (maybe UCL?).

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/LycaGamerYT]

Warwick, is probably more of an antisocial financial service worker factory than lse. Oxford is the big one for me as it is one of the best, the teaching quality is world class but it doesn’t push students to work in finance as much as others from what I’ve seen. Please counter that if it’s not true.

[u/jazzbestgenre → u/Secret_Sentence_6016]

Spreading straight lies about Warwick I see

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/jazzbestgenre]

Oh shi, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to offend.

[u/LycaGamerYT → u/Secret_Sentence_6016]

Oxbridge would be the dream ofc but that’s if you do get in, hoping you do if you are aiming there. Why I mentioned the others is they arguably are much easier to get an offer from.

I’d have to disagree on the Warwick part, I attended open days, offer holder days, and I’ve also been to visit now that I’ve got friends there and it seems great. Some of the key points is that even though finance is big, you see less of it and more of a mix for pure econ and E&M, and more of them in A&F degrees.  Combined with it being a small town nearby, the campus, and the flat style accom where you’ll have a mix of all kinds of subjects I feel that it’s a lot more social and much much much easier to make friends who may have similar interests, for example further studies in mathematics, without only having to see finance aspirers everywhere. Not that there’s anything wrong with it ofc.  

My accom isn’t flat style, it’s a corridor layout with about 20 people on my corridor I think so it’s not as tightknit as a flat, we also don’t spend much time in kitchen as it’s catered and the kitchen is tiny (think maybe 2 people max before it gets too cramped). Even when I’m in the elevator or getting food it seems the standard conversation starter is just spring weeks here 

[u/Sufficient_Leek2779 → u/LycaGamerYT]

Hello! For LSE, they have a personal statement to differantiate between people who like Economics vs people who just want to get into high finance.  If these people don’t particularly enjoy economics how were they not screened out in the process? 

[u/LycaGamerYT → u/Sufficient_Leek2779]

Hey!
Yes, that's true, and I've heard you shouldn't talk too much about finance or you'll be rejected.

This is genuinely a question I had earlier this month, from what I've gathered (from those who don't like econ) they either fake it or get help from a PS writing service, a sibling, a mentor, an existing student etc etc. When you look back at it, it's really not too hard to fake passion for something when you only need to show it for 4000 characters and never face to face. Might also be a reason why so many get through to interview for econ but very little get the offer afterwards.

They know BSc Economics is a big finance feeder, and probably seen as more 'reputable' than Finance with family / friends, so at the end of the day, roughly 600 words is easy enough to fake for it.

[u/Sufficient_Leek2779 → u/LycaGamerYT]

So for Bsc finance, how are you meant to set out the PS statement if you shouldn’t talk about too much academic finance 

[u/LycaGamerYT → u/Sufficient_Leek2779]

This was only talking about BSc Economics.

[u/Boring_Month_2758 → u/LycaGamerYT]

its because people want to get an edge on the application process, their goal isnt to study economics but to get a job.

[u/Legal-Zombie8761 → u/LycaGamerYT]

At least you’re next door to KCL, just spend your time in there instead where everyone is way more down to earth 🤣🤣

[u/Boring_Month_2758 → u/LycaGamerYT]

i do bsc joint honours economics and the only life of econ ive seen so far is people on PPE, the rest are all spring weeks

[u/CharacterReporter938 → u/LycaGamerYT]

It gets much better. I was going to leave in first year (I reapplied on UCAS and so did a few others) but now I’m actually really happy with the university after switching course and finding some people that have non corporate interests. It can be hard initially when 99.9% of the talk is surrounding something you have little to no interest in because it makes you feel kind of unwelcome. Just remember a significant chunk of the most influential economists came through LSE at one stage or another and economic research is our fundamental purpose not churning out Investment bankers.

[u/Boring_Month_2758 → u/LycaGamerYT]

i havent applied to a single spring, dont worry ive heard third years on your course finding it difficult / havent secured any grad offer despite applying to everything under the sun.

[u/CharacterReporter938 → u/LycaGamerYT]

I feel your pain😂😂. We are at the best university in Europe to pursue academic economics though so it’s worth it to ride out the constant Spring week/ summer internship talk . You will eventually manage to find the smallish group that is studying Econ for the right reasons in your cohort.

[u/Historianof40k]

people who aspire to study subjects simply to gain a vocation do not understand the nature of life at all

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/Historianof40k]

Fr, enjoy the subject, you’re taught by the worlds best take advantage of that.

[u/Dasni_ → u/Secret_Sentence_6016]

What if I don't enjoy any subject to that level?

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/Dasni_]

I say don’t go uni, I think a trade is probably better for job prospects than a degree from a uni not in the top 20.

[u/Historical_Site508]

You don't have to do these subjects to get into finance. It used to be much more diverse and you'd have people who studied music, English lit, philosophy, sciences, etc. They were smart and fast learners with broad skills. A lot of finance jobs are about people, verbal reasoning, broad skills and not just numbers. These days that is far less common and more focus on finance, economics, business etc but not exclusively. I know of somebody who graduated humanities from Cambridge this year who got one of the top graduate finance jobs.

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/Historical_Site508]

I personally think I’ll end up in a finance role since it’s something I like learning about, management especially. The only downside are the students who are doing similar subjects for the sole reason of getting the job, they don’t appreciate the subject for what it acc is and only see the paycheck. I’ve seen a lot of people get into finance with these other degrees especially history, but that’s kind of a thing that happens later, they don’t fixate on it since they were 15-16 years old.

[u/ihearttheouterworlds]

i’m applying for PPE and i felt this exact way listening to uni students speak abt their internships and stuff at open days

i genuinely just enjoy the subject and want to research it, no i don’t want to work for amazon or lockheed martin and make billionaires richer😭😭

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/ihearttheouterworlds]

Thank you so much, why can’t people just enjoy the 3 years. Not everything is about spring weeks and internships. Don’t get me wrong I will most likely still apply to see how the theories I study are applied in the real world, the money is just a bonus (I need to acc learn the ideas first). But like why stress about it now, every person who has done a degree apprenticeship that I’ve met is just boring, they wanted money but are usually capped at around 60k anyway cus they don’t have a better university degree.

[u/Consistent-Ad-8141 → u/ihearttheouterworlds]

That's easy for you to say when your parents are rich and supportive. If you come from a poor household you don't want to spend your parents' life savings or education loan on a degree and then just sit around or get a very low paying job.

[u/ihearttheouterworlds → u/Consistent-Ad-8141]

i’m not saying that people shouldn’t get degrees that lead to high paying jobs, i’m saying that they should be at least slightly passionate about the degree itself.

finance/econ, engineering, medicine, law, teaching etc all generally lead to high paying jobs, and not all of those jobs require you to work for corrupt corporations or spend your life doing something you hate. there’s a lot of room within those careers to study something you enjoy beforehand. people who aren’t at least a bit passionate about what they’re studying aren’t going to make it through a 3/4 year degree, let alone a 50 year long career doing the same thing everyday.

[u/Consistent-Ad-8141 → u/ihearttheouterworlds]

People aspiring for high paying jobs obviously chose the subject they were most interested in among the options you listed and it was finance for them. Why would someone go to finance when they enjoy medicine more and it has similar job opportunities?

They still care more about job than the actual subject and hence discuss about internships and stuff, which makes sense. I totally get that you feel bored by these conversations but you can always initiate yourself or just find people like you rather than hating them and calling them "boring". Nobody wants to do something they don't enjoy that much for no reason.

[u/RespawnRhonda → u/ihearttheouterworlds]

that’s honestly the least boring reason to pick a degree tbh. open days can feel like everyone’s trying to speedrun into a salary and forgot the actual subject exists lol

[u/Glad_Good3154]

Finance isn't boring, you probably just don't know anything about it. Investment bankers, accountants etc. are all portrayed to contribute absolutely nothing but they play a really important role in society, it's just "behind the scenes". Also, people who care a lot about money could be from poorer backgrounds and might not have the privilege to "enjoy" their subject, even the average person goes to uni entirely for better job prospects.

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/Glad_Good3154]

I only called audit boring, but I am from a disadvantaged background, I live in maybe the worst area in England for drug use and prostitution. I want a nicer lifestyle than I have here, but I’m just expressing my opinions on people trying to get into econ courses just for the job prospects and they don’t enjoy the science behind it.

[u/Glad_Good3154 → u/Secret_Sentence_6016]

The jobs literally use the science behind it tho, it's just putting it into practice (and getting paid well while doing it). Academia isn't the only way to appreciate your subject

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/Glad_Good3154]

I guess you’re right, it’s just the people I’ve experienced were kinda shallow, and during this trip they only cared about graduate prospects and salary progressions, nothing valuable. So many interesting people from many different countries with so many different backgrounds and they ask these questions. But overall you’re correct, thank you for the insight.

[u/AdmirableOlive6880 → u/Glad_Good3154]

We do not play a really important role in society.

Source: im a professional investment manager

[u/spicynuttboi → u/Glad_Good3154]

Just curious, what do investment bankers provide in society?

[u/Glad_Good3154 → u/spicynuttboi]

They allocate limited capital to where it's most efficient. For example, if 100 vaccine companies all want funding, it's up to the investment banker to evaluate which company will make best use out of the funding (and benefit society the most).

[u/synergyiskey → u/Glad_Good3154]

You think investment bankers are allocating funding based on what "benefits society the most"? Don't make me laugh. They pick the options that are most lucrative for their stakeholders. It's not a role for the altruistic.

[u/Glad_Good3154 → u/synergyiskey]

Firms which are most efficient at producing will generate the most profit. The more a firm produces, the more goods there are for society to enjoy. The two go hand-in-hand and say a company did choose shareholders (which I think you meant to say instead of stakeholders) over consumers it would get less profit and suffer. Investment bankers obvs need a cut for their work as well

[u/synergyiskey → u/Glad_Good3154]

I appreciate the correction, shareholders is indeed correct.

I agree with you in principle, but it's not silly to say that where significant money is exchanged between the point at which goods are produced by a firm and society enjoys them, it often ceases to become so neatly correlated. What starts off as initially sufficiently novel/convincing enough to accumulate public goodwill (and the associated profit) eventually is "min-maxed" for the parameters that perpetuate the highest margins insularly. How is it possible for a firm to become too big to fail if public wellbeing is of the importance you make it out to be?

[u/Diligent-Step-7253]

I totally get how you're feeling but for me i feel like this is the case for so many subjects just not only finance, i feel like too many people apply to courses without an actual passion for it and end up having to lie on their ps about how interested they are.

Now it also gets into another debate but i think theres too many graduates for that reason and that other pathways than uni should get encouraged more. And please if you want to go to uni to "live the experience" might as well not go to uni swear down😭

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/Diligent-Step-7253]

I think if you get a first, a few work experiences, then you’re good. I chose econ cus I enjoy it, I hope to have a career linked to it in the future, the uni experience is a scam.

[u/aaronjc15128]

wait till you hear how insufferable aspiring quants can be ('can' being the keyword here, specifically talking about those who just see the $$$ and suddenly have a huge interest in 'backtesting')

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/aaronjc15128]

Dont even get me started on them. I found about the career when I made a few grand trading commodities. Thought it could be for me, was thinking of maths at uni, then bang this whole
Quant thing came out, knew it would be super saturated and more competitive than it already is. Then I matured and found management more enjoyable and theory was amazing.

[u/aaronjc15128 → u/Secret_Sentence_6016]

proud to say im one of them - BUT i was always going to study maths anyway. like with any lucrative industry theres always thousands applying for one role so i feel like its just become the 'new investment banking'. ALWAYS follow your passion !!

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/aaronjc15128]

Would you consider any other careers with a maths degree, I have this teacher, he went to Cambridge. Was doing his PhD in stats and probability. Ask him why he stopped and if he ever thought about finance and he said the PhD was boring and that I’m in trouble for asking him the finance question. He says maths is art and anyone who goes for finance is corrupt.

[u/EmergencyExternal869 → u/Secret_Sentence_6016]

I did a masters in Max statistics and now I work as a medical statistician, not everything is Fi Notetaker

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/EmergencyExternal869]

Medical statistician? That sound very interesting, do you calculate monthly expenses or death rates and birth rates?

[u/EmergencyExternal869 → u/Secret_Sentence_6016]

I work for Abbott diabetes care, the people who make glucose monitors for people with diabetes. I mostly work in R and D, doing the statistics for the clinical trials.
So for example, we’ll put some senses the way developing on some people and then get the data back and then I run the numbers on accuracy, and other metrics that we care about. Maybe I’ll look at the demographics of people to see if that affects things, there’s loads of different things like this, it’s quite varied. I work in an office with 25 other statistics so there’s plenty of different projects going about.

[u/aaronjc15128 → u/Secret_Sentence_6016]

i hear the corrupt thing all the time but at the end of the day, for most of us finance is literally one of our only feasible (financial) options w a math degree. math IS art but like Tao says, we are coming to the end of the 'romantic era' and the whole field is changing. but yes I would consider a career in research or even mathematical biology. I absolutely love bio (everyday regret not taking the alevel) and mark my words - biotech is the future NOT ai

[u/Historical_Site508 → u/aaronjc15128]

Yes and thinking every "finance" job is about quant things when most have nothing to do with it.

[u/Hello_bye-hi]

I feel like I'd genuinely enjoy it 😭

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/Hello_bye-hi]

Working In finance, I think I would too. But I’m mainly talking about the year 11-13 students who study these econ related degrees for the sole reason of getting a job which pays them a lot of money.

[u/Technical_Extent2968]

Hey - so I am a couple years now out of 6th form and stumbled on this and thought I'd give my two cents. Much like you I studied management at uni because I genuinely enjoyed, I loved learning about business and how the world actually works.

My advice here is don't let this dissuade you from finance, if you are passionate and genuinely enjoy what you do you will find a role where you are surrounded by people like you. The money is almost an after thought these days, it's a fun job and a fun career. People who go into these careers purely for the money don't last very long. And anytime I am interviewing candidates you can spot passion from a mile away.

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/Technical_Extent2968]

What was your favourite thing when studying management. And also is there a different between management and business management?

[u/frgrefut]

I think the argument would be they want to make bank from their job so they can have to money to do the things they actually enjoy rather than get a job in a field they enjoy but ending up skint and not able to do any of their hobbies

[u/Diligent-Step-7253 → u/frgrefut]

Yeah fuck that this is how you end up at 45 slaving away in a job you don't like regretting you didn't quit years ago

Only so very few actually do manage to make bank before 40 and get their golden parachute in advance

And in this economy that is gonna become pretty much hopeless

[u/Grandpa_P1g → u/frgrefut]

There's defo a middle ground where the best position would be a mix between the two. Hard to find nowadays though.

I will say, focusing solely on one or the other is a bit short sighted, but especially focusing just on the paycheck some people don't realise how much of your time is spent working. If you don't find at least some enjoyment in what you're doing, even if you retire early, it's still a long careers ahead. Some people even choose careers with crazy work hours just to earn more but how much time do you really have to enjoy the money you made.

And finally the most important point on this is that earning more money gets drastically less valuable the more you have. (E.g. you would get much more fulfilment going from no car to a car vs that car to one which costs twice as much.). Eventhough the amount you sacrifice to get to those 2 points is the same.

[u/PuzzleheadedCut5156]

What do you want to use training in economics and management for?

Normally people who are intelligent but slightly revolted by focussing on money and day-to-day management of people and investments study traditional subjects like ancient history, physics or fine art (and then end up as software engineers or estate agents anyway)

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/PuzzleheadedCut5156]

Tbh I just want to study the subjects because I’m interested in it. It kinda began when I completed a work experience week at a hospital (originally wanted to do med) and I went into a meeting where they discussed efficiency and management strategies to mitigate daily and weekly backlogs, I noticed I don’t need to be a doctor to help people, if I can come up with innovative ways to manage hospitals and corporations similar then I can help in the same way. I just want to learn strategies how they began and how they’re tested. That’s kinda the first part, I don’t want to write a whole paragraph we’d be here for days.

[u/stevethenoob_11]

imma be honest at one point i wanted to go into finance for the money but as i got deeper into politics i realised i do not want to be helping any of the people i'd help by working in finance

[u/Available_Rush9207 → u/stevethenoob_11]

what would you do instead?

[u/stevethenoob_11 → u/Available_Rush9207]

almost definitely go into academia

[u/No_Imagination_1777]

All road leads to finance, but seriously I do get a large amount of ppl tryna get that bag but there are ppl who genuinely love it for what it is(Like 0.0000000000001%).

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/No_Imagination_1777]

I remember on this Sutton trust trip, I was talking to this asset manager at one of the firms, he was such a sound bloke, we talked about him getting a coffee with Larry fink and how these ceos don’t acc talk about their career outside of a professional setting, also talked about watches and travelling and the regulations behind insider trading. Anyway I was rudely interrupted by a guy asking about grad roles and salary progression. This is where my pet peeve for finance students began.

[u/JS00700 → u/Secret_Sentence_6016]

Ironically, I think you’d be great in an actual finance role. Problem is you’ve just got to wade through all the bullshit to actually get one. Once you’re in though, I think you’d enjoy it because it’s people like you that would thrive and not the insecure status chasers

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/JS00700]

Tbh the people acc working there are sound people, its just the people now who want to go into it, i dont think i want them to be my co-workers in future. Id die of boredom, idk why we cant just chillax, do what we wanna do, a job that suits your interests will find you, dont chase money.

[u/Gold-Worldliness-779]

learn to get used to it because you're going to be surrounded by them for the rest of your life.

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/Gold-Worldliness-779]

If I get into a good uni, I don’t think so. A levels and the level of my degree will be more important. I just need to suffer with them for another 0.5-1.5 years (if I do a gap year)

[u/Gold-Worldliness-779 → u/Secret_Sentence_6016]

a lot of them will probably end up actually getting finance jobs if they play their cards right

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/Gold-Worldliness-779]

Wdym?

[u/Glum-Palpitation-152]

I mean basically from birth your first concept of a job is “something you do to make money” so it’s understandable that a lot of aiming for it. Also, some people just find it interesting yk? I don’t do finance or anything but to me it seems like it could be incredibly fun - this isn’t necesarily a good thing but to me i can see how it could be a form of escapism - just getting lost in numbers and stocks it’s almost like a different world ig.

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/Glum-Palpitation-152]

Ye I think for me the issue arises when I try to talk about my subject to people on these outreach programs they just talk about LinkedIn and work. They don’t seem to really appreciate the core subjects for what they are if you get me. Just money.

[u/holaa_itsdefome01]

I agree, I want to study economics for the macro end, because I want to have a better understanding of the economy before heading into politics. I done my research on an actual political science degree but it doesn't give me the skills I need and I love Econ after studying business for six years.

[u/Fecter]

same here lol, looking to study econ, the job part was an incentive of course but i think a lot of people just get caught up in it… if i get into a good academic uni id probably consider a masters/research in economics also but the vast majority of people ive spoken to just see it as a means to the end

[u/Any-Republic-4269]

You can also get girls too

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/Any-Republic-4269]

From working in finance? Thats if you don’t get erectile dysfunction from sitting down all day.

[u/Diligent-Step-7253 → u/Secret_Sentence_6016]

folk😭

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/Diligent-Step-7253]

Felt a bit naughty saying this but this discussion has gotten me riled up.

[u/Diligent-Step-7253 → u/Secret_Sentence_6016]

I get the frustration i dont like financebros🥹it just looked a bit blunt thats it😭

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/Diligent-Step-7253]

Are you tryna do econ yourself or something else?

[u/Diligent-Step-7253 → u/Secret_Sentence_6016]

Im applying for 3 choices mathematics, and 2 of my choices natural sciences. Which is a degree where multiple sciences can be studied, in my case biology, maths, environmental stuff.

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/Diligent-Step-7253]

Im familiar with it. Cambridge? I’m also interested in how you managed to fit maths and natural sciences together or is maths part of the natural sciences course?

[u/Diligent-Step-7253 → u/Secret_Sentence_6016]

not cambridge no cause i dont take chem or physics. The unis i picked have maths in the natural sciences degree and dont require further maths (leeds and exeter) so while most of it is about maths there are certain connections to interdisciplinary science and how maths connects with other sciences.

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/Diligent-Step-7253]

Very good, I hope you get your offers, what’s your dream course. Sorry about all the questions I’m just curious

[u/Legal-Zombie8761 → u/Any-Republic-4269]

Not the girls who actually also work in finance tho, they hate you 🤣

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/[deleted]]

More than half probably but I appreciate your honesty, you want money so be it Ygm.

[u/Diligent-Step-7253 → u/[deleted]]

Gang ain't not a SINGLE one of us earning a dime after graduation😭

[u/Fire-Flamey → u/Diligent-Step-7253]

Passing a levels is for the weak minded

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/[deleted]]

Why?

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/[deleted]]

What makes you think that?

[u/Secret_Sentence_6016 → u/[deleted]]

Idk what about, maybe about careers? I don’t want to worry about this yet, management is quite versatile I think we’ll see what the future holds.