A finance or accounting major gives you the most direct path into investment banking, but it’s not the only way in. Your school’s reputation, your GPA, and your ability to network matter just as much as the name on your diploma. Here’s how to think about degree choice strategically, whether you’re picking a college major or considering graduate school.
The Strongest Undergraduate Major
If your school offers a finance or accounting major, that’s the clearest route. Accounting is the single most important technical skill for investment banking, private equity, and many hedge fund roles. You’ll spend your early years as an analyst building financial models, reading balance sheets, and projecting cash flows. A finance or accounting curriculum hands you those tools before you start.
Pair that major with a minor in computer science, math, or statistics. Banks increasingly expect analysts to handle large datasets and basic programming. Understanding concepts like control structures, data structures, and math through calculus and linear algebra gives you a practical edge. On top of that, take one or two writing or communication-intensive courses. Investment banking involves far more reading, writing, and presenting than most people expect. You’ll draft pitch books, write memos, and run client calls regularly.
A targeted study plan looks like this:
- Major: Finance or accounting
- Minor: Computer science, math, or statistics
- Electives: One or two courses focused on writing or communication
- Core coursework: Significant accounting classes, one or two corporate finance courses covering valuation and transaction modeling
What About Economics?
Economics is the default choice at many universities that don’t offer a standalone finance or accounting degree, and plenty of bankers hold econ degrees. But if your school does offer finance or accounting, economics is the weaker option. Econ programs tend to emphasize theory, policy, and abstract modeling rather than the practical accounting and valuation skills you’ll use on the job. Choose economics only if nothing closer to finance or accounting is available at your school.
STEM and Nontraditional Majors
Math, physics, engineering, and computer science majors regularly land banking roles, especially at quantitative trading desks, in risk management, or at firms that value analytical horsepower. Within hedge funds, a STEM background with solid coding and data analysis experience is often considered a minimum qualification for investment analyst positions. Engineering graduates also find strong placement in private equity, where mathematical backgrounds suit the analytical and quantitative research those roles require.
If you’re a STEM major aiming for a traditional investment banking analyst seat (M&A, capital markets), you’ll need to fill the gap yourself. Take accounting and corporate finance electives, learn to build a discounted cash flow model, and be ready to explain why you want banking instead of tech or engineering. The technical credibility of a STEM degree is high, but you have to prove you’ve done the finance homework too.
Liberal arts and social science majors face a steeper climb. These degrees can work if you attend an elite university where the school’s brand carries significant weight. At less prestigious schools, a humanities major without finance coursework will make it harder to get past resume screens.
Your School Matters as Much as Your Major
Investment banks divide schools into “target” and “non-target” categories. At target schools (Ivy League universities, top public universities, and a handful of other well-known programs), banks recruit on campus. They host information sessions, send alumni back to mingle with students, and assign school-specific recruiting teams to identify the best candidates. If you attend a target school, you have a built-in pipeline to interviews regardless of whether you major in finance or philosophy.
Non-target students face a real disadvantage in visibility, but the numbers are more encouraging than you might think. At bulge bracket banks (the largest global firms like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley), roughly 56% of successful hires come from non-target schools. The path just requires more initiative: cold emailing alumni, attending off-campus networking events, and securing internships earlier to build credibility your school name won’t automatically provide.
The practical takeaway: if you’re choosing between a prestigious university where you’d major in economics and a lesser-known school with a strong finance program, the prestigious university often wins for banking recruitment. But if you’re already enrolled at a non-target school, doubling down on a finance or accounting major with strong grades gives you the best resume possible for breaking in.
GPA Thresholds
Most bulge bracket banks screen for a GPA of 3.5 or higher, and some set the floor at 3.7. This is one reason to avoid double or triple majoring. Stacking multiple demanding majors can drag down your GPA and eat into time you’d spend networking, doing internships, or joining finance-related extracurriculars. A 3.8 in finance with a CS minor is more useful than a 3.3 across three majors.
Graduate Degrees: MBA vs. Master in Finance
If you didn’t break into banking out of undergrad, a graduate degree offers a second entry point, typically at the associate level (one rung above analyst).
An MBA from a top program is the most well-traveled path. MBA graduates enter as associates, and banks recruit heavily from elite business schools. Hiring projections for MBA graduates reached 93% in 2024. MBA programs typically require a few years of work experience before admission, so candidates tend to be in their late twenties. The broader curriculum covering strategy, leadership, and operations also opens doors beyond banking if your plans change.
A Master in Finance (MF) is a more specialized, shorter program that doesn’t require prior work experience. Graduates tend to be younger and enter at slightly lower salaries than MBA holders, partly because they lack the work experience MBA candidates bring. MF programs focus tightly on trading, investments, risk management, and financial analysis. Hiring projections for MF graduates were 81% in 2024. If you know you want a technical finance role and want to get there faster and cheaper than a two-year MBA, an MF can work well.
For traditional investment banking (advising companies on mergers, acquisitions, and capital raises), the MBA is the stronger credential. For roles leaning toward quantitative analysis, trading, or risk, the MF or a specialized quantitative finance program may be the better fit.
Professional Certifications
You don’t need a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) designation to work in investment banking, and most bankers don’t pursue one. The CFA is more relevant for asset management, equity research, and portfolio management roles. That said, passing the CFA Level I exam as an undergrad or early professional can signal seriousness about finance, especially if your degree is in an unrelated field.
Financial modeling certifications and courses can help fill gaps if your degree didn’t cover valuation, but they supplement a degree rather than replace one. Banks care far more about where you went to school, what you studied, your GPA, and your internship experience than about any standalone certification.
Putting It Together
The ideal profile for breaking into investment banking combines a finance or accounting major, a quantitative minor, a GPA above 3.5, at least one relevant internship, and attendance at a school where banks actively recruit. If one of those pieces is weaker (a non-target school, a non-finance major), you’ll need to compensate with strength in the others. A physics major from an Ivy League school with a 3.9 GPA and a summer internship at a boutique bank is a strong candidate. A finance major from a regional university with a 3.6 and solid networking can get there too. The degree opens the door, but it’s one piece of a larger picture.