 "Photo: Heights File Photo")
After years of being close, finance has finally overtaken communication as the most popular area of study at Boston College. This marks the first time in University history that a major outside of the College of Arts and Sciences has held the top spot.
While A&S is still the most popular school in terms of student enrollment, the Carroll School of Management's finance concentration boasts 855 enrolled students, a 25-year high. At this time last year, finance was the second most popular concentration, and it has been part of the top five for at least the past 10 years.
So what makes finance so popular? Professor Mike Barry of the finance department says that it's partially a product of the area that many BC students come from.
"I think it's because we draw a lot of students from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, which are huge financial centers," Barry said. "With big money centers comes an interest in finance."
Barry's hypothesis holds true for James Granello, CSOM '08.
"I grew up in New Jersey where a lot of guys in my town work on Wall Street and worked in finance in New York City," Granello said. "It made me want to kind of follow in their footsteps."
For other students, finance runs in the family.
"It is based upon my brothers, actually. One was an economics major and one was an engineering major, but both of them ended up going into finance out of college," said Matt Mainelli, BC '01.
While geography and family history are definite influences, Mainelli also pointed out the career and fiscal advantages that finance students can have coming out of school.
"A number of Wall Street firms come out and recruit at BC, so the prospect of jobs is great," Mainelli said. "On top of that, the compensation on Wall Street in finance is greater than can be earned with many other CSOM majors."
Mainelli began working for J.P. Morgan as an investment banking program analyst right after graduation. After three years as an analyst, he was promoted to an associate, a position that many get only after attending business graduate school.
Mainelli feels that CSOM prepared him for the position in much the same way a business grad school would.
Other students have had similar experiences as Mainelli, as they already have job offers that they are considering accepting. In an increasingly competitive job market, the network of jobs, alumni, and internships that comes with the finance concentration is looking increasingly attractive to many students.
"I feel like I have the world at my fingertips," said Amanda LiDonni, CSOM '08. "I just got a job with Citigroup in corporate banking. It's the middle of October and I already have a job lined up for when I graduate."
Barry said: "On top of the CSOM requirements, students are also required to take three courses in Arts and Sciences so they're getting a well-rounded education. They're good thinkers so they end up getting placed well."
Students in CSOM begin by fulfilling some basic A&S requirements and then take entry-level business classes that are supposed to give them an introduction to the different types of CSOM concentrations. For some, this is when finance starts to stand out.
"Finance is an area many students gravitate toward especially if they have an interest in quantitative skills," Barry said.
The emphasis that finance places on quantitative and critical thinking appeals to many students.
"I think that's why employers are interested in [finance majors], because they know you know how to solve problems and see the big picture and analyze different ways of thinking," Gaudio said.
Another important element that plays into the success of finance majors in the job market is the role alumni play in hiring undergraduates. Many alumni prefer to hire BC students, and they come back to BC with specifically that goal.
Barry notes how they'll coach students in all facets of the finance hiring process.
"They want to hire BC students," Barry said. "They're very competitive with other schools. If they hired four BC students last year, they want to hire five this year."
Professor Elliott Smith, senior lecturer in the finance department, also notes the preparation for the real world that the finance major offers.
Students in Smith's Principles of Finance/Financial Ethics class study the same cases from the Harvard Business Review that students in the graduate program study.
"We want to prepare them to have an edge anywhere in the country," Smith said.
BC's undergraduate program in finance is currently ranked 13th in the nation by the U.S. News and World Report.
The presence of CSOM and the strength of the finance program especially played into some students' decisions to come to BC in the first place.
"I definitely wanted to go to a school where there was an undergraduate business program, and BC is one of the best schools with a business school in the Northeast," Mainelli said.
BC's liberal arts core was also attractive to some students during the application process.
"That balance between liberal arts and business in such an acclaimed school as BC made it a perfect fit for me, because I'm interested in both," said Brian Varian, BC '11.
Whether it played a part in enticing a student to attend BC in the first place or it is providing students with a job for the years after college, the finance major touts many advantages for the University.
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