Finance Major
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About the Major
Finance focuses on how to allocate resources for an uncertain future using data available today. This can be done through portfolio management, where investors select which companies they believe will have the returns in the future; wealth management, where planners develop strategies and plans for individuals to achieve goals; real estate; banking; insurance; and many other fields.
Jobs in Finance
- Financial analyst
- Investment banker
- Financial planner
- Portfolio manager
- Financial consultant
Past Elon Finance Internships
- JP Morgan Chase
- Credit Suisse
- Bank of America/Merrill Lynch
- FactSet
- Wells Fargo
Related Majors
Elon programs, professors guided finance major on her path to a secure future
Ava Rosen started worrying about her family’s finances at a young age. She was only a preteen when her father died after a battle with bladder cancer. The financial struggle was so bad, Rosen worried she wouldn’t be able to go to college — or if she did, it would be under a mound of debt.
“At a young age, I experienced loss and hardship, watching my life turn upside down with the passing of my dad,” she said. “Seeing how one event can make such an impact on others, losing my dad prompted all my career moves from the age of 11.”
While she wasn’t sure what exact career path she wanted to explore, she was interested in the finance world for its job stability. Her ultimate goal was to find a career that would allow her to give back to her community in the form of financial empowerment and protection.
I knew finance would both challenge me quantitatively and allow me to be a catalyst for change in a field where females are underrepresented.
But first she had to find a college she could afford.
Elon had a top-ranking business degree program and a Business Fellows Program that offered the competitive edge Rosen desired in a university. It also had the Odyssey Scholars Program, which provides full scholarships to high achievers with significant financial need.
When Rosen received the news in 2019 that Elon was offering her entry into the scholarship program, she cried with relief. Then she got to work. She knew she needed to focus on building a major that would provide the security she had lacked after her father died. That major was finance.
“Going to college on scholarship, I knew I would be tremendously disappointed in myself if I did not graduate with a secure job,” Rosen said. “I knew finance would both challenge me quantitatively and allow me to be a catalyst for change in a field where females are underrepresented.”
Today, Rosen, a 2023 Elon graduate, is a risk analyst at Goldman Sachs. She says the unique experiences Elon provided — including countless hands-on learning opportunities — gave her a solid learning base that led to summer internships and a full-time job upon graduating. And the one-on-one attention and confidence-building skills she received from Elon’s professors gave her the ability to face and push past today’s obstacles.
“This field can be challenging, confusing and complex, but it’s all about moving forward, pushing past the obstacles and showing up,” she said. “I have and will continue to make plenty of mistakes in school and in my career, but I’ve come to accept that mistakes are part of learning. … Being able to ask for and accept constructive criticism and view all you do as a cooperative effort — where teammates are truly striving for the greater good together, rather than against each other — has made all the difference.”
That team-building was an essential part of Rosen’s education at Elon. Two months prior to graduating, she led a five-student team to the state title in the CFA Institute Research Challenge, a global competition that provides students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis and professional ethics.
The team made it to the North Carolina State Finals based on the strength of its written report, which focused on Greensboro-based Kontoor Brands, the maker of Wrangler, Lee and Rock & Republic brands. For months, the team analyzed Kontoor to compile a comprehensive report resulting in a buy, hold or sell recommendation that was supported by data and driven by a narrative.
To win in front of a panel of experienced industry professionals, the team had to both exhibit exceptional writing skills and demonstrate strong presentation skills, all while applying the real-world finance and business tools they learned in the Love School of Business.
“This team taught me the importance of collaboration, analytical thinking and communication in a dynamic environment,” she said in March 2023 after the win.
During an unstable time in Rosen’s life, “Elon made me feel at home, and it provided me the resources to truly excel and prepare for my future,” she said.
She encourages students exploring a finance major to go into it with an open mind and a goal of finding what they love to do.
“Finance is much more than just banking,” Rosen said, adding that students should “find ways to leverage finance as a means to ignite change and make a difference in the world — be it corporate governance, banking, sustainable finance, workplace solutions, private credit or risk, like myself.”
Did You Know?
- Elon’s Accelerated 3+1 program gives finance majors the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration as well as a Master of Science in Business Analytics in just four years. The majority of undergraduate coursework is completed in the first three years, with graduate coursework in the fourth year.
- A degree in finance can be used nearly everywhere you would like to work. Corporations, schools, nonprofits and government organizations all hire individuals with financial knowledge and skills to help them plan for the future and allocate resources wisely.
- Finance students and faculty have access to the William Garrard Reed Finance Center, a state-of-the-art finance research lab that includes 12 Bloomberg terminals, FactSet and the Wharton Research Database. It sponsors professional development events, such as boot camps for Wall Street Prep and Blockchain, a finance seminar series and mock super days.
- There are many opportunities for students to get involved: They can volunteer to provide financial literacy lessons to local elementary students; sign up for a study abroad program; or join organizations like the Financial Management Association, Real Estate Club and Women in Finance. The department also mentors a student team to compete in the annual global CFA Institute Research Challenge.