MANIFOLD
If I switch majors from Finance to Applied Mathematics, will I regret it in May 2027?
10
Ṁ1kṀ792
2027
32%
chance

Mirror market for if I regret staying as a Finance Major:
https://manifold.markets/Dssc/if-i-stay-as-a-finance-major-will-i

Rules:

This market will resolve to my subjective feelings around my level of regret on the closing date (May 25th, 2027) if I end up switching majors from Finance to Applied Mathematics. If I have strong feelings of regret or am strongly statisfied with my choice, I will resolve this market to fully YES or NO. Otherwise, I may resolve the market to a partial % depending on my level of regret.

I plan to make a committal decision at around the beginning of April 2026. At that time, I will N/A one of the two markets depending on what I choose to do.

If I end up deciding to double major in both Finance and Applied Math, or major in neither Applied Math nor Finance, I will resolve both markets N/A, although I think either would be extremely unlikely. If I decide to switch majors after I have already made the committal decision, that will not cause either market to N/A, and would just affect whether I regret my choice or not.

I will not bet on this market. I will answer questions in the comments and update this long description, although I may decide not to answer certain questions due to privacy concerns or if I just don't feel like answering.

Context (Same as in the Mirror market):

I am currently a US Freshman Undergraduate General Business major, although if I stay, I would almost certainly go into a Finance major. I think most people would call my university good, but not elite. I had a 4.0 GPA in my first semester and am on track to maintain a 4.0 through my second semester, although these are easy intro-level classes, and I am still in the middle of my 2nd semester.

My education is being paid for by my parents, although I do not anticipate any risk of significant disapproval with either choice, and I don't anticipate it to be a factor either way.

If I stay as a Business major, I could graduate in 3-3.5 years with 1-2 quantitative minors, or possibly 2.5 years with no minors. If I switch to an Applied Math major, I could still graduate comfortably in 3 years with an Applied Math Major, maybe even in 3 years with a closely related minor, although doing so would require some work.

I don't really have any concrete ideas of what I want to do with either major. If I stick with Finance, I would probably be just working some analyst desk job, and if I went with Applied Math, while I am interested in Quantitative Finance, some Data Analyst job is probably more likely.

I have not been allowed to take any Finance classes yet, but the Business classes I have taken or am currently taking so far are:

  • A standard intro to business class, which was boring but ridiculously easy, and could hardly be classified as an actual class

  • A standard intro to microeconomics class (Also math-related, but whatever), which I thought was ridiculously slow, although I generally enjoyed it still

  • A standard intro to financial accounting class, which I think is actually pretty interesting, albeit a bit slow and easy

  • A required business technology class, which I absolutely hate, as it is so boring and simplistic to the point of feeling a bit degrading, honestly

The math or math-related classes I am taking are:

  • A standard Calculus 3 class, which I generally enjoy and am doing well in

  • A non-business, more rigorous intro to statistics class, which I think is easily my favorite class so far

Some of the reasons I am considering switching to Applied Math:

  • As described above, I generally have been enjoying my math-related classes a lot more than my business-related classes, which I feel are fairly uninteresting, although none of them have actually been a Finance class yet

  • I generally feel like I fit in a lot better with the Math students, in terms of shared interests and whatnot. I honestly feel pretty alien among the Business majors

  • I am increasingly realizing how much of Finance is just networking and relationship-building, which does not build into my personal skill set, which is more quantitative

  • If I continue on the Business track, I will be forced to take multiple middle management classes, which sounds absolutely horrid

Some of the reasons I am considering staying in Finance or picked Finance to begin with:

  • For undisclosed personal reasons, I am fairly confident I do not want to work in academia, which would limit my options somewhat as a math major, although probably not that much as an Applied Math major rather than a Pure Math major

  • I generally feel that Finance is a somewhat "safer" major in terms of post-education opportunities, although I have grown less confident that this is true for me personally, due to weak networking skills

  • I am worried that this decision might be a bit rash, and I may be overadjusting my priors to my first year experiences, considering that I have not actually taken a Finance class yet, and have only taken lower-level Mathematics courses

  • I already have a bit more progress on the Finance track than on the Applied Math track, and would generally be able to either graduate a bit earlier or have more additional coursework, although not by much

Market context
Get
Ṁ1,000
to start trading!
Sort by:

Reading your comment, it seems like you perceive this mostly as a satisfaction<->safety tradeoff. I think that's probably wrong:

  1. Most employers, outside of specific technical requirements, don't really care about what degree you get as long as it is reasonably academic and comes from a reasonably good institution. This choice is already made one way or another and is not affected by finance vs maths.

  2. Employers do care somewhat about how well you did at your degree. While finance might be easy/easier, to be honest the bigger risk might be you getting bored and distracted vs continuing to care rather than the material getting too difficult.

  3. Safety is not guaranteed whatever path you take. Industries constantly change, downturns happen, and now AI is looming and changing everything. IMO you are more resistant to these kinds of risks by doing something that brings you more happiness and where you get on better with the other people doing it, as you'll have a better shot at finding a job through your network or by being genuinely excellent because you care more.


On the other hand:

although I have grown less confident that this is true for me personally, due to weak networking skills

This seems like a fake self-limiting belief:


(A) Networking skills are learnable if you choose to do so

(B) to go out on a limb and make an assumption which might be unfair -- lots of college-aged kids have a sort of weird caricature idea of what "networking" really is. You might be bad right now at "networking" in the sense of confidently approaching a stranger at a "networking event", but good at "networking" in the sense of being willing and able to help an acquaintance out and demonstrate that you're reliable, or in the sense of being able to articulate clearly what your skills are, or whatever.

I am worried that this decision might be a bit rash, and I may be overadjusting my priors to my first year experiences, considering that I have not actually taken a Finance class yet, and have only taken lower-level Mathematics courses

Yeah, lots of first year courses just suck regardless of subject

© Manifold Markets, Inc.TermsPrivacy