Principles of Finance
Covers the fundamentals of finance, including the time value of money, risk and return, and capital budgeting.
Difficulty
Moderately challenging
Students rate Finance 3.4/5 for difficulty across 8 ratings.
Average difficultyBased on 8 students across 5 schools.View review makeup
3.4/ 5
Share of students at each rating
Class-year breakdown needs more responses.It appears after at least two class years have 5 difficulty ratings each.
What makes this major demanding?
Worth it?
63% would recommend it
Based on 8 reviews across 5 schools
What students say about the payoff
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Curriculum and careers
Finance majors focus on the management of money, investments, and financial institutions. Students learn about financial analysis, portfolio management, and the principles of corporate finance, preparing them for a variety of roles in the financial sector.
Core course themes
Investment Analysis
Explores investment strategies, asset valuation, portfolio management, and the functioning of financial markets.
Corporate Finance
Focuses on financial decision-making within a corporation, including capital structure, dividend policy, and mergers and acquisitions.
Financial Markets and Institutions
Examines the roles of financial institutions and the operation of financial markets, with emphasis on regulatory policies.
Financial Accounting
Introduces the principles of accounting as they relate to financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements.
Derivatives and Risk Management
Studies financial derivatives such as options and futures, and their application in managing financial risks.
Common roles
- Financial Analyst
- Investment Banker
- Portfolio Manager
- Risk Manager
- Corporate Treasurer
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Finance by school
Scores account for sample sizePreparing school differences…
University of Southern California3 reviews
- Career outlook
- 3.9
- Enjoyment
- 4.3
- Recommend
- 56%
Emory University2 reviews
- Career outlook
- 4.0
- Enjoyment
- 4.4
- Recommend
- 69%
Boston College1 review
- Career outlook
- 4.1
- Enjoyment
- 4.4
- Recommend
- 57%
Santa Clara University1 review
- Career outlook
- 4.0
- Enjoyment
- 4.3
- Recommend
- 66%
Washington University in St Louis1 review
- Career outlook
- 4.0
- Enjoyment
- 4.4
- Recommend
- 66%
Community
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Student reviews
PositiveCourses & teaching
The first 2 years teach you the fundamentals via all the core classes in finance and accounting. The last two years you can DIY based on your interests, or more likely your future interest will emerge from the courses you choose out of serendipity. Best advise would be to take the first two years very seriously because these fundamentals can last decades with you. For the junior/ senior course try to avoid those “popular-by-name” courses but instead go for the professor. This is a field where real experience far outweighs theories, and a good professor who knows what he/ she is talking about from past live experience can make a night/ day difference.
Jul 2025
MixedCareers & next steps
Unlike Accounting or Business Analytics, Finance is a broad major that doesn’t equip students with highly specialized skills for any particular industry. While it does teach essential fundamentals such as financial statement analysis, DCF modeling, and portfolio optimization, the finance industry today has significantly raised the bar for job candidates. As a result, strong grades are now considered a basic requirement rather than a distinguishing factor in recruitment. Therefore, students should aim to get involved in student organizations, network with industry professionals, conduct research with professors, engage in online learning (e.g., certification programs), and, most importantly, cultivate an interest in a specific area of finance, such as investment banking, portfolio management, quantitative trading, equity research, wealth management, private equity, or commercial banking, early on.
Jul 2025
PositiveCourses & teaching
Don’t choose this major simply based on other’s recommendations such as “IB really makes a lot”. Try it if you are interested in the market or in the practice of managing money and capital. You’ll be learning about financial accounting, valuation, financial management, PE methods, VCs, and derivatives. Should definitely try.
Jul 2025
PositiveCourses & teaching
Finance at USC has been a lot of fun and very holistic. The core classes are super helpful with understating everything business related and helps you prepare for getting a job.
Apr 2026
MixedCareers & next steps
Finance is interesting in certain way that there is no correct answer for the question, as long as you can find the ground to support your argument. However it is connection-heavy and require resources outside school.
Oct 2025
MixedCareers & next steps
feel exciting at the first time but getting tired of networking. math part is manageable but too much competition going on in the market right now
Oct 2025
Investment Banking is the usual route that people take when doing Finance because it has a lot of exit opportunities. Apart from investment banking, their are careers in FP&A, commercial banking, or you can specialize a bit more and do data analytics and a mix of finance if you are into that. A finance degree can even help get a career in operations as most of these jobs require a basic BBA degree.
Sep 2026
PositiveEnjoyment & fit
It was a great program and a great school. I recommend students to apply to emory goizueta for undergrad.
Apr 2026
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