Finding Myself in the Stern Core Curriculum

My first year, I pressured myself to declare a concentration. I was immediately drawn to finance, since it is one of the most common concentrations. Additionally, as an international student, the global business concentration interested me. I wanted my work to be globally-focused even if I did not know exactly what I wanted to pursue. It was an easy choice to make, since I was studying at one of the most international universities in the world.

While I loved the classes I was taking, I was also curious what else was available. In comparison, my peers explored very different concentrations from me. I wondered what else I might discover out there within my major. Accordingly, I added variation to my classes and used NYU’s job-seeking platform, Handshake, to find some practical experience.

In my sophomore summer, I participated in an exploratory internship at a fintech start-up. I loved the flexibility to learn and that interns could get involved in projects. Through this experience, I discovered and fell in love with marketing.

At the start of my junior year, I spoke to Stern advising and changed my concentration to finance and marketing. I was so happy to be a true marketing concentration. I even kept my summer internship throughout my third year. At the same time, the summer before my senior year felt like an opportunity to try something new before committing to full-time work.

Once again, Handshake came to the rescue! I filtered opportunities by all the details I wanted and found a summer banking internship.

My last summer in college, I worked as a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) intern at an investment bank. I can positively say that it was the experience of a lifetime. M&A was the perfect combination of finance and marketing. Plus, I learned a plethora of new skills surrounding data analytics.

That summer, I realized it might be a better use of my time to learn some analytical skills. I loved marketing, but to succeed in M&A, I wanted to learn more about data science.

The problem? I thought, “I’m a junior…isn’t it too late to change my mind AND my major?”

Luckily, Stern advising is also available over the summer. In a matter of hours, I was speaking to my adviser. He told me there was no reason why I couldn’t switch my concentrations to finance and data science. I was stunned!

To double check, I told him that I was a senior and wanted to graduate on time. Again, he assured me that I could pursue data science. I could even graduate early if I wanted! 

Arriving in my senior year at NYU Stern, I am now a Business major with concentrations in finance and data science. While my path was not straightforward, I investigated different fields to find out what I’m genuinely passionate about.

If not for the encouragement, flexibility, and support of the Stern Core Curriculum at NYU, I would not be graduating certain of my major and excited for my path forward.