One of the most persistent myths about investment banking recruiting is that you need a finance or economics degree to have a real shot. The truth? Investment banking for liberal arts majors is entirely achievable — and every year, students with degrees in history, political science, philosophy, English, and other humanities fields land offers at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Lazard, and other top banks. What it takes is not a different major — it’s a clear strategy, the right technical preparation, and the ability to tell a compelling story. This guide covers everything you need to know.
Does Your Major Actually Matter?
Let’s address this head-on: banks care far less about your major than most students assume. What they care about are:
- Your GPA (typically 3.5+ for competitive programs)
- Your ability to perform the technical work (valuation, accounting, modeling)
- Your communication and presentation skills
- Your genuine interest in finance and markets
- Your networking effectiveness
A philosophy major with a 3.8 GPA, solid technical skills, and a compelling story about why they want to be a banker will outcompete a finance major with a 3.2 GPA and generic interview answers every time. Banks hire for intellectual horsepower, work ethic, and personality — not for the name of your department.
That said, there is a real skills gap that liberal arts majors need to address proactively. If you haven’t taken accounting, corporate finance, or financial modeling courses, you’ll need to fill those gaps through other means. The good news is there are clear, proven ways to do exactly that.
Building Technical Skills Without a Finance Degree
The biggest structural challenge for liberal arts majors is the technical knowledge gap. Investment banking analysts are expected to understand financial statements, build DCF models, run comparable company analyses, and speak fluently about accounting concepts from day one. If your coursework hasn’t given you this background, you need to build it deliberately.
Take Relevant Courses
If you’re still in school, the single best thing you can do is take finance and accounting courses — even if they don’t count toward your major. Most universities offer introductory accounting and corporate finance courses that are open to all students. These won’t make you an expert, but they’ll give you a credible answer when interviewers ask about your quantitative background and they’ll accelerate your self-study.
Self-Study and Online Resources
For students who need to build technical knowledge outside the classroom, there are excellent resources available. Our free investment banking course is a strong starting point that covers core concepts in accessible language. The Technical Cheatsheet is something every candidate should memorize regardless of major — it covers the most common technical interview questions and the answers banks expect to hear.
Beyond WSMM resources, you should be comfortable reading financial statements (10-Ks and 10-Qs), understanding how the three financial statements link together, and explaining concepts like EBITDA, enterprise value, and discounted cash flow analysis at a high level.
Get Relevant Work Experience
Internships and part-time roles that demonstrate financial exposure are extremely valuable for liberal arts majors. Look for opportunities at:
- Boutique investment banks or M&A advisory firms
- Equity research departments at smaller firms
- Corporate finance or FP&A teams at companies
- Venture capital or private equity firms that hire undergraduates
- Finance-focused student organizations (investment clubs, stock pitch competitions)
Even a semester-long role at a small boutique bank or a strong showing in a stock pitch competition signals that you’ve taken concrete steps to build financial skills — which is exactly what interviewers want to see from a non-finance major.
Crafting Your Story: Why Banking, Why Now
If you’re a liberal arts major, interviewers will absolutely ask “Why investment banking?” — and they’ll be slightly more skeptical of your answer than they would be with a finance major. Your job is to give an answer that’s specific, genuine, and credible.
The Three Elements of a Strong “Why Banking” Answer
A great answer connects three things: your background and interests, a specific inflection point that sparked your interest in finance, and concrete steps you’ve taken to pursue that interest. For example:
“My interest in M&A actually started through a history thesis I wrote on the role of corporate consolidation in the post-war U.S. economy. That research led me to start following current deal announcements, which led me to join our university’s investment banking club and complete a summer at a local boutique. That experience confirmed for me that I want to spend my career advising on complex transactions — and I’ve been building the technical skills to compete for a top program ever since.”
Notice that this answer is specific, shows genuine intellectual curiosity, and demonstrates proactive action — not just a vague desire to “work with numbers” or “be in a fast-paced environment.”
Lean Into Your Liberal Arts Skills
Here’s something many liberal arts students don’t realize: the skills developed through a strong humanities education are genuinely valued in banking. Writing clearly and persuasively, synthesizing large amounts of information, constructing logical arguments, and communicating complex ideas to non-experts — these are daily requirements of the job. Investment banking pitch books, client memos, and fairness opinions require excellent writing and analytical reasoning, not just financial modeling.
Frame your liberal arts background as an asset, not a liability. “My philosophy background has made me exceptionally rigorous in my thinking and very effective at structuring arguments — skills I use every time I build a business case or present a recommendation” is a far better framing than apologizing for not having taken more finance courses.
Networking: Your Most Powerful Lever
For liberal arts majors, networking is even more important than it is for finance majors — because you have less of the automatic credibility that comes with a well-known finance program. Proactive outreach to bankers can compensate for a less traditional background by creating advocates inside the firm who know your story and can support your application.
The key is to network with genuine curiosity rather than transparently transactional intent. Ask bankers about their career path, what they wish they’d known going in, what they find most challenging about the work. Build real relationships. Then, when it comes time to apply, follow up with the people you’ve built rapport with and ask if they’d be willing to refer you internally.
Our Networking Guide walks through exactly how to approach these conversations — from finding the right contacts to following up without being annoying. Combine strong networking with a polished resume that highlights your relevant experiences clearly and concisely.
Which Banks Are Most Open to Non-Finance Majors?
All major investment banks officially recruit regardless of major — they care about intellectual ability, not departmental affiliation. That said, there are practical differences in how receptive different programs are.
Elite boutiques (Lazard, Evercore, Centerview, Moelis) tend to have more holistic recruiting processes that can favor candidates with unusual backgrounds who tell a compelling story. Large bulge brackets recruit at scale and sometimes favor candidates from traditional feeder programs, though they also explicitly value diversity of background.
Regional boutiques and middle market banks can be excellent entry points for liberal arts majors — the competition is slightly less intense, the processes are more relationship-driven, and strong performance there creates a pathway to larger firms through lateral recruiting.
The Resume and Application Strategy
Your resume needs to work harder than the resume of a finance major at a target school. Every line should demonstrate either finance-relevant skills or exceptional performance in your field. Use our resume template as a starting point, and make sure your resume is tailored to highlight:
- Any finance-related internships, coursework, or extracurriculars
- Quantitative accomplishments even in non-finance contexts (budget management, data analysis, research with quantitative components)
- Leadership roles and team-based projects that demonstrate the interpersonal skills banking requires
- Academic excellence (GPA, honors, awards)
Don’t hide your major — own it. A history or English major with a 3.9 GPA from a respected school is impressive on its own terms. Your goal is to show that you’ve supplemented that academic achievement with the finance-specific knowledge and experience needed to hit the ground running as an analyst.
Real Students Who’ve Made It
We’ve coached students from non-traditional backgrounds — including liberal arts majors at non-target schools — into investment banking roles at top firms. The common threads among those who succeed: they built technical skills proactively, they networked strategically, and they told a clear and genuine story about why banking.
Check out our student interviews and testimonials to see what’s possible. Our track record page shows the breadth of schools and backgrounds our students come from.
Want Personalized Interview Coaching?
Breaking into investment banking as a liberal arts major requires a sharper strategy and more deliberate preparation than a standard recruiting path. At Wall Street Mastermind, we specialize in helping students from all backgrounds — including non-finance majors — land offers at the banks they’re targeting.
If you’re ready to build a customized plan, apply to work with us here. We’ll assess your current position, identify your highest-leverage preparation priorities, and work with you directly to get you ready for interviews.
