Wall Street and MIT

One in every three people I meet at MIT are into finance in some way or the other. Some are in market research and investment banking and others are in sales and trading... seems like making big bucks on Wall Street is the central goal for many MIT undergrads. And working at JP Morgan, Goldman, and hedge funds seem like the "hot" things to do over the summer.

I come from a background of high-tech and am fascinated by next-generation web technologies, nanotechnology, AI, and the fusion of neuroscience and computers. Frankly, I have never really considered finance as potential career path. I did write some business plans and financial statements back in high school and also participated in virtual stock market games, but didn't seem to find enough time to devote to learning the ins and outs of the financial industry at that time.

Regardless of my background, however, I feel that I should make best use of this opportunity and culture and learn more about finance and how engineering can be applied to this industry. Who knows, I might get really into this stuff? And worst case, these concepts are essential to know anyways, no matter what industry I go into.