Mirror market for if I regret switching to an Applied Math Major: https://manifold.markets/Dssc/if-i-switch-majors-from-finance-to

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 staying as a Finance Major instead of switching to an Applied Math Major. 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