As the end of the 2024-2025 school year approaches, sophomores across campus are beginning to declare their majors. Historically, the most popular majors at Carleton have been those in social sciences, computer science and biological and biomedical sciences. However, over the past several years, Carleton has experienced an unprecedented rise in the popularity of a recently established major: Finance Bro. As an interdisciplinary subject, Finance Bro majors are required to fulfill a series of requirements in the Economics and Psychology departments, distinguishing the major as both extremely difficult and unique. 

Students who choose to major in Finance Bro must fulfill all requirements within the Economics major, including ECON 110 and 111, introduction to both mathematics and statistics, Econometrics, Price Theory and Macro Theory, as well as four economics 3electives. In addition to these requirements, however, Finance Bro majors must complete a series of courses within the Psychology department, including PSYC 130 Introduction to Mansplaining and PSYC 140 Introduction to Gaslighting, as well as a series of PSYC electives to complement the study of Finance Bro, such as PSYC 210 How to be a Narcissist and PSYC 266 An Exploration of the Frat Boy. Finance Bro majors may also opt to take an elective in the chemistry department, CHEM 265 How to Ferment Hamm’s Beer, or a 2-credit PE Class entitled How to Be a Gym Rat. Many of these courses work in conjunction with Gould Library’s Special Collections and offer majors the opportunity to examine a series of crucial primary sources, including watching films such as “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “American Psycho” and listening to Kanye’s “Touch the Sky” and “Homecoming.” Recent Finance Bro Comps theses include ‘Examining Harrison Butker’s Ideology’ and ‘Kanye: Separating the Art from the Artist’.

Since Finance Bro is an interdisciplinary major, it does not have its own department office. However, the economics department has allocated a room on the second floor of Willis called “The Den” where Finance Bro majors can converse and participate in discussions related to fantasy football, crafting the perfect Instagram caption, being fiscally conservative and socially liberal, bragging about their 90-hour work weeks and solely hitting upper body at the gym. Also included in the room is a beer fridge, a pong table, a closet containing Patagonia and North Face vests and a commemorative shrine below an enormous framed photo of Lebron James.

Finance Bro majors play a crucial role on campus in activities such as club lacrosse and intramural basketball (“I could have gone pro if I hadn’t gotten injured freshman year,” or “I bet I could beat Caitlin Clark”). In an increasingly industrialized and globalized world, economic and psychological skills related to the Finance Bro major are becoming increasingly prized in the job market. Next time you see a Finance Bro major on campus, you might recognize them by their muscle shirt, logoed vest, sparkling Oura ring or custom Allbirds. Make sure to greet them with a “What’s good,” dap them up, and no matter what you do, DO NOT ask why we can’t just print more money.