Majoring in Business

[Anonymous]

Why would smart and ambitious student major in business? What even is that? It seems like a vocational degree or something you'd get an MBA for. Why not study economics? Math and concentrate on Finance. Communications. Math and Statistics. Psychology.

Only two Ivy schools offer this as a course of study for undergrads. Stanford does not, which I think says a lot. When I look at the courses these major take it just seems like a bunch of generic stuff and some fluff like marketing, other than one or two econ courses. Do companies really feel these graduates are prepared to contribute to their bottom line?

[Anonymous]

Because undergrad business school admissions at state schools filters kids out. If you go to a no-name school and major in communications or psychology instead of accounting or finance, you’re in for a rough time.

[Anonymous]

Were you brought up in the US? I ask because not offering a business major is the exception rather than the norm nationally.

[Anonymous]

The kids in the business school at schools that offer it are usually the most sought after in recruiting

[Anonymous]

"The kids in the business school at schools that offer it are usually the most sought after in recruiting." You're saying that they'd rather hire someone who took 1 econ class, a marketing class, something called "strategy," and maybe one finance class over a kid who majored in econ or math? Or someone who majored in industrial engineering? Interesting. That surprises me. I looked at some lists of top CEOs and they overwhelmingly had a substantive major as an undergrad and then did an MBA. So maybe it's the rank and file of corporate America who are coming from business major undergrade backgrounds? I may be oriented toward thinking of people in the private sector as needing a strong skill that they bring to the table because of time spent in California and NC where there the tech and finance industries are strong.

[Anonymous]

At my daughter’s college, they have to take calculus, finance, accounting, economics, foreign language and marketing.

[Anonymous]

I agree that general business, business admin, or management are worthless majors, but the vast majority of “business majors” are actually finance, accounting, supply chain, marketing, HR, info systems, etc majors.

It’s like engineering. Of course you can’t just major in “engineering.” You choose a specialty like civil or mechanical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would smart and ambitious student major in business? What even is that? It seems like a vocational degree or something you'd get an MBA for. Why not study economics? Math and concentrate on Finance. Communications. Math and Statistics. Psychology.

Only two Ivy schools offer this as a course of study for undergrads. Stanford does not, which I think says a lot. When I look at the courses these major take it just seems like a bunch of generic stuff and some fluff like marketing, other than one or two econ courses. Do companies really feel these graduates are prepared to contribute to their bottom line?

The product should sell itself, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that general business, business admin, or management are worthless majors, but the vast majority of “business majors” are actually finance, accounting, supply chain, marketing, HR, info systems, etc majors.

It’s like engineering. Of course you can’t just major in “engineering.” You choose a specialty like civil or mechanical.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that general business, business admin, or management are worthless majors, but the vast majority of “business majors” are actually finance, accounting, supply chain, marketing, HR, info systems, etc majors.

It’s like engineering. Of course you can’t just major in “engineering.” You choose a specialty like civil or mechanical.

This, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would smart and ambitious student major in business? What even is that? It seems like a vocational degree or something you'd get an MBA for. Why not study economics? Math and concentrate on Finance. Communications. Math and Statistics. Psychology.

Only two Ivy schools offer this as a course of study for undergrads. Stanford does not, which I think says a lot. When I look at the courses these major take it just seems like a bunch of generic stuff and some fluff like marketing, other than one or two econ courses. Do companies really feel these graduates are prepared to contribute to their bottom line?

[Anonymous]

I was a math major, and one recruiter put it to me this way:

I can teach you the business that [the business major] knows, but I can't teach him the math that you know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would smart and ambitious student major in business? What even is that? It seems like a vocational degree or something you'd get an MBA for. Why not study economics? Math and concentrate on Finance. Communications. Math and Statistics. Psychology.

Only two Ivy schools offer this as a course of study for undergrads. Stanford does not, which I think says a lot. When I look at the courses these major take it just seems like a bunch of generic stuff and some fluff like marketing, other than one or two econ courses. Do companies really feel these graduates are prepared to contribute to their bottom line?

[Anonymous]

You are clueless.
If you are really interested, do some basic research, and then ask be before making fool out of yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a math major, and one recruiter put it to me this way:

I can teach you the business that [the business major] knows, but I can't teach him the math that you know.

My kid is in college now and so many of the job postings she gets emails about would prefer to see a finance or supply chain major (or explicitly require that) and make no mention of math. It’s bizarre, but it is what it is.