Pros and cons of a newly introduced major?

[Anonymous]

Is it a good or bad idea to go a school that only just launched a program in your intended major? Potentially bad: no alumni, no track record, you're the guinea pig? Potentially good: More attention, more energy? And if a student were choosing between a higher ranked school with a brand new major in her area of study or a lesser ranker school with an established major in her area of study, is one option clearly better or is it a toss-up? My dc may be facing this situation.

[Anonymous]

If a new major is introduced because of recent STEM advances -- such as an emerging AI-related field, or data science and quantum computing from several years ago -- then no, your child is not at a disadvantage. But if it's a mature discipline that most other schools already have and your child's school is just establishing one, then it's not great.

[Anonymous]

St. Mary's College of Maryland, known for liberal arts, just introduced a business program. I think about your question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it a good or bad idea to go a school that only just launched a program in your intended major? Potentially bad: no alumni, no track record, you're the guinea pig? Potentially good: More attention, more energy? And if a student were choosing between a higher ranked school with a brand new major in her area of study or a lesser ranker school with an established major in her area of study, is one option clearly better or is it a toss-up? My dc may be facing this situation.

Is the new major just shuffling around requirements for existing programs or is it an entirely new program? For instance, if a school already offered biology, I wouldn't worry too much about a human biology and genetics major. But I wouldn't choose a school that had just launched a business or engineering program for the first time. No way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St. Mary's College of Maryland, known for liberal arts, just introduced a business program. I think about your question.

Then not good. If a new STEM major based upon new developments, then OK

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St. Mary's College of Maryland, known for liberal arts, just introduced a business program. I think about your question.

Then not good. If a new STEM major based upon new developments, then OK

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St. Mary's College of Maryland, known for liberal arts, just introduced a business program. I think about your question.

I have an MBA from a top 20 school.

Business programs are fairly easy to start.

The core classes are widely taught in academia and lower ranked schools often will use instructors who are practitioners and Master's Degree holders who are not PhD academics.

The core classes are grounding but not terribly difficult.

Harder/more mathematical:
Statistics
Operations Management
Finance
Business Economics/Microeconomics
Accounting

Typical Liberal Arts difficulty:
Organizational Behavior
Business Communications
Marketing
International Business
Project classes

I would review the bios/resumes of the Dean and the faculty to help decide.

I believe that good teachers don't need to have PhD's. But then they do need solid work experience. I had good teachers who were not PhDs.

I switched out of a BBA program because I planned to get an MBA and BBA core courses are redundant. I've taken several core courses twice, once at BBA and once at MBA school. The courses marked "harder" above are ones where it might be trickier to get good faculty at a small school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St. Mary's College of Maryland, known for liberal arts, just introduced a business program. I think about your question.

Washington College
Salisbury University
McDaniel College

These are more established programs in state. Maybe even Loyola, but that has a different vibe from the others(even Salisbury).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St. Mary's College of Maryland, known for liberal arts, just introduced a business program. I think about your question.

I have an MBA from a top 20 school.

Business programs are fairly easy to start.

The core classes are widely taught in academia and lower ranked schools often will use instructors who are practitioners and Master's Degree holders who are not PhD academics.

The core classes are grounding but not terribly difficult.

Harder/more mathematical:
Statistics
Operations Management
Finance
Business Economics/Microeconomics
Accounting

Typical Liberal Arts difficulty:
Organizational Behavior
Business Communications
Marketing
International Business
Project classes

I would review the bios/resumes of the Dean and the faculty to help decide.

I believe that good teachers don't need to have PhD's. But then they do need solid work experience. I had good teachers who were not PhDs.

I switched out of a BBA program because I planned to get an MBA and BBA core courses are redundant. I've taken several core courses twice, once at BBA and once at MBA school. The courses marked "harder" above are ones where it might be trickier to get good faculty at a small school.

That is very helpful advice.

[Anonymous]

My son has been accepted to a school that is just expanded its engineering program. Originally, they only bio medical engineering. Now they have mechanical, civil and general. No worries at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St. Mary's College of Maryland, known for liberal arts, just introduced a business program. I think about your question.

I have an MBA from a top 20 school.

Business programs are fairly easy to start.

The core classes are widely taught in academia and lower ranked schools often will use instructors who are practitioners and Master's Degree holders who are not PhD academics.

The core classes are grounding but not terribly difficult.

Harder/more mathematical:
Statistics
Operations Management
Finance
Business Economics/Microeconomics
Accounting

Typical Liberal Arts difficulty:
Organizational Behavior
Business Communications
Marketing
International Business
Project classes

I would review the bios/resumes of the Dean and the faculty to help decide.

I believe that good teachers don't need to have PhD's. But then they do need solid work experience. I had good teachers who were not PhDs.

I switched out of a BBA program because I planned to get an MBA and BBA core courses are redundant. I've taken several core courses twice, once at BBA and once at MBA school. The courses marked "harder" above are ones where it might be trickier to get good faculty at a small school.

NP.


A growing number of colleges now offer bachelor's or master's degrees in diversity, equity, inclusion, and access (DEIA). The trend in new DEIA degree programs has come about in response to heightened demand for DEIA experts.

Course pathways in the programs vary but tend to be interdisciplinary, covering topics ranging from history to education to civil engineering to administration and especially to business management.

[Anonymous]

Dream School by Jeffrey Selingo talks about this a little bit (in the chapter on how to assess a school’s financial stability). Apparently colleges like to announce new majors to show they are keeping current with the job markets, but the data shows often they don’t enroll that many students and the graduation levels in them stay low for quite awhile. I am not saying that’s what is happening in this case of course, but I would want to know more about the specifics on funding and staffing before you commit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St. Mary's College of Maryland, known for liberal arts, just introduced a business program. I think about your question.

Washington College
Salisbury University
McDaniel College

These are more established programs in state. Maybe even Loyola, but that has a different vibe from the others(even Salisbury).

St. Mary's (like Towson and Salisbury) is in state for Maryland, and St. Mary's plays up the liberal arts aspect, critical thinking skills, etc. that goes along with practical knowledge. But lots of colleges do that, and Loyola is well known for its foundation in humanities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it a good or bad idea to go a school that only just launched a program in your intended major? Potentially bad: no alumni, no track record, you're the guinea pig? Potentially good: More attention, more energy? And if a student were choosing between a higher ranked school with a brand new major in her area of study or a lesser ranker school with an established major in her area of study, is one option clearly better or is it a toss-up? My dc may be facing this situation.

Need more information; which school & which major are needed before offering a reasonable response.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St. Mary's College of Maryland, known for liberal arts, just introduced a business program. I think about your question.

Washington College
Salisbury University
McDaniel College

These are more established programs in state. Maybe even Loyola, but that has a different vibe from the others(even Salisbury).

St. Mary's (like Towson and Salisbury) is in state for Maryland, and St. Mary's plays up the liberal arts aspect, critical thinking skills, etc. that goes along with practical knowledge. But lots of colleges do that, and Loyola is well known for its foundation in humanities.

Towson far outranks these others as far as return on investment for students. Towson is a true hideen gem of a school which too many overlook in their relentless and ridiculous pursuit of “ranked” schools.