Undergraduate Business Schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder why any bright kid who can attend a selective college would choose to major in business for his/her undergrad degree

Maybe they want to study accounting?

Maybe an MBA is not necessary for the path they want to pursue, and accordingly, they'd rather buy 4 years of higher ed than 6?

[Anonymous]

How are his grades and test scores?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder why any bright kid who can attend a selective college would choose to major in business for his/her undergrad degree

Maybe they want to study accounting?

Maybe an MBA is not necessary for the path they want to pursue, and accordingly, they'd rather buy 4 years of higher ed than 6?

The smartest and most competitive kids who can get admitted to the top schools are generally not looking to be future accountants.

[Anonymous]

Babson college and Bentley college

Both in Massachusetts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a free market capitalist who completely supports business as a worthy career, but I wonder why any bright kid who can attend a selective college would choose to major in business for his/her undergrad degree. Why do I say this? For the following reasons:

1. If one wants to maximize possibilities for the most sought after business jobs (eg, IB, consulting, hedge fund, PE, VC, top corporate jobs), then an MBA from a top business school is the ultimate credential. But if someone is going to get an MBA down the road, why major in business in undergrad instead of anything else that won't be duplicative with graduate business school education? The top business schools are generally looking to admit and train future leaders who have not already specialized in business education as college. I would argue that any STEM subject or economics would be a better major for someone with quant skills looking to get an MBA later, and any liberal; arts major would also be better for a non-quant student also looking to get an MBA.

2. Yes, maybe your chances of getting an entry-level job in IB or consulting out of undergrad is higher with a business major from a top school, but the vast majority of these kids are probably thinking of getting an MBA after 2-3 years of work experience. If that is the case, why not study something else or a broad range of subjects in college when this is your last chance to explore and take whatever class interests you? And if your goal is to attend an M7 graduate business school, all things being equal, your chances of getting admitted with an undergrad business major is less because the value-add of a MBA is also perceived to be less by admissions officers who seek to build a diverse and interesting class with people from all academic backgrounds.

To sum it up, I'm arguing that an undergrad business degree is the worst education a smart kid can pursue. I didn't say it's the worst decision one can make or that it can't lead to a decent job after graduation, I'm just saying it's a poor education for someone smart enough to get into a highly selective school because that person could gain a more well rounded education, achieve the same outcome after graduation, and attend a top graduate business school without spending precious 4 years studying business in college.

Top students get into investment banks, private equity and hedge funds from undergrad. There's no reason to major in Economics when they could major in Finance from a top undergraduate business school. Of course if they go to an Ivy they could major in history and get into Wall Street. But that doesn't hold for students from top publics like Michigan, UVA, etc.

Finance is a better major than Economics since Economics is entirely bullshit, and MBA doesn't cover much Finance anyways

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am trying to get dc to focus more closely on schools and thought it might be helpful if he could start with the universe of those colleges with good undergraduate business programs.

This list is a nice place to start https://poetsandquantsforundergrads.com/2019/12/20/wharton-again-tops-pqs-best-undergraduate-b-schools-of-2020/4/

That site is really the best for undergraduate business info.

UVA #3!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a free market capitalist who completely supports business as a worthy career, but I wonder why any bright kid who can attend a selective college would choose to major in business for his/her undergrad degree. Why do I say this? For the following reasons:

1. If one wants to maximize possibilities for the most sought after business jobs (eg, IB, consulting, hedge fund, PE, VC, top corporate jobs), then an MBA from a top business school is the ultimate credential. But if someone is going to get an MBA down the road, why major in business in undergrad instead of anything else that won't be duplicative with graduate business school education? The top business schools are generally looking to admit and train future leaders who have not already specialized in business education as college. I would argue that any STEM subject or economics would be a better major for someone with quant skills looking to get an MBA later, and any liberal; arts major would also be better for a non-quant student also looking to get an MBA.

2. Yes, maybe your chances of getting an entry-level job in IB or consulting out of undergrad is higher with a business major from a top school, but the vast majority of these kids are probably thinking of getting an MBA after 2-3 years of work experience. If that is the case, why not study something else or a broad range of subjects in college when this is your last chance to explore and take whatever class interests you? And if your goal is to attend an M7 graduate business school, all things being equal, your chances of getting admitted with an undergrad business major is less because the value-add of a MBA is also perceived to be less by admissions officers who seek to build a diverse and interesting class with people from all academic backgrounds.

To sum it up, I'm arguing that an undergrad business degree is the worst education a smart kid can pursue. I didn't say it's the worst decision one can make or that it can't lead to a decent job after graduation, I'm just saying it's a poor education for someone smart enough to get into a highly selective school because that person could gain a more well rounded education, achieve the same outcome after graduation, and attend a top graduate business school without spending precious 4 years studying business in college.

.

Why do you assume that they’re not interested in studying business?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder why any bright kid who can attend a selective college would choose to major in business for his/her undergrad degree

Maybe they want to study accounting?

Maybe an MBA is not necessary for the path they want to pursue, and accordingly, they'd rather buy 4 years of higher ed than 6?

The smartest and most competitive kids who can get admitted to the top schools are generally not looking to be future accountants.

Accounting is an incredibly useful and popular major if you are looking to become a CFO. Also accounting from a decent school — doesn’t even have to be a top school necessarily — will get you into Big 4 and that is a fantastic way to start your career if you are looking to go the MBA route.

[Anonymous]

I triple majored in economics, managerial finance, and banking & finance.

If I could go back and do it again I would do finance and accounting, or accounting and economics.

In the real world you bring value when you can build financial models - you’ll gain the best experience in this with finance and/or accounting. The less a company has to train you in this, the better off you’ll be.

Just my 2 cents.

[Anonymous]

Problem with UVA as that you can only enter as a junior. Pretty competitive from what I heard

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder why any bright kid who can attend a selective college would choose to major in business for his/her undergrad degree

Maybe they want to study accounting?

Maybe an MBA is not necessary for the path they want to pursue, and accordingly, they'd rather buy 4 years of higher ed than 6?

The smartest and most competitive kids who can get admitted to the top schools are generally not looking to be future accountants.

*shrug* there is a whole wide world of what you can do with an accounting degree beyond just being an accountant. I majored in accounting and it opened so many doors, being able to understand financial statements and accounting concepts. I worked for exactly one year with a job that included “accountant” in the title.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder why any bright kid who can attend a selective college would choose to major in business for his/her undergrad degree

Maybe they want to study accounting?

Maybe an MBA is not necessary for the path they want to pursue, and accordingly, they'd rather buy 4 years of higher ed than 6?

The smartest and most competitive kids who can get admitted to the top schools are generally not looking to be future accountants.

Future accountants generally become future Chief Financial Officers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder why any bright kid who can attend a selective college would choose to major in business for his/her undergrad degree

Maybe they want to study accounting?

Maybe an MBA is not necessary for the path they want to pursue, and accordingly, they'd rather buy 4 years of higher ed than 6?

The smartest and most competitive kids who can get admitted to the top schools are generally not looking to be future accountants.

Future accountants generally become future Chief Financial Officers.

Or H&R Block tax drones.

[Anonymous]

Emory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder why any bright kid who can attend a selective college would choose to major in business for his/her undergrad degree

Maybe they want to study accounting?

Maybe an MBA is not necessary for the path they want to pursue, and accordingly, they'd rather buy 4 years of higher ed than 6?

The smartest and most competitive kids who can get admitted to the top schools are generally not looking to be future accountants.

Future accountants generally become future Chief Financial Officers.

Or H&R Block tax drones.

That would be a very unusual path for someone with an accounting degree from a good school.