Interesting Article From NYTimes About Business Majors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 business degrees and I agree. Most skills can be learned on the job, I am encouraging my kids to major in other fields so they can learn how to think not just ace the exam.

Finance + a difficult humanities degree (classics, philosophy, linguistics, etc) is s great prep for banking, consulting, or law. IMHO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 business degrees and I agree. Most skills can be learned on the job, I am encouraging my kids to major in other fields so they can learn how to think not just ace the exam.

Finance + a difficult humanities degree (classics, philosophy, linguistics, etc) is s great prep for banking, consulting, or law. IMHO.

Nice. But not everyone can or will go to a top, or even close to top, school. So what do you suggest they major in?

[Anonymous]

eh.. IMO, most jobs don't necessarily require a higher degree in that field. Outside of a few professions like medicine and law, and a few others, most jobs can be learned on the job. Higher degrees are about higher level of critical thinking, and not necessarily about that field. A business degree will teach about different aspects of running a business. Of course you can learn on the job, but majoring in it just gives you an awareness of it before you hit the job market. I'd rather higher a business major than a sociology major for an entry level jr PM job. I won't have to teach the business grad some of the aspects of the corporate world like I would to a sociology major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at job placement statisitics for undergraduate business majors ---many have a job lined up before they graduate.

Yep. Until I see job postings seeking classics majors, I am skeptical of this article.

Classics majors are probably better prepared for the business world than business majors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at job placement statisitics for undergraduate business majors ---many have a job lined up before they graduate.

Yep. Until I see job postings seeking classics majors, I am skeptical of this article.

Classics majors are probably better prepared for the business world than business majors.

ITA. We should see more job postings for Classics majors. They actually learn critical thinking skills, not just how to memorize facts for a test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at job placement statisitics for undergraduate business majors ---many have a job lined up before they graduate.

Yep. Until I see job postings seeking classics majors, I am skeptical of this article.

Classics majors are probably better prepared for the business world than business majors.

Good, but there are few job postings for classics majors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at job placement statisitics for undergraduate business majors ---many have a job lined up before they graduate.

Yep. Until I see job postings seeking classics majors, I am skeptical of this article.

Classics majors are probably better prepared for the business world than business majors.

ITA. We should see more job postings for Classics majors. They actually learn critical thinking skills, not just how to memorize facts for a test.

? Were you a business major? It's not about fact memorization. There are a lot of projects of real world business scenarios, analysis of business conditions, etc..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at job placement statisitics for undergraduate business majors ---many have a job lined up before they graduate.

Yep. Until I see job postings seeking classics majors, I am skeptical of this article.

Classics majors are probably better prepared for the business world than business majors.

The principal I work for at my agency was a classics major at HYP and then got his law degree at HY. Absolutely killed it in his career at a law firm covering financial regulation and becoming an expert on banking.

Classics major + a Level 1 CFA will get looked at by banks if they go to the right undergrad.

That said, Classics is better as a double-major. I’d hesitate to recommend anyone at a tier 2 or below undergrad to get ONLY a classics degree. They should combine it with something else (CS, hard science, Econ, business, stats, etc)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 business degrees and I agree. Most skills can be learned on the job, I am encouraging my kids to major in other fields so they can learn how to think not just ace the exam.

Finance + a difficult humanities degree (classics, philosophy, linguistics, etc) is s great prep for banking, consulting, or law. IMHO.

Only if you go to an elite university (and usually come from an UMC family, with private or elite public high school; there's a reason why people list Palo Alto High on their LinkedIn profile)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 2 business degrees and I agree. Most skills can be learned on the job, I am encouraging my kids to major in other fields so they can learn how to think not just ace the exam.

Finance + a difficult humanities degree (classics, philosophy, linguistics, etc) is s great prep for banking, consulting, or law. IMHO.

Only if you go to an elite university (and usually come from an UMC family, with private or elite public high school; there's a reason why people list Palo Alto High on their LinkedIn profile)

+1 All of the recommendations on this thread are great-If you go to a tippy-top school. And no, I don't agree with the idea that it is not worth going to college if you cant get into a top school.

[Anonymous]

I am in Finance, was a math major in college. I disagree with the top 50 part, but agree on the general business major.

[Anonymous]

The federal rules/regulations/tax code are the same regardless of where you go to school. The CPA exam is the same exam for everyone. Went to a SEC school and very financially successful. No regrets!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at job placement statisitics for undergraduate business majors ---many have a job lined up before they graduate.

Yep. Until I see job postings seeking classics majors, I am skeptical of this article.

Classics majors are probably better prepared for the business world than business majors.

Good, but there are few job postings for classics majors.

So if a job ad doesn't mention X as a college major required for that job, then someone who majored in X won't be able to fill that job?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at job placement statisitics for undergraduate business majors ---many have a job lined up before they graduate.

Yep. Until I see job postings seeking classics majors, I am skeptical of this article.

Classics majors are probably better prepared for the business world than business majors.

Good, but there are few job postings for classics majors.

So if a job ad doesn't mention X as a college major required for that job, then someone who majored in X won't be able to fill that job?

If a company lists business or communications as a degree requirement, and they get 200 applicants, 90% of which meet the degree requirement, why do you think the applicants with the English or history degree aren't going to get filtered out? A lot of the filtering is done by a computer, then a human looks at what's left for around a minute. The closer you can look to an ideal candidate, the better your chances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at job placement statisitics for undergraduate business majors ---many have a job lined up before they graduate.

Depends how many years you look out into a college graduate’s career.
Chronicle of Higher Education article

https://www.chronicle.com/article/All-About-the-Money/134422