Thoughts on Econ major vs Business if offered

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I hire on Wall Street and would strongly prefer Econ major

can you say why?

NP. Because economics is a science, requires a lot of math and it takes some smarts to do well in it. "Business" is a mishmash that includes much less math (ie. hard courses) and more soft, fun things like "marketing."

Anyone with any hiring power knows that.

+1 My firm, large bank, always pick Econ major over Business major when hiring undergrad. MBA hiring is entirely different.

By this logic you would choose Penn Econ over Wharton? What I am trying to elicit here is if a very top undergrad business major is a bit different.

I don’t think there’s much of a difference. Id chose a Harvard or Uchicago Econ grad over a Wharton grad 9 times out of 10. My firm requires hard, technical skills and we hire quantitative-minded undergrads. The Econ grads have much more rigorous math backgrounds than the business grads, no matter the school.

What would your opinion be of a 4.0 student with Econ-Math degree from a lower ranked but reputable school ?

If they have the right internships and interview well, I’d take them on. Obviously I’m not the industry, but many organizations highly value Econ grads and respect technical skills.

[Anonymous]

My son was going to do econ but research found placement is a lot harder so he is doing a double in accounting and finance. Quantative skills.

[Anonymous]

Op- I’m sensing Econ may be the better path for a kid who is really going to enter an intensely quantitative area of business - where maybe they would want to hire math or physics majors - but if not then probably not

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op- I’m sensing Econ may be the better path for a kid who is really going to enter an intensely quantitative area of business - where maybe they would want to hire math or physics majors - but if not then probably not

Econ is more helpful for quantitative roles and consulting.
Finance is better for finance , accounting is better for accounting.

Everything else is really free reign.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the 25 schools with undergrad business degrees are MIT, Penn, Cornell, Cal, Rice, Notre Dame, Carnegie Mellon, Michigan, UVA, and WashU? Am I missing any school?

*meant top 25 schools

Georgetown has McDonough school
UT Austin (close to T25?) has McCombs

[Anonymous]

At UT-Austin, the premier major is business in McCombs, and the major that people get who can't get in McCombs is Econ. Recruiting is much much stronger at McCombs for jobs. No one picks Econ because they think it makes them look stronger - and many have trouble finding jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At UT-Austin, the premier major is business in McCombs, and the major that people get who can't get in McCombs is Econ. Recruiting is much much stronger at McCombs for jobs. No one picks Econ because they think it makes them look stronger - and many have trouble finding jobs.

OP: That is my sense at these top schools with undergrad business schools attached. Recruiters know all the kids are smart but the business school kids may bring some valuable hard and soft skills to the table right out of the gate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hire on Wall Street and would strongly prefer Econ major

Could you talk about, say, someone with Econ and good math schools at, say, Penn, vs. Wharton.

Also, at my college, the people who ended up with the fanciest titles at places like Goldman Sachs were actually math-physics prodigies who started out in their careers as math or physics professors. Is being a math genius still a good way to break into Goldman Sachs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the 25 schools with undergrad business degrees are MIT, Penn, Cornell, Cal, Rice, Notre Dame, Carnegie Mellon, Michigan, UVA, and WashU? Am I missing any school?

Yes and my DS is headed to one of the above. He wants to major in a social science that he likes but also wants to pick up a double major in Econ or the business school (maybe Finance specialization), which could clearly be helpful for a career in business. So the debate is, should he double major in Econ or something within the business school? My inclination is to take advantage of the strong business school.

Definitely utilize a strong business program. Also - a master's/5th year isn't necessarily required for Accoutning. To sit for the CPA, you need 150 credits from ANYWHERE, as long as it meets requirements. My oldest works at one of the big 4 and completed the 15 additional credits needed through the firm. Graduated with more than the minimum required, so only had the gap of 15 credits. They offer the program to interns, to be completed before they start full time employment with them. She graduated in May, already at 150 credits, studied for CPA over the summer, took 2 parts and started employment in Sept.

How does she like her job so far?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the 25 schools with undergrad business degrees are MIT, Penn, Cornell, Cal, Rice, Notre Dame, Carnegie Mellon, Michigan, UVA, and WashU? Am I missing any school?

Yes and my DS is headed to one of the above. He wants to major in a social science that he likes but also wants to pick up a double major in Econ or the business school (maybe Finance specialization), which could clearly be helpful for a career in business. So the debate is, should he double major in Econ or something within the business school? My inclination is to take advantage of the strong business school.

Definitely utilize a strong business program. Also - a master's/5th year isn't necessarily required for Accoutning. To sit for the CPA, you need 150 credits from ANYWHERE, as long as it meets requirements. My oldest works at one of the big 4 and completed the 15 additional credits needed through the firm. Graduated with more than the minimum required, so only had the gap of 15 credits. They offer the program to interns, to be completed before they start full time employment with them. She graduated in May, already at 150 credits, studied for CPA over the summer, took 2 parts and started employment in Sept.

How does she like her job so far?

She absolutely loves it so far. Has made good connections, participating in the social stuff. Busy season starts soon, so ask me again in 6 months!

[Anonymous]

Hiring opportunities are in abundance at large or top schools with business programs.

[Anonymous]

Somebody who has never looked at an advanced business curriculum like Wharton. Some of their best classes and professors are quantitative marketing.


quote=Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hire on Wall Street and would strongly prefer Econ major

can you say why?

NP. Because economics is a science, requires a lot of math and it takes some smarts to do well in it. "Business" is a mishmash that includes much less math (ie. hard courses) and more soft, fun things like "marketing."

Anyone with any hiring power knows that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At UT-Austin, the premier major is business in McCombs, and the major that people get who can't get in McCombs is Econ. Recruiting is much much stronger at McCombs for jobs. No one picks Econ because they think it makes them look stronger - and many have trouble finding jobs.

Maybe because Econ is in COLA, a massive program that accepts anyone in the top 6% of their high school class and has the worst students at the colleges? How you didn’t mention this is beyond me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hire on Wall Street and would strongly prefer Econ major

Could you talk about, say, someone with Econ and good math schools at, say, Penn, vs. Wharton.

Also, at my college, the people who ended up with the fanciest titles at places like Goldman Sachs were actually math-physics prodigies who started out in their careers as math or physics professors. Is being a math genius still a good way to break into Goldman Sachs?

Math geniuses don’t go to Goldman. Well, they do but that’s not the goal. You want to be a quant at Citadel or Two Sigma where the fun is and you can take risks (and make a boat load)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hire on Wall Street and would strongly prefer Econ major

Could you talk about, say, someone with Econ and good math schools at, say, Penn, vs. Wharton.

Also, at my college, the people who ended up with the fanciest titles at places like Goldman Sachs were actually math-physics prodigies who started out in their careers as math or physics professors. Is being a math genius still a good way to break into Goldman Sachs?

For Penn, it does not matter. Career services lists outcomes. The top 3 bank/finance hiring from Arts&Sci(could be econ, physics, math, anything. Econ is highly quantitative there): JP Morgan, GoldmanSachs, Morgan Stanley. The top 3 consulting are BCG, Bain, Mckinsey. Pull up Wharton undergrad and it is the same companies. Of course, many College of A&S students go into law and med: the most frequent law besides Upenn are Harvard, Stanford, GTown. The most freq med besides Perleman are Harvard, Hopkins. Wharton does not often send to med school, so it is not listed, but a decent set choose law and it is the same as Penn A&S.