Anonymous wrote:How crucial is it to go to a solid undergrad business school for a kid who wants to work in marketing? Due to a variety of factors, DS probably won't be going to a school much better than say, JMU.

1. Narrow a list of schools that your child can get into and wants to go to.

2. Check out linkedin to find alums of said schools that work in Marketing roles that your child wants to. Does DC want to work at an agency like Ogilvy, WPP, omnicom, publicis? or a market research/strategy place like glover park group, penn schoen berland? Or a large market data place like Nielsen, IRI, GfK? Or Marketing in industry for a company like P&G, nestle, fashion brand, car brand, nike, etc? Or ad sales/placement in technololgy: FB, GOOG, MSFT, Twitter, etc.

3. Once your child finds people on linkedin that are alums from interested schools, email them (pretty easy to figure out corp email addresses), and have your child ask them for advice. You would be surprised how helpful pepole are - especially those higher up. It never hurts to email and ask.

4. Go to school which you can get into that seems to have the best success rate at placing grads in the field or group of companies. I would also suggest your child major or minor in something quantitative along with marketing/business because that's what'll help separate them from the rest of the hordes of applicants - especially if you end up going to a school that doesn't have super strong linkages to to marketing jobs like Northwestern or Wharton.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How crucial is it to go to a solid undergrad business school for a kid who wants to work in marketing? Due to a variety of factors, DS probably won't be going to a school much better than say, JMU.

There are many who doubt the value of undergraduate business degrees - including elite schools that do not offer business to undergrads and some corporations that prefer liberal arts majors.

Accounting and finance are two specialties that are well regarded. For marketing, it would be helpful to have a second language and understanding of international affairs. Something to stand out.

I have a degree in quantitative economics and had lots of recruiting interest from marketing arms of cpg firms, marketing focused consulting firms, and ad agencies.

Marketing is highly quantitative driven. I also have a ma degree in IR (my passion and interest). Marketers aren't looking for IR grads. They ideally want people who understand marketing but also have the quant skills of a bond trader.

I know a few people who work at Google and FB ad analytics and ad sales divisions and most of them have hard skills in statistical analysis.

Check out University of South Carolina. Miami U is also a good suggestion.

Anonymous wrote:How crucial is it to go to a solid undergrad business school for a kid who wants to work in marketing? Due to a variety of factors, DS probably won't be going to a school much better than say, JMU.

There are many who doubt the value of undergraduate business degrees - including elite schools that do not offer business to undergrads and some corporations that prefer liberal arts majors.

Accounting and finance are two specialties that are well regarded. For marketing, it would be helpful to have a second language and understanding of international affairs. Something to stand out.

Anonymous wrote:How crucial is it to go to a solid undergrad business school for a kid who wants to work in marketing? Due to a variety of factors, DS probably won't be going to a school much better than say, JMU.

Miami University.

How crucial is it to go to a solid undergrad business school for a kid who wants to work in marketing? Due to a variety of factors, DS probably won't be going to a school much better than say, JMU.