Anonymous
08/06/2025 09:59
Subject: A couple questions about studying business as an undergraduate
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:If you attend a top undergraduate business program, there should be no need for an MBA.
The MBA is to advance your career if it isn't going well and needs help, or if you have never studied business before.
An MBA is not to advance your career if it not going well. It is required for any c-Suite CFO type job and most other C-Suite jobs. Also needed to advance at most investment banks and to serior level at Big accounting firms.
+1. I see this thread is filled with the usual level of crappy DCUM advice.
No, going to a top undergrad business program doesn’t get you out of getting an MBA by default. Plenty of jobs and industries will still list having an MBA as required or preferred, or it will give the MBA holder a leg up or access to certain roles. Now, the MBA itself seems to be in a bit of a decline, and undoubtedly in some cases the MBA requirement was just gate keeping and people realized it. But it’s not just a degree for people whose careers are stalled nor does going to a good school give you a Get Out of MBA Free card.
No, undergrad business outside of the top 5 is not a waste. It is a path for many kids to great jobs and a shortcut for many companies in their recruiting efforts, even if there are plenty of fair critiques about the professionalization of higher ed and the quality of the education.
No, P&Q is not some gold standard of ranking. We’ve discussed at length about their problems with methodology and response rates. Use it but with the same caveats and skepticism you would use for any ranking.
+1 Towson is ranked but not UMD. No one in their right mind would say Towson b school is better than UMD's.
UMD is not ranked there because they don't respond.
Anonymous
08/06/2025 09:54
Subject: A couple questions about studying business as an undergraduate
Anonymous wrote:DS graduated from a t75 with a business degree. He has been out for 3 years and makes $120k per year working at a boutique CRE firm.
+1 there's a reason why Business undergrad degrees are so popular. You don't have to go to a T20 b school to find a good paying job.
-signed a BBA undergrad at a B rated U who ended making six figures 25 years ago.
Anonymous
08/06/2025 09:40
Subject: Re:A couple questions about studying business as an undergraduate
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Any suggestions of good mid-size schools with strong business programs? Kid seems to be drawn to schools like Wake Forest and Georgetown.
Emory and WashU are top 10 from poets and quants. CMU is also a top ranked business program.
Georgetown is very strong.
SMU, Denver, Boston College, Villanova.
Anonymous
08/06/2025 08:54
Subject: A couple questions about studying business as an undergraduate
Best schools for business are those that combine business with top engineering.
Anonymous
08/06/2025 08:47
Subject: A couple questions about studying business as an undergraduate
Anonymous wrote:Undergrad Business is a waste unless your kid goes to one of the Big 5, UPenn, MIT, Berkeley, Cornell, NYU. Some add Michigan and UVA but they are not seen as quite the same level as the top 5.
Better to go to Northwestern or JHU or another T15 for Econ than UVA for undergrad business.
Lol, you minted a term T5 for undergrad Business?
Even so, not including McDonough just show your ignorance.
Anonymous
08/06/2025 08:14
Subject: Re:A couple questions about studying business as an undergraduate
Anonymous wrote:Any suggestions of good mid-size schools with strong business programs? Kid seems to be drawn to schools like Wake Forest and Georgetown.
Emory and WashU are top 10 from poets and quants. CMU is also a top ranked business program.
Georgetown is very strong.
Anonymous
08/06/2025 08:11
Subject: A couple questions about studying business as an undergraduate
Business degree is great. After graduation, Get an entry level job in sales or finance and work your way up. It’s all about performance and networking (which is really about being trustworthy). Mbas can be handy later on in your career when you’re up directors level jobs, but it’s really secondary to performance.
Anonymous
08/06/2025 08:10
Subject: A couple questions about studying business as an undergraduate
Anonymous wrote:Make sure the curriculum is sufficiently mathematical. This will expose them to the “real” way of doing academic business and filter out underperforming classmates.
I teach college. The highest performers I meet in the business school are the accountants or the ones doing international, along with the honors econ kids.
Anonymous
08/06/2025 08:10
Subject: Re:A couple questions about studying business as an undergraduate
Any suggestions of good mid-size schools with strong business programs? Kid seems to be drawn to schools like Wake Forest and Georgetown.
Anonymous
08/06/2025 08:06
Subject: A couple questions about studying business as an undergraduate
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Undergrad Business is a waste unless your kid goes to one of the Big 5, UPenn, MIT, Berkeley, Cornell, NYU. Some add Michigan and UVA but they are not seen as quite the same level as the top 5.
Better to go to Northwestern or JHU or another T15 for Econ than UVA for undergrad business.
This just isn’t true. OP, don’t listen to PP above. Look at both Poets and Quants and USNWR to get an idea of the top undergrad business schools.
Poets and Quants is good but they need to figure out a process to rank all the schools…even the ones that don’t return enough survey data.
They leave out schools like UCB, UT and others because of this.
Anonymous
08/06/2025 08:03
Subject: A couple questions about studying business as an undergraduate
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:If you attend a top undergraduate business program, there should be no need for an MBA.
The MBA is to advance your career if it isn't going well and needs help, or if you have never studied business before.
An MBA is not to advance your career if it not going well. It is required for any c-Suite CFO type job and most other C-Suite jobs. Also needed to advance at most investment banks and to serior level at Big accounting firms.
No it’s not. It never has been and it’s even less required nowadays.
Most investment banks promote like 25% of their analysts to associates (understanding there is a bunch of churn with analysts that can’t handle or hate the lifestyle) and once you are at that level your career progression has zero to do with having an MBA or not…and the big issue right now is that PE firms are giving these kids associate offers to start in 2 years, even before they start their analyst jobs which is irking the investment banks for stealing their pipeline.
Also, I believe the stat is that 60% of all CEOs have nothing more than a BA, BBA or BS (with 8% having no college degree at all…of course those are primarily founder CEOs).
Anonymous
08/06/2025 07:51
Subject: A couple questions about studying business as an undergraduate
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:If you attend a top undergraduate business program, there should be no need for an MBA.
The MBA is to advance your career if it isn't going well and needs help, or if you have never studied business before.
An MBA is not to advance your career if it not going well. It is required for any c-Suite CFO type job and most other C-Suite jobs. Also needed to advance at most investment banks and to serior level at Big accounting firms.
+1. I see this thread is filled with the usual level of crappy DCUM advice.
No, going to a top undergrad business program doesn’t get you out of getting an MBA by default. Plenty of jobs and industries will still list having an MBA as required or preferred, or it will give the MBA holder a leg up or access to certain roles. Now, the MBA itself seems to be in a bit of a decline, and undoubtedly in some cases the MBA requirement was just gate keeping and people realized it. But it’s not just a degree for people whose careers are stalled nor does going to a good school give you a Get Out of MBA Free card.
No, undergrad business outside of the top 5 is not a waste. It is a path for many kids to great jobs and a shortcut for many companies in their recruiting efforts, even if there are plenty of fair critiques about the professionalization of higher ed and the quality of the education.
No, P&Q is not some gold standard of ranking. We’ve discussed at length about their problems with methodology and response rates. Use it but with the same caveats and skepticism you would use for any ranking.
Anonymous
08/06/2025 07:20
Subject: A couple questions about studying business as an undergraduate
Anonymous wrote:Undergrad Business is a waste unless your kid goes to one of the Big 5, UPenn, MIT, Berkeley, Cornell, NYU. Some add Michigan and UVA but they are not seen as quite the same level as the top 5.
Better to go to Northwestern or JHU or another T15 for Econ than UVA for undergrad business.
Yes, nobody who majors in business at a non top 5 ever gets a decent job. All those stories you hear about people doing well with business degrees from Texas, Boston College, Villanova, North Carolina, SMU, Indiana, Penn State, Pitt, Baruch, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Florida, Fordham, Georgetown, Ohio State, BYU, Notre Dame, Denver, Babson, Illinois, DePaul, & Texas A&M are pure fantasy.
Anonymous
08/06/2025 07:02
Subject: A couple questions about studying business as an undergraduate
Anonymous wrote:Business + data science or analytics is the way to go. Poets and quants is the definitive list. An undergrad degree at the to0 schools opens doors and no, and ma isn’t needed until upper levels and the company pays for it.
What about business + computer science major?
Anonymous
08/06/2025 06:54
Subject: A couple questions about studying business as an undergraduate
Wharton’s undergrad degree is a BS in Econ.