<p>Many people say you dont need to major in business because at schools like Harvard they have economics majors who get great jobs. </p>
<p>Isnt that somewhat misleading? At most schools that offer both, economics and undergraduate business majors, the undergrad b-school tends to have its own school (Like Wharton at UPenn, Stern at NYU, Haas at UCB, Mccombs at UT, etc) and these schools tend to have higher admission standards than the liberal arts school. Wouldn't a business major be looked at more favorably in this case? Considering its harder to get into the business school than liberal arts school?</p>
<p>If 2 applicants to a job both came from NYU for instance, one econ, one business, and had the same GPA -- wouldnt the Stern grad be at an advantage? Since his school IS harder to get into and more prestigious?</p>
<p>I agree that its great to major in economics when your school doesnt offer business, but at the schools I mentioned above I think you might be better off with business.</p>
<p>If a school has both business and liberal arts, like the schools you mentioned, it's probably better to go into the business program if you make it. But many great schools like the top LAC's and the ivy league (other than Wharton and Cornell, if you count the AEM program) don't have business. That means these students won't be studying things like finance, accounting, marketing, etc. That makes economics the best alternative (but not the only alternative since companies hire from many academic backgrounds). </p>
<p>It wouldn't be fair to not hire any of these grads because they're obviously smart people who got into highly competitive schools. They might have skills the business majors don't have. Maybe someone was a history major at Amherst and now has a lot of research, analytical, speaking, and reading skills. Just because someone has business background doesn't mean he's a better fit for the workplace. Is a Harvard grad with no business background really worse than a Stern guy with business knowledge? Do you think he won't do as well at an investment bank just because he doesn't know some finance, which he will easily learn on-the-job? I say they have similar chances of good work performance, regardless of background.</p>
<p>If a school has both a liberal arts department and business, you might want to pick the business school since that's where a lot of the recruiting is done. So you're right about how within the same school, the business program can be advantageous, especially in your examples, where the business programs are harder to get into than the regular liberal arts programs. But you might have to pick between different schools, like Wharton or Harvard and Stern or Northwestern.Then you should compare school prestige. If you have to decide between a prestigious business school and a prestigious ivy/LAC, you have equal chances of getting hired and should pick the program you are more interested in. But if you had to pick between a prestigious ivy/LAC and the "average" business school just because it teaches practical business, go for the prestigious liberal arts program. That's just my opinion on liberal arts program (like econ) vs. business program.</p>