<p>I got into a heated argument with one of my friends concerning majors in the business field. i know i posted a similar topic a while ago, but i cant seem to find it.... anyways my argument is that unless youre some sort of engineer or you plan on being a doctor, youre undergrad major is not all that important right??!!! i know it does carry some weight when youre trying to get an interview and stuff... ive even talked with countless business professionals that are already in their career and they've all seemed to tell me that "your major is not important, just get your receipt and get out."</p>
<p>I was an econ major in college and I think its probably the best for people who might not know exactly want they want to do once they graduate. Its a very flexible degree and its applies to a ton of fields...if not one directly. </p>
<p>I don't know, its boring but interesting at the same time. Very unique major...if nothing else. </p>
<p>In the business field...Fiance and Accounting majors seem to make the most money and are always in demand. But, I think econ will probably be a more enjoyable major.</p>
<p>Will you have better job opportunities in the business field if you major in something related like business economics? Yes. </p>
<p>Do you necessarily have to major in business economics to enter or even be successful in the business field? No.</p>
<p>ill be attending ucla this fall under sociology. i dont know if im going to pursue a career with it or not. im kind of lost because i see a lot of my friends actually working towards their career and i feel like im still in high school or something. (by the way im a transfer student) id like to be in the business field eventually, but i just feel like i should've applied under econ at least. now i think its too late because they dont allow transfer students to swith to bizecon or econ, unless you've been admitted to either one. What other majors do you guys think is the most applicable to the business field besides econ or bizecon that a transfer student, like myself, would be able to switch to?</p>
<p>I'm not sure...statistics??? I know my friend's dad majored in statistics in college then got an MBA. He's currently making a lot of money working in banks.</p>
<p>Mathematics B.S., or one of it's variations. Since this is a UCLA forum, perhaps, Applied Mathematics B.S. or Mathematics/Economics B.S.</p>
<p>It really doesn't matter what the major is. Sure, some companies recruit out of the business econ program, but i know people who majored in history and are very successful business men</p>
<p>universities have 2 kinds of majors. Some are vocational, examples being accounting, journalism, nursing, engineering, education, etc. The UC schools tend to steer away from these majors and have discontinued some majors like journalism.</p>
<p>The other kind are in the liberal arts. This is a broad umbrella including everything from anthro thru zoology. While you study a certain area of knowledge in depth, it is not designed to specifically prepare you for a career.</p>
<p>There are a few factors that affect your ability to get a job in business when you finish college. GPA matters, since some companies have gpa cutoffs for whom they will consider. Getting to know some profs helps so you can get personalized recs (eg. you should be visiting office hours). But the most important factor to increase your chances of landing a good job are internships.</p>
<p>First off, its better to take a peek at what its like in a law firm/accounting/marketing/etc. rather than start your career and find out you don't like it. Internships help open a student's eyes to all the possibities that are out there in a way that grabbing a handful of brochures from the career center can never do. </p>
<p>From an employer's point of view internships jump out from your resume. Why? Imagine you are an employer interviewing 2 college grads for a marketing position. Same liberal arts major, same grades. One tells you he thinks he would like working in marketing and assures you he is a hard worker. But he seems vague when asked what specifically he would like to do and doesn't have a strong understanding of what the job is like. </p>
<p>The other also tells you she wants to work in marketing, but continues on to relate her experiences during her internship actually working in a marketing department and gives concrete examples of tasks marketers perform and why she finds them interesting. Like the other guy she assures you that she is a hard worker, but in addition mentions that you can call her boss from her internship for a recommendation. Who is the stronger candidate?</p>
<p>And employers prefer to hire their former interns and coop students because they know them better. An intern has spend weeks if not months at the job. Contrast this with an interviewee who they've met for an hour at the on-campus interview and a few hours on the site visit, and who they've never seen actually at work. The intern is a safer bet, which is why it so often leads to a job offer after graduation.</p>
<p>this might be a stupid question. but, what would a person have to do to get into a good school for their mba?</p>
<p>"what would a person have to do to get into a good school for their mba?"</p>
<p>get some really good work experience. sure, a good major or a solid college performance (among other things such as good interview) can land you a good starting job. but after that, it's all you. at this point, it's not about what job you have, but rather what you've done since you've gotten that job. your recs from your employer/manager will confirm that. a good GMAT score and good undergrad GPA helps too.</p>
<p>do you guys think i should just go to state school and drop la? like slo or sdsu, so that i could major in business.</p>
<p>lol no way UCLA will be a great college experience. MBA doesnt require u to major in bizecon or whatever... just like med school. many engineers get an MBA after working for a couple of years. and like kfc4u said, experience is probably more important.</p>
<p>Well, to get into the Anderson program @ UCLA, you generally need:
3.6 GPA
700 GMAT
Five years of work experience</p>
<p><a href="http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/documents/areas/prg/mba/UCLAAnderson_Profile_2006.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/documents/areas/prg/mba/UCLAAnderson_Profile_2006.pdf</a>
As you can see, the undergrads who get in span the gamut of majors.</p>
<p>i hear over and over again that gmat scores are becoming less important at top business schools and work experience being the more important factor. is this true?</p>
<p>haha even if you want to be a doctor, major doesn't matter in the least</p>
<p>Hmmm... if majors don't matter in the least... then, what's with all those designated "pre-med" majors? And I doubt I would be considered by a graduate school for Computer Science/Computer Engineering if I was a humanities major, and vice versa.</p>
<p>"pre-med majors" = load of crap</p>
<p>and yeah, I am only speaking for pre-med here - engineering and such are quite different.</p>
<p>Hey luckyjun127, I'm kind of in the same boat as you. I don't have a definite career plan, but I am interested in the business field. I thought for a long time about being an econ major, but after taking both micro & macro at my community college I decided there was no way. I decided to get a degree in communication studies (the interpersonal branch) because in my opinion being a good communicator is extremely important in today's world, regardless of your career choice. It's also a great major to go to many grad schools.
BTW, I also thought about going for either a sociology or psychology major because they're both very versatile.</p>
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i hear over and over again that gmat scores are becoming less important at top business schools and work experience being the more important factor. is this true?
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<p>GMAT scores are still important in that they are used more like a cutoff, just like how SATs are used for college admissions for the most part. work experience is becoming more important. even top business schools like harvard didn't require work experience about 30 (?) or so years ago, but now, every top business school requires work experience. even UCI (a rather new business school; ranked around #50?) requires a minimum of 2 years work experience. </p>
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Hmmm... if majors don't matter in the least... then, what's with all those designated "pre-med" majors?
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<p>what's a pre-med major? according to my education professor, the second most popular "pre-med major" is ENGLISH (biochemistry is first). that's because there's only a lower-div core required for med school, but no major requirement. someone could major in something like english and at the same time take the core requirements as electives. of course, if youre taking the core requirements anyway, might as well make use of those classes and apply them into a major that has those classes as requirements. thus, there are many common but unofficial "pre-med majors," but there's no such thing as a real pre-med major. </p>
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And I doubt I would be considered by a graduate school for Computer Science/Computer Engineering if I was a humanities major
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<p>engineering and computer science are different because they are much more pre-professional. if you aren't in the college of letters and sciences, then your major DOES matter!</p>