<p>Would a BBA degree with three separate concentrations give the student an advantage in the job market? I know a technical degree like math/engineering is usually the safest in terms of salary and job availability currently but I was thinking of Triple Majoring in Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Risk Management. The reason is then I would have to take six less breadth courses and 2 of the classes in RMI and Entrepreneurship overlap with two finance classes. I would have to take 15 credits sophomore year, but then only 12 credits junior/senior year to graduate. In terms of rigor do you think it would be feasible to still earn a high GPA and what type of career advantages do you see (if any)?</p>
<p>Ahh…This is not as hard as it sounds because RMI is a “major” that only requires ~4 courses. </p>
<p>However:
It should only eliminate 2 breadth requirements–the 2 additional courses that single majors have to take in the business school will be covered by your majors, but that’s it.</p>
<p>2) Triple majoring is not fun unless you love what you’re learning. </p>
<p>3) If you are thinking of taking 12-15 credits per semester, then you are forcing yourself to only take business school courses. Again, you better love it and you should think if you’ll regret not taking more humanities, sciences, whatever. </p>
<p>4) I’m not going to directly comment on usefulness of major, but really finance is the only serious major in this list. No one would major solely in entrepreneurship (is this a major now? It’s new and I’m not up to date) or RMI–they’re always second majors…And there’s a reason for that.</p>
<p>GPA is not usually a concern for someone who can get admitted to b-school…But for what it’s worth there’s some grade deflation at our college, so triple majoring in it won’t help your GPA.</p>
<p>Oops. I meant six credits of breadth courses (so yes 2 classes each). And yes Finance is obviously the main major but my reasoning is that if I can pick up two other majors fairly easy, why not? I mean it’s not hurting me is it? And I’m saying as an option I would only have to take 12 credits my junior/senior year (I got the 4-year plan calculated out with my counselor), I’m sure I would end up taking other classes that interest me because I have the room.</p>
<p>^Yep, I understand. This is a decision you’ll have to make yourself. IMO, the question isn’t why not triple major–it’s why? It’s not a big boost (if any) to a resume, and it’ll severely limit the breadth of your education. You’ll be taking 1-2 classes (at most) outside the business school requirements per semester for the next 3 years.</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that there’s a limit to how many credits you can take in the business school–I think it’s 52. So, if you triple major, you won’t be able to take many elective courses in accounting or other topics because you’ll quickly max out.</p>
<p>Let’s not kid ourselves, the business school has HUGE overlap in classes. Triple majoring in the college is a very one dimensional education.</p>
<p>The 52-52 credit rule that your talking about actually means that I need at minimum of 52 non-business/econ credits and a minimum of 52 business/econ credits to graduate. I understand what your saying it really isn’t that much of a boost. But, my main concern is that it isn’t any harm either right? I understand that it’s one dimensional but having another major in the college of Letters of Sciences isn’t as feasible in my situation as it would still be a lot more credits. </p>
<p>I look at the situation as this: Say store is having a promotional sale. Buy a pair of jeans and you get one free. No, you can’t get half off, and no if you can’t substitute the free pair of jeans for another piece of clothing. So you may as well take the other pair of jeans, it does no harm, and maybe not that good either because you already have 10 pairs of jeans. But it’s still something that is not hurting you. </p>
<p>I don’t think so. Your life isn’t your resume. Even though you’re given a chance to <em>slightly</em> boost your resume without extra college expenses, you’re also hogging up all your electives with required courses. You aren’t learning what you want to learn–you’re just following a prescribed schedule.</p>
<p>So, maybe your analogy holds if either a) you only care about your resume in life or b) the majors EXACTLY coincide with what you would have taken as electives. Otherwise, the real cost to triple majoring is educational freedom, not money.</p>
<p>Will completing your entrepreneurship major and adding a little line to your resume be more satisfying than taking whichever courses you want?</p>
<p>If you only need 12 credits per semester for 2 years you might as well take an extra class outside business as you could take it for fun at no cost. probably could take each pass/fail too. But I think a triple looks more unfocused than positive. Pick two and take an extra class or two in each rather than the minimum. Employers not impressed by the shotgun approach.</p>
<p>I would still have room to take electives, but you can’t really show anything for your elective classes without having them contribute to a major/certificate. I am fairly interested in the entrepreneurship major and not only will it be a line on my resume but the coursework doesn’t seem like the toughest, so it will be a boost to the GPA as well. I’m not disagreeing with you, taking classes that you enjoy is great, but in reality GPA kind of matters… a lot. If the elective courses that I wish to take help my GPA I’ll be more than happy to take them, but if they will hurt it, it doesn’t make much sense.</p>
<p>^True, but keep in mind that even if GPA matters most to you, then you can still take the “easiest” entrepreneurship courses and other easy A courses outside of that major (or just interesting classes that you will be motivated to study for). Choosing electives gives you all the options of a entrepreneurship major plus more…So it can’t really hurt your GPA.</p>
<p>Again, I think it ultimately boils down to having your electives recognized with an extra major on your transcript…And the cost of that is limited course selection, GPA risk, and lack of breadth even within each of your chosen majors. As Barrons said it might not look good to employers, too.</p>
<p>But yeah, if you’re going to take those classes anyways, you may as well get recognized for them.</p>
<p>You go to college for an education as well as to get job skills. You can always “read the book” to acquire the extra business knowledge as years go by. But- when will you ever find time and classes you can take to broaden your knowledge outside of your job related skills? College is the ideal time to learn a bit about many other fields- and UW has a huge variety to choose from. Employers/grad schools won’t care about a less than A grade in something totally unrelated to your major but you will expand your horizons. You are much more than the person defined by your major and employment. Make use of the opportunities available to you at this stage in your life. So much more than at HS, and at a much different level.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input guys. I still have a while to decide but I think I have a good idea now. I think I will take classes that I enjoy because I do have the extra room. Barrons, could you expand more on how a triple major could be viewed as a disadvantage? If there were two candidates, one with a Finance, Entrepreneurship, Risk Management triple major, versus one with just Finance and Risk Management, with similar grades/extra-curriculars/internships/interviews etc, how is the person put at a disadvantage for merely having another major? I just don’t understand the concept of how it’s a negative attribute to have 3 BBA concentrations rather than two if you can keep the grades up and you do have interest for them.</p>
<p>Well, most jobs are fairly narrow so financial jobs want finance majors, insurance and risk jobs want insurance/risk majors, real estate investments prefer RE etc. Having a bunch of unrelated stuff just looks unfocused and unusual and not in a good way. I’m not even sure what they could cover in Ent.ship but sounds like one class will give you the main points and nobosy hires anyone for jobs in that. Finance is always good and I’d take more of that to cover both investing and fin mgt areas as they are different but go well together. Risk is less known but I know UW is very good in that area too. Just not sure what they cover. Anyway pick two and maybe take a class in the other. Just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>Not in your area but here is an example of why it is bad to “over major”. I had an MD dual degree program applicant with FOUR undergraduate degrees. All breadth, no depth. And, when asked how this helped them prepare, the answer was, “well I had a lot of AP credits so I could do it”. No real justification and not really a greater understanding of the field that comes from real experience. It was at the cost of more significant experiences. And they used it too much as a crutch. Rejected… People are not impressed with that, and I think that holds in many fields.</p>
<p>JerseyProf- I am glad to hear that. I also hope candidates with some B’s in unrelated fields were not penalized. UW-Madison offers comprehensive majors instead of major plus minor tracks. Along with the major’s credits it it fun to take courses you may not be as good at- say, an Art History, Symphony or unneeded Lit course or another course beyond the elementary level. These courses are for your own enrichment.</p>
<p>I also do graduate schools admissions, and my line to all students is “Keep your grades dry, above “C” level” (get it?). Of course, the higher the GPA the better but perfection is not the expectation. Broadening experiences and educational opportunities are important in all fields. It is great to take what you are interested in, rather than because you heard it is the easiest elective or at the best time of day. And, in the end you need to be able to tell a story about yourself that makes you stand out, whether for a job or a graduate degree. My advice is always if you have a lot of AP credits don’t try and graduate in 3 years (unless a family has a serious financial challenge) but use that as a opportunity to try new things and broaden yourself or go a little deeper into a subject. It is about the personal benefit, not the minors or degrees. As always, just one person’s opinion.</p>
<p>Alluding to JerseyProf’s post above, in my D’s double major within the College of Ag & Life Sciences, I cannot believe the number of outside opportunities for clubs, shadowing, volunteering, research that exist to underclassmen, any of which–if completed–are potential line items on a resume for internships and/or employment. Just incredible. Don’t know if this exists aplenty outside of CALS, but I imagine it’s university-wide.</p>
<p>This, however, is one helluva double-edged sword. D is convinced that to ‘stand out’, she needs a lot of this stuff. She may be right, but I’m trying to bang into her head that–hello–grades are pretty dang important too in the grand scheme of things. She’s well above ‘C’ level, and fortunately a few inches above where she needs to be admitted to the B.S. program in the fall. I get that O-Chem and Microbio are arduous classes & very unfun compared with all that’s out there on the horizon. Add her peripheral involvement in the Capitol doings, and it’s hard relating to her that a little more studying could turn a B into an A/B. Oh, well, life lessons.</p>
<p>My experience with my son has been that he is unlikely to get better grades if he doesn’t do his other activities, both in HS and in college- thankfully it was a weekend when the ambient noise was loud when we called him- he was at the Capitol…</p>