<p>barrons...You have got to be kidding.
From your post, it would seem like every Princeton graduate who doesn't go into Wall Street is off starving somewhere.</p>
<p>About 20% of the class and about 40% of those seeking employment were not employed upon graduation. I think some might find that a little surprising. I think lots of the numbers are interesting--pay by major varies--a lot. My first post only focused on financial services because that was THE TOPIC. sheesh.</p>
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dwincho, if math isnt a science, why can i get a BS in it?
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</p>
<p>Depends on which school you're talking about. At many schools, you can only get a Bachelor's of Arts in Math. I.e. Harvard, Berkeley, Princeton only give out BA or AB degrees in math, but not BS or SB degrees. Note, I'm not talking about things like Applied Math or Engineering Math, I'm just talking about the regular math major. </p>
<p>Or let me give you another weirder, wackier example. MIT only gives out the SB (the Bachelor's of Science) degree to undergrads. No matter what you major in, you will get the SB. Hence, you can get an SB in Literature. You can get an SB in Foreign Languages. Are any of these things sciences?</p>
<p>
[quote]
About 20% of the class and about 40% of those seeking employment were not employed upon graduation. I think some might find that a little surprising. I think lots of the numbers are interesting--pay by major varies--a lot. My first post only focused on financial services because that was THE TOPIC. sheesh.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yeah, but these numbers are not out of line with other top schools. You look at the employment reports of other top schools and you will see similar figures. </p>
<p>The issue for Princeton grads is not that they can't get a job. The issue is that the jobs that they have been offered, they can't get, because they are looking for something better.</p>
<p>"A business undergrad degree may get you a few more bucks off the bat, but to me it's entirely a waste of your mind and soul. If I were in a recruiting position, I would never hire a recent college grad with a business degree."</p>
<p>"it provides little if any opportunity for serious research, and lacks the depth of most liberal arts fields."</p>
<p>Some people actually find learning about hybrid derivative investments far more stimulating (and practical... and lucrative) than how the Di Stijl art movement would later engender the rise of Deconstructivism. </p>
<p>And excuse me? Little if any opportunity for serious research? Please. Tell that to Michael Milken whose insights into previously unresearched junk bonds made him a billionaire and whose practices became the cornerstone for debt financing in the 80's... or any person currently on the cutting edge of finance discovering creative new ways of financial structuring. Believe it or not, business, notably finance, has an extreme academic component -- one whose results are far more pertinent to the real world than, say, if Christopher Marlowe was really the author of Shakespeare's plays.</p>
<p>Get off your liberal arts high horse. Everything from the price you pay at the pump to the interest rate on your mortgage is affected by academicians and economists in the business realm. Perhaps if you weren't such an obtuse liberal-arts-studies-are-clearly-superior-to-business-studies elitist, you would know this.</p>
<p>If you enjoy another area more and believe that you can still achieve your goals after graduation with that particular major, then, by all means, don't major in business.</p>
<p>In my particular field, it is required that (by law) that everyone have a business education due to the nature of the job. Some employers do also prefer business degrees over liberal arts degrees. While most firms do train you in most of the things you need to know, that's not always the case and a person with an undergrad business degree may be better suited than someone with a liberal arts degree. There's a lot more to business that one should know than can be taught at a two week training, let alone four years of undergrad.</p>
<p>Many business programs are also much more challenging than the liberal arts counterparts at the same school (it was at mine). They also teach you a lot of the softer skills that you may not learn as well in a liberal arts program (public speaking, business writing, interviewing and technology). Most of all, I've yet to see a liberal arts program that emphasized the team component of business that most business schools do today. Finally, for the record, all of my friends in undergrad who were interested in business research had the opportunity to do so. </p>
<p>Choose your program based upon your own goals and situation. If you want to be an investment banker and are studying economics at Harvard, you obviously won't have a probelm, but that doesn't mean that everyone should dismiss an undergraduate business degree entirely. </p>
<p>"A business undergrad degree may get you a few more bucks off the bat, but to me it's entirely a waste of your mind and soul."</p>
<p>How very open-minded and tolerant of you.</p>