BS Engineering + MBA or BS Finance

<p>Hello.</p>

<p>I will be attending Iowa State next fall. I am kind of torn between choosing to major in finance or do a 5 year BS engineering and MBA program. If I did the 5 year program, my major would be industrial engineering. Inevitably, I will and want to work in a business/management type role at a company. </p>

<p>I do not really understand how industrial engineering would help me in a business career. I am pretty good at math and science, but I am not very interested in science at all. The only reason I think that Industrial engineering would help would be to develop some analytic skills.</p>

<p>Lastly, I will have to go to college for 5 years if I do the 5 year bs/mba program, and I could graduate in 6 or 7 semesters with the credits that I earned provided I major in finance. My parents kind of want me to try the IE deal and switch if I do not look it, but I don't like starting something and switching like that...</p>

<p>If you have any input that could been beneficial, it would be greatly appreciated. </p>

<p>thank you</p>

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<p>Your solution is obvious: major in finance as an undergrad and spend some time thinking about what else interests you. If you decide that you want to engineering, do it as a 2nd major.</p>

<p>^ I wouldnt take their advice. There’s a reason you never hear about people double majoring in egineering- its next to impossible. If you want to do engineering, pursue it as your undergrad major because you can always go back abd get your MBA but you cant go back and do engineering. It just doesnt work. My dads an engineer who hires a lot and if you want to be more distinct do engineering and then get your MBA. With that said, if you dont like engineering, dont do it. I’ll be double majoring in finance and statistics which is also a really good and unique combination that makes you extremely desirable</p>

<p>^ The OP said that he/she isn’t interested in science so I didn’t recommend studying engineering. Although industrial engineering doesn’t involve much science, the OP will probably have to take a lot of science courses as general engineering requirements. </p>

<p>.’. I recommended that the OP find something that interested him more than engineering. There’s nothing wrong with my advice.</p>

<p>Getting an MBA will NOT put you in position managing engineers who have more ENGINEERING experience than you. In engineering, you manage pretty much folks with your engineering experience and lower. Sooooooooo…</p>

<p>Do NOT think that you will work in engineering for 5 years (MBA or not) and then manage engineers with 20+ years experience…won’t happen.</p>

<p>I didnt mean there was anything wrong with your advice in pursuing a degree in finance, just the part about doing engineering as a second major; which is almost never done and pretty unrealistic.</p>

<p>^ I’m planning to do a 2nd major in CS (which is essentially an engineering field). Plenty of people at CMU do 2nd majors in CS, Engineering, or Operations Research.</p>

<p>If you’re talking about double majoring in engineering, no they don’t. Obtaining both an undergrad in business and engineering in 4 years is rarely rarely done. The two fields have completely different requirements and you’d need to take an obscene amount of classes to finish both. Not to mention it’d obviously be hard.</p>

<p>Off the top of my head, I can think of at least 15 people at CMU who’re double majoring in engineering or CS. There are over 100 people doing double majors in CS and even more who are double majoring in the other engineering fields combined (I could only find numbers on CS, but the other info is based on what I’ve read). You aren’t going to CMU so I don’t think you know more CMU students than I do. </p>

<p>Don’t make statements without doing research first.</p>

<p>EDIT: Also, I just want to clarify that I’m referring to people who’re studying (Any Major) + Engineering. I’m not talking specifically about Engineering + Business double majors, though CMU does have a handful of them.</p>

<p>I have a question. I am a freshman in NYU and I am majoring in Electrical Engineering/ Comp Sci, Physics or Mathematics, haven’t really decided yet. But I wanted to know if I would be able to become an Investment Banker without a degree in finance. A friend of mine is a middle eastern studies major and got an internship with Chase.</p>