<p>I am 95 percent sure that I will major in the field of business- either managment , marketing, entrepreneurship or related</p>
<p>I was accepted into UCLA, Babson, Northeastern, Smith and some more but these are my top 4. I have to make decision in about 2 weeks or so and I have no idea which one I am leading towards.</p>
<p>If I attend Smith, the only thing I am concerned about is how it would related to my major in business? I know that Smith is more of a liberal arts college and the closest thing to my field is economics. </p>
<p>Can anyone inform me about programs Smith has for students that would to become business majors ? If I am sure that I will major in business, would it be a better idea just to go to all an focused business school like Babson.</p>
<p>Thank you and this will help so much to my decision.</p>
<p>Hey, I just replied to your PM, but one more thing. I don’t think it’s unwise to go to a school that suits you well because it doesn’t offer your major, especially if that major is something like business. </p>
<p>You’ll probably end up going for an MBA, in which case it won’t matter what you’ve majored in as an undergrad. But what will matter is the kind of preparation you’ve had outside of the classroom, such as internships and networking. In that department I think Smith is second to none. You can always specialize in grad school, but you can’t wait to do the kind of networking you need to do to get ahead.</p>
<p>Personally, I think undergrad degrees in business aren’t very worthwhile. Major in something else then get an MBA if that’s the direction you still want to go.</p>
<p>It all depends on what kind of education you want. Economics is a academic, liberal arts subject while business is pre-professional. A liberal arts education focuses on critical thinking skills, breadth of knowledge, and, of course, depth in one area while a pre-professional education concentrates on skills that apply directly to employment. That doesn’t mean that you will get a job with one and not the other. In fact, schools such as Dartmouth and Princeton don’t offer undergraduate business, yet their alumni are some of the most influential in the business world.</p>
<p>I’m a great proponent of a liberal arts-style education because I believe that graduates have a more interesting knowledge base to draw from. Still, that kind of education isn’t right for everyone. Some people, even at 18, are passionate about business, and these are the ones that should be undergraduate business majors. But don’t major in business/go to the school that offers it if you’re merely trying to prepare yourself to get a job. I know two recent college graduates, one who majored in economics and the other who majored in business, neither of whom has found a job. You just can’t predict. For undergraduate, you want to be happy and challenged. You might also want to look at peer ratings for your undergraduate choices since you will probably want to eventually get an MBA. You’ll want to get into the best grad school possible, and your undergraduate institution can have a huge impact on admission – provided you do well.</p>
<p>MWFN, I pointed out elsewhere that many schools offering graduate MBA programs don’t even offer undergrad business degrees. You correctly identify the reason, which I hadn’t thought to, though I’d nibbled around the edges: many of the “better” universities and liberal arts colleges deliberately eschew the whole “pre-professional” part of the academic spectrum. As I’d noted, even the top law and medical schools aren’t thrilled with majors of “pre-law” and “pre-med” per se. </p>
<p>I think a lot of grad schools and ultimately employers are looking for well-rounded people who can bring perspectives from the broader world into the organization.</p>
<p>Don’t go too far with that. To be accredited these days, business schools are required to require that a minimum of half of a student’s courses be in the liberal arts. The aren’t what they were 25 years ago.</p>
<p>When I received my MBA from Columbia, there were a couple of Smithies in my class. Smith did a great job of getting their graduates into Investment banks and other high status organizations. When the NY Times profiled one of my former classmates, now the COO of Mass Mutual, she spoke warmly about the help she received from the Smith placement office. Nothing at all about Columbia! That was 25+ years ago, but if anything, the placement at schools like Smith has gotten even more sophisticated.</p>
<p>Mini: point taken. I have to sometimes remind myself that neither my hair nor my eyesight are what they were 25 years ago either. However, the matter of graduate schools being underwhelmed with undergrad business degrees is still pretty current as near as I can tell. Bias against “pre-professional” undergrad aside, I seem to recall a survey that showed that undergrad business students were academically less well prepared than many other majors. Shrug. There are exceptions to just about every rule, which makes hard and fast judgments tricky.</p>
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<p>AnotherNJM: funny, but Columbia had been my D’s #1 on paper junior year of high school. After visiting, she didn’t even apply. She found it very impersonal, with the students being cogs that had to fit in the system. Smith was the opposite extreme; that trip, what I called the Boston-to-NYC college trip death march, was a pivotal part of the process that led my D to Smith.</p>