Business at UChicago

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

Hi,

I got accepted to UChi EA just yesterday. I’m looking to go into business (as of right now, I’m thinking management consulting) and I know that Chicago doesn’t have a Business major, so I would major in Economics. Anybody at Chicago right now doing something similar, could you possibly answer the following questions:

  1. Do you feel like it’s all way too theoretical? Also, does the Core get in the way of learning about business? I’d prefer if I had enough business classes in college that I don’t (necessarily) need an MBA.

  2. How does taking classes at Booth (the business school) work exactly? I know you can’t take it first year, but like what kinds of classes can you take/how many/etc. I was looking at schools like Wharton and Georgetown MSB, where you take business courses all throughout.

  3. What are the job opportunities like? Any on campus recruiting? Obviously Chicago is a top school and has its fair share of connections, but do management consulting/finance firms recruit on campus?

  4. Any tips? I’ve applied RD to (among others) Georgetown, WashU, USC, etc. which all have undergrad. business schools. Could I still get a business experience at Chicago like this?

Thank you so much in advance!

2

If you have to ask “do you feel like it’s all way too theoretical?” then U of C is probably not the best fit for you. Why on earth did you even apply? On campus recruiting is pretty strong, though. It’s a target definitely for IB and I’m sure for consulting as well.

No, of course not.

3

@NavalTradition Calm down for a minute, jeez. I applied because I do enjoy theoretical economics a lot, and I think it’s definitely something I can see myself doing for the next four years. That being said, I think that some applied skills can come in handy in the real world. I did a lot of research before applying, and I applied because I appreciate that many of the students at U of C are thinkers. Perhaps my question was confusingly worded, but I think what I was asking is that, for business at least, do you get to take more applied economics classes at some point in your undergraduate career?

Thank you for your information anyway.

4

Well, you can apparently take two Booth classes at a time, provided you can fit them around your major and the core. Economics lets you use Booth classes as a major elective (of which you have to take four) but only under some very specifc circumstances:

In other words, it better be pretty quanty and theoretical.

Then there’s your electives. How many of them would you be willing to give up?

I’d put together an Excel spreadsheet and map out your core and econ classes. First row, first semester, second row, second semester, etc. See how much room you would actually have. My guess is it would be less than two Booth courses per quarter per year after your freshman year. But the quarter system makes my head hurt, so I’m just guesssing. :slight_smile: Best of luck.

BTW: Congratulations!

5

Look at the UCIB program at Chicago.

6

@NavalTradition Thank you so much! That was very helpful. I definitely have to do more research into fitting Booth classes into my schedule (should I choose to go to U of C).

7

U of C kids get recruited to IB, consulting, and buy-side funds all the time. You don’t have to be in UCIB to be recruited - heck, you don’t even need to major in economics. Plenty of public policy, math, history kids I know went to BB and MBB after graduation.

8

Right. It’s a complete high-school misconception that economics is the only major that prepares you for business, or that business consists primarily of economics. Any discipline that involves analysis and communication can be preparation for business. One of my children’s friends was hired by one of the big three management consulting firms after majoring in history with a minor in painting. A great deal of business school curriculum comes out of sociology, anthropology and psychology, not economics, which is why the Chicago Economics Department won’t let you take just any Booth course as an economics elective. And even if you are interested in the areas of business that are closely related to economics – finance, pricing strategy – math, especially what gets called applied math, is really the critical tool.

9

Don’t be an econ major because you like business, be an econ major because you like differential equations.

10

Hello again @ComputerAge UChicago is a great school for business. It is pretty theoretical, but honestly most graduate schools care more about the ability to know how to do the work rather than what you major in. I hope you consider it deeply, and I hope to see you next year at UChicago.

11

@JHS @HydeSnark @jarrett211 Thank you all for your help. I do enjoy Calculus and Economics (taking them both right now), so I think that majoring in Econ at UChicago would we a good fit for me. That being said, I’ll definitely look into other majors at UChi, as well as programs that might suit me better.

12

Hey, I’m not saying you shouldn’t be an econ major. If you like math and econ, it’s definitely a good choice. Just don’t go into it as a substitution for a business major - any major can be a business major. Business here is like pre-med, it’s something you focus on on top of your classes. Sure, you can major in something more related (i.e. bio:pre-med::econ:business) but you shouldn’t make the mistake of confusing the major with the professional aspirations.

13

  1. No, so far, the theory is awesome, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

  2. With Dougan Scholars, you can take up to 6 Booth classes. Financial Accounting, Corporate Finance, and Investments classes are popular. Most Booth classes are really easy and undergrads do well in them. I personally think the opportunity to research at Booth is a much greater benefit than the ability to take classes there.

  3. Getting into banking/consulting out of UChicago is so easy that I almost lost faith in the system. If you want one of these jobs, there is a pretty standard path to follow- I think there is a FYUC thread that summarizes it pretty well, but basically keep the GPA up and do one of the business clubs (e.g. Eckhart Consulting, The Blue Chips, etc.) and you should have no problem.

  4. With the theoretical rigor of a UChicago education, it would probably take you a week to learn all of the “business” you need to ace your technical banking or consulting interviews. I would highly recommend the math, physics, and computer science programs at UChicago regardless of what you want to do after graduation- they will give you a fantastic education. I would not recommend the business schools at the other universities, or getting an undergrad business degree at all for that matter- unless you go to a very tippy top school, it just isn’t worth getting a business education these days. As Elon Musk puts it, his Wharton degree taught him all the wrong things- it was his physics major that really taught him how to think.

Feel free to PM if you have any specific questions. Good luck!

14

Just throwing this out here since no one has mentioned it yet, but you can take Booth classes without them counting as Econ major electives. They’ll just be normal elective courses, on par with your interesting English or Philosophy class, except that you can list them on your resume when applying for jobs. Hundreds of pre-business undergrads take Financial Accounting each year, and that definitely does not require ECON 201. :stuck_out_tongue:

The procedure for getting into a Booth class is a little different from getting into a regular class, but plenty of people do it. I can vouch that undergrads can take a maximum of 6 courses at Booth, but I don’t think you need to be in Dougan Scholars to do so (I have several friends taking Booth classes who aren’t in the program).

15

@ramboacid @puzzled123 Thank you so much!

16

The Dougan program sounds cool, but there doesn’t seem to be much talk about it, at least online. Do any of you know students involved? If so, do they think it’s worth it? How demanding is it compared to courses one might otherwise take in the college?

17

Note: I’m a 3rd year in the college in dougan scholars, more on the quant fin./algo trading track. Feel free to PM me if you like, can talk in depth.

Ok, so management consulting doesn’t require significant hard ‘skills.’ The interview process involves market sizing case questions, basic accounting, general business knowledge. You don’t need to actually be a business major to have a good chance of getting a job.

You can take as many booth classes as you want, up to 6 for general elective credit. Whatever you end up majoring in, you’ll have room in your schedule to take the classes you want. Dougan Scholarship just means you have priority bidding over other college students and a bit of a mentorship add-on, but it’s not necessary if you just want to take the classes you want and learn.

Not going to wax too much about quality of Booth classes, but I’ve genuinely enjoyed them and they’ve been a big help for me career-wise. Ex: in fin. statement analysis, end of quarter project was writing a research report on a company, and we presented to a hedge fund which happened to have a position in one of the two companies we could choose to present on and had an internship slot they wanted to fill from within the class.

For business/consulting, Wharton is objectively better in every category outside of probably quant finance. Given any other choice I’d personally take UChicago.

UChicago has a pretty crazy amount of on-campus recruiting for business/consulting. IBanking, Sales & Trading, and various types of consulting roles are recruited for extremely heavily, and since Chicago’s the location of many of the top trading firms it’s quite good for prop trading as well.

My 2 cents is that anything you need to learn for business you can learn outside of class. UChicago has an active business-interested community, and the RSO’s are legit. Blue Chips for value investing, Eckhart Consulting for consulting are the two extremely competitive ones, and there’s a laundry list of 2nd-tier (in terms of difficulty of exclusivity, not a big difference in quality) other groups which perform similar roles.

At this point UChicago’s getting a very strong alumni network, and we have a reputation/track record of usually getting full-time return offers/having firms expand number of slots allotted to us for internships once they start recruiting (I know this more explicitly about business/finance roles rather consulting which isn’t my focus).