<p>Can anyone talk about the HOD program? What jobs do people get coming out of it? I can't tell if it is the equivalent of some of the business programs at other schools, or if it is kind of "soft." Do recruiter's like it?</p>
<p>i've heard that it is one of the highest paying majors after graduation. but i don't know if that's true or not.</p>
<p>My wife majored in HOD. It is a hard major to explain, but she loved every minute of class. My wife is a process analyst manager for a large medical equipment company. Some employers don't know what this major is, outside the people whom recruit on campus. But it has to be better now than it was 10 years ago. She interviewed in Atl. and she got alot of questions on what is HOD. They understand now and are looking for more HOD majors. This major prepares you for any managerial job, processing job, human resourses, and really about any upper level job. It has helped her advance quickly in her company by the skills taught in this major. Hope that answers your question.</p>
<p>You always hear that it is the highest paying major at Vanderbilt. I don't know how it's higher than the engineers. I think a lot of it has to do with self-selection. HOD is the probably the closest fit to an undergraduate business management degree at Vanderbilt. Many of the students do not go from undergrad to grad school, whereas a greater proportion of A&S students go to grad school. </p>
<p>Also, it's one of the easiest majors on campus. When the average GPA among all colleges hovers between 3.1 and 3.2, the easy A can make a difference. I don't know if recruiters realize how few students receive a C in the classes. It's very conducive to double majoring. My other major is Economics, which is a common combination. </p>
<p>Another thing that makes it attractive is the mandatory semester-long internship requirement. No HOD student (unless a special exception is made by the administration) will graduate without having undergone an internship. Having an internship under your belt probably makes you a more attractive job candidate. Students in other majors do not have great difficulty finding internships, but it is helpful and reassuring to have staff who will help you in the process.</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses. Does anyone see any advantage to the HOD program over other business programs at say, Emory or UVA? Either in terms of actual education or in terms of future employment?</p>
<p>bump bump bump bump?</p>
<p>I haven't been on this board in a few weeks, but I'd like to offer my 2 cents hopinV. I came into Vanderbilt undecided in A&S and by the end of my freshman year, I had transferred over to the HOD program because that was the only major I was extremely satisfied with from the get-go.</p>
<p>A few myths that have gone through this thread that I thought I might add some value to. First, according to the most recent admission's data, HOD students ARE the highest paid majors (on average) directly after graduating. Note the directly after graduating... Next, HOD is a lot like business but rather than focsuing on practical/hands-on, the major is more like the theories of business - how people work in organizations (employee/employer relationships), when things go wrong and why, organization effectiveness, evaluation (self/peer), and etc. These things are transferrable skills that truly are useful in so many different careers and life in general. There are 6 different tracks within HOD; the most business-like is LOE (leadership & organization effectiveness) or international... I would really consider HOD and Vanderbilt... I didn't apply to Emory, but I did apply to UVA and chose Vandy. </p>
<p>The other nice thing for someone who is business-minded at Vanderbilt is the new A&S minor - Managerial Studies. Corporate Strategy would be the track within MS that you'd want to focus, and you'd have the choice to choose between courses like Entrepreneurship, Business Plan Analysis, Marketing, Corporate Finance, Managerial Accounting, Financial Accounting, etc. etc. This is my minor and I love the courses; the professors are dynamic and all of them either have significant experience in the business world or teach at Owen (vandy's b-school) as well. For instance, my marketing professor this semester spent 20 years in consulting at Bain before deciding that her passion was in teaching. My entrepreneurship professor is currently running a small health-based company and uses his personal experiences to teach the class...</p>
<p>Don't overlook Vandy because you think "oh, there's no business major." not too long ago, there was a business major at Vandy but they removed it because b-schools are moving towards the law school trend that they prefer not to see applicants focusing their undergrad education on business (or so they say at least). If you have any other specific questions, feel free to PM me!</p>
<p>vandymaniac- what are some of the classes you have taken for HOD?</p>
<p>southerncharm, I'm in the Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness track.
Every HOD major takes:</p>
<p>1000 Applied Human Development
1100 Small Group Behavior
1200 Understanding Organizations
1210 Applications of Organizational Fit
1410 Developing Talent
1700 Systematic Inquiry
1800 Public Policy</p>
<p>If you start in HOD as a freshman, I believe you must also take
1001 Intrapersonal Development
1101 Interpersonal Development</p>
<p>I transferred into the program as a sophomore and didn't have to take them.</p>
<p>Within the LOE track, I've taken:
2700 Leadership Theory and Practice
2720 Advanced Organizational Theory
2740 Human Resource Management </p>
<p>Both 2700 and 2720 are required for the LOE track. In addition, you must take at least one of the following:</p>
<p>2730 Introduction to Human Resource Development<br>
2740 Human Resource Management
2750 Managing Organizational Change </p>
<p>You must also take two courses in HOD above the 2100 level (these can include those from the LOE track or other tracks).</p>
<p>The courses that you take along with your internship are:</p>
<p>HOD 2900 Internship
HOD 2910 Advanced Seminar
HOD 2920 Theoretical Application
HOD 2930 Senior Project</p>
<p>The six preapproved sites for your internship are Atlanta, Chicago, DC, London, Nashville, New York, and San Francisco.</p>
<p>It is possible to do it at another location, I know people who have, but you have to fill out more paperwork and demonstrate a compelling reason why your internship cannot be completed at one of those sites.</p>
<p>For more information about the internship program:
<a href="http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x3707.xml%5B/url%5D">http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x3707.xml</a></p>
<p>For more information on LOE, here are the requirements: <a href="http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x3705.xml%5B/url%5D">http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x3705.xml</a></p>
<p>For more information on the five tracks:
<a href="http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x3701.xml%5B/url%5D">http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x3701.xml</a></p>
<p>For more information on HOD:
<a href="http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x3699.xml%5B/url%5D">http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x3699.xml</a></p>
<p>If you have any more questions, feel free to ask them in the thread or PM me.</p>
<p>thanks for answering my question. i have one more though. which has been you favorite class so far? those classes look really interesting, and i want to get a student's perspective.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the information, it's been so helpful!! I have some to add, hope that's okay! I'm coming in as a transfer student, and have recently been reconsidering my major (haha as if just getting transfer credits under control isn't enough!!). If I come in as a sophomore, would I have enough time to complete an HOD major in 3 years, and perhaps minor in something else? It seems that HOD requires a lot more credit hours for the major than others (Psyc only requires 33 hours or something, and it seems like this is closer to 50...is that correct?). I just don't know if this is something that most people get started on during their freshman year.</p>
<p>Finally, because it's the most popular major, are the classes hard to get into? More and more I'm starting to get worried about having to stay longer than I'd like.
Mal :)</p>
<p>southerncharm, my favorite classes were 1700 Systematic Inquiry or 2700 Leadership Theory and Practice. 1700 isn't the most interesting material, it's mostly about research methods, but my favorite professor taught the class. I liked 2700, there's a lot of case studies that you read from the Harvard Business School. It feels like a taste of business school.</p>
<p>TransferMal, you would definitely have enough time to major in HOD. I didn't make it clear earlier, but I transferred to Vanderbilt from a state school after my freshman year. I came in with 34 hours from my freshman year and got credit for AP courses as well. I'll graduate next spring after 3 years at Vanderbilt with double majors in HOD and Economics. Another point that helps with transferring is that Peabody College's core has fewer required courses than Arts and Sciences. I will never have to take a language in college. For all students who double major in Peabody and A&S, you only have to fulfill the Peabody core. This made it easier for me to double major.</p>
<p>There's a lot of people who become HOD majors without having taken any courses during freshman year. There's a ton of people who double major with HOD or pick up a minor or two. I think it's uncommon for people to only major in HOD.</p>
<p>HOD is the most popular major, but there are many sections of the classes to accommodate the demand. If it's your major, you get preference when scheduling for classes. If you need the class and the non-major or minor is also trying to take the class, they would get bumped.</p>
<p>You always have the option of doing your semester long internship over the summer. The only thing I would warn you about is that you must take and pay for the HOD classes. I believe it's $12,000 if you do it over the summer. I'm doing a non-HOD internship over the summer and doing my HOD internship in the fall. I still have to pay to take the HOD classes for my fall internship, but I will have two internship by the time I graduate and still get to graduate in the spring with my friends.</p>
<p>That's a lot of information and may have been unclear, if so feel free to ask me follow up questions or shoot any other questions about Vanderbilt, HOD, transferring, etc.</p>
<p>Yeah just re-echo commodore's sentiments, you can definitely transfer into HOD (i did as well). they have an academic coordinator for transfers who's fabulous and will make sure you're on track to graduate in time. her name is vicki scalf (you can look her up on people finder for contact information). i have taken many of the same classes within hod as commodore so I won't relist the same ones, but I will add:</p>
<p>My favorite classes in HOD have been HOD 1000 (intro, really fun and interesting), HOD 1200 (completely because of the professor, Cannon, i had another prof. but had to drop it because i didnt like his style), HOD 1800 (public policy/doyle) and HOD 2670 i think (intro to community psychology). There haven't been many hod classes i didn't like... some of them, however, are really dependent on the professors. I don't mind answering specific questions about professors, so feel free to send me a PM. However, as a freshman, most of your professors you won't have a choice on (since there's only 1 section).</p>