<p>How are these two majors at UCI? I heard business is good at UCI and UCR. Yet I haven't really heard anything regarding engineering at this school. I'm an undeclared freshman attending in the fall and I am interested in those two fields.</p>
<p>As a current Merage senior (Accounting Emphasis) I can honestly say that business faculty are more than willing to make themselves available to students and on numerous occasions have shown a willingness to set up alternative office hours for me when I could not meet with them during regularly scheduled hours.</p>
<p>Mentoring? I can’t say I’ve ever come across stories of any mentoring going on but professors are more than willing to talk with you about non-class related issues at office hours if that is what you are hinting at. </p>
<p>Securing desirable internships/jobs from what I’ve experienced is largely a product of being a persistent networker. I honestly don’t feel as though being a Merage student gives me any significant advantage over my fellow non-Merage peers in securing internships. That being said, if you want to work in certain industries (Accounting) you’ll need to ensure you fulfill the educational requirements by completing much of the Merage housed accounting courses.</p>
<p>Final Thoughts:</p>
<p>I am proud to be a part of the first full graduating class for the school however as of today I would have to say that the praise it has been receiving seems overblown. There is no doubt I will soon graduate with a well rounded business education but my ability to secure a favorable position in my desired line of work (strategy consulting) was largely the product of persistent networking, significant case interview preparation, and staying abreast of the wheelings and dealings in the WSJ. The quality of education I received could just as easily have been acquired by self studying the textbooks utilized in the course. That being said, the business curriculum does offer you the opportunity to engage in a number of team assignments that really aid in developing critical teamwork skills.</p>
<p>p.s. Keep in mind I was a part of the program in its infancy and it is likely to continue to blossom significantly over the next couple of years. Please don’t let my comments above be construed as a negative assessment of the program but rather as more of a reality check on what the program is likely to offer new students over the near term. Expect to learn much of the same curriculum learned by most other business administration majors at other colleges. If I could point to one advantage the Irvine program has going forward it would be that the high caliber student body will likely lead to more and more high profile companies recruiting at Irvine in a few years.</p>
<p>p.s.s. Students interested in careers in banking should note that based on my own experience, significant preparation will be needed beyond MGMT 109, 141, 149 to acquire the level of technical information needed to be successful in reaching bulge bracket superdays. However I would say few schools (Michigan’s Ross, UPenn’s Wharton, and NYU Stern) offer the kind of finance based curriculum depth where this wouldn’t be the case.</p>
<p>for business your major does not matter.</p>
<p>This is what matters</p>
<p>Work/internship experience(by both relevance AND the reputation of the employer)
Uni you attend
GPA</p>
<p>Who you know doesn’t really matter. It’s WHO knows you and thinks highly of you.</p>
<p>As Monkey Boy said, for finance, you need to self study. Consider joining the Undergraduate Finance Association on campus if you think finance might be what you’re interested in. If at all possible, join the board and become involved as there are a number of bright, talented people in it. I know a few people who leveraged their experience in UFA(and work experience) to break into Wall Street.
<a href=“http://ufauci.com/[/url]”>http://ufauci.com/</a></p>
<p>Courses I’d suggest for finance students: Stats 120abc(hard courses might not be worth the GPA drop), Stats 110, Stats 111, Mgmt 131ab, Mgmt 190(applied investments), Econ 161abcd, etc.</p>