<p>my friend wants to go into business and is applying to duke but is a little confused on this....since duke doesn't offer an undergraduate business program, what do business students exactly do? major in econ and such...but what differs an undergraduate business program from what duke offers its business students?</p>
<p>For reference, here is a list of courses that Notre Dame's undergraduate business school offers: </p>
<p>Compare that to majoring in economics at Duke. Because economics is offered as part of a liberal arts education you'll take courses in many subjects.</p>
<p>Business students become business students at business school. If your friend doesn't plan to go to a business school upon graduation, he should consider attending a university that <em>does</em> offer an undergraduate business program.</p>
<p>That answer is BS! Many people who are interested in business major in economics at schools with and without undergraduate business programs. The undergrad program is very specialized, which can be a negative if you aren't 100% gung-ho about business.</p>
<p>I agree, and that is why I am still debating whether I want to major in business or economics. Where did I dispute that? Undergrad business <em>is</em> very specialized.</p>
<p>The difference in the education experience (assessed using course content and requirements) between an economics major and a business major is, at most schools, very significant. Business majors are generally required to take only two semesters of econ (micro and macro). From there, most business curriculums are highly structured, require extensive and sequential study in fields such as accounting, finance, marketing, and management, and, therefore, do not provide for many electives outside of the core and elective business requirements. Bottom line, a business school education is highly pre-professional and applied in its orientation. So if your friend is SURE they want to be in business .. then my advice is go to a great undergrad b-school .. such as Penn, MIT, Berkley, Michigan, NYU .. if they are not sure then going to B-school may limit their exploration of other fields. One last thought is that Penn is perhaps the school that best tries to straddle the need to provide the 'applied business toolkit' to their students, as well as the curriculum flexibility to delve into 'non-business' study. Your friend might want to check them out.</p>
<p>here is information about Duke's undergrad business philosophy (pdf file):
<a href="http://www.aas.duke.edu/trinity/prebusiness/liberal.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.aas.duke.edu/trinity/prebusiness/liberal.pdf</a></p>