<p>I'm sure lots of folks will say "yes", but I'd like some input. DS#1 is halfway through a lovely little Ohio LAC. DS#2 is a rising hs senior and is <possibly, at="" least="" for="" now=""> interested in going into business. He'll look at/apply to several mid-sized and larger schools with business programs (and some with graduate business schools), but the smaller school has worked out really well for my oldest. I think there are lots of things about the smaller environment that would be good for DS#2. Convince me he could still get an MBA if he attended one. (And any recommendations about specific schools?)</possibly,></p>
<p>Sure, he could be admitted to an MBA program if he attended a small LAC. An undergrad major in business is not required, and, is probably not the best prep if you are going to get an MBA. Just look at the admission requirements for some of the MBA programs that might interest him. Most of the unis with top MBA programs do not even offer an undergrad business degree. As with any grad program, a lot depends on an applicant’s undergrad GPA and GMAT scores. Also, prior work experience is encouraged before applying to the better MBA programs. At the undergrad level, he can major in whatever fields appeals to him, but coursework to develop quantitative skills is recommended as well as coursework in at least basic economics principles.</p>
<p>Another option is a school like University of Michigan. Students don’t enter the undergraduate business school until they are juniors, so he can spend 2 years taking liberal arts classes if he wants to. I did this, and although I got an MBA later, I can’t say it was worth half as much as my BBA education at Michigan. Save the grad school money.</p>
<p>I agree with last poster - son just finished freshman year at Wake Forest - best of both worlds - first 2 years are liberal arts - with very broad distribution requirements. Apply to Calloway School of Business during spring of sophomore year - take Calloway courses and internship junior and senior year. So - you have both - the liberal arts background so crucial for reading, writing and analytical skills and then the practical business major as well.</p>
<p>You can get an MBA with any undergrad. A LAC is supposed to teach you critical thinking which is important in any field. One of my top people for business acumen did not have an MBA and came from Kenyon.</p>
<p>One difference with the U of Michigan Business School is that they now offer admission to freshman – you don’t actually start the program until you are a junior, but you KNOW freshman year if you have been accepted. Didn’t used to be that way, was like rockvillemom says WF is now – I had to apply as a sophomore. But now you can apply as part of your freshman application.</p>
<p>This is a supremely silly question. If you look at the top 15 or so American private universities, only a few even offer an undergraduate business curriculum (Penn, Cornell, MIT, Northwestern). The ones that don’t include Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth, Stanford, Chicago, Duke . . . . Do you think students from those colleges don’t get MBAs? Fancy-shmancy MBAs? You bet they do! And curriculum-wise they are generally indistinguishable from LACs.</p>
<p>Two of my roommates got MBAs, one from Harvard and one from Columbia. They majored in Art History and History, respectively; neither was a superstar student, either. Carly Fiorina majored in medieval history in college. Among the companies founded by LAC graduates are Southwest Airlines, Merrill Lynch, Diebold, and T. Rowe Price.</p>
<p>Sure. Lots of students who I was in a highly ranked MBA program graduated from LACs . And they had undergraduate majors in everything under the sun, though few were undergraduate business majors. (Our school rather discouraged that.) Math, art history, economics, anthropology, nursing, winemaking, criminal justice, computer science, agriculture, … – in some ways, the more unusual the undergraduate degree, the better. </p>
<p>One key issue was having substantive work experience, at least for two or three years. While a few kids were admitted right out of an undergraduate program, in general they were not the students who did best in the program, and they generally had the toughest time on the job front after graduation.</p>
<p>I echo Northstarmom’s post and would encourage anyone considering going into business to get some work experience before pursuing an MBA. (In fact, anyone considering graduate school in a particular field would benefit from exposure to work in that field.) It’ll definitely provide a very useful perspective that one can then apply to one’s studies and it’ll help determine whether the MBA is the route to take.</p>
<p>My advice (as an Ivy econ BA, Wharton finance MBA) is to get a great undergraduate liberal arts education anywhere but do take some serious math (e.g. multivariable calc, linear algebra, quantitative analysis). That coursework will set you apart from many other b-school applicants. Also, take your GMATS when you are an undergrad (senior year). Studying and test taking skills do get stale and one is most likely putting in long hours at a first job post undergrad/pre grad. I am so grateful for my advisor giving me this advice when I was starting in school.</p>
<p>The top business schools typically require or prefer real-world job experience. The best way to get your MBA is to go into the real world, get a job, and have your employer pay for the MBA, if possible.</p>
<p>JHS - Northwestern doesn’t really have an “undergraduate business curriculum” in the Wharton sense of the word, though the MMSS (Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences) program has evolved through the years to offer a lot of the quant skills that are in demand for finance, and now they offer that undergraduate Kellogg certificate. As both an MMSS alum and a Kellogg alum, personally, I’m not really happy with this, and I would really prefer that NU stay away from bridging too much of Kellogg to the undergrad experience. But that’s a different topic entirely.</p>
<p>My mistake, Pizzagirl. I didn’t distinguish between the Kellogg certificate and a true major. The existence of the certificate program does put NU a little bit on the side of undergraduate business education, though. I don’t really blame them – they’re leveraging their assets.</p>
<p>I think MMSS is a terrific program, by the way, and don’t equate it with “business” at all, except that obviously it would be a dynamite undergraduate major for someone inclined in that direction.</p>
<p>Time and time again I read in business journals that a business undergrad is not required (actually not preferred) for an MBA, but taking a calc class as an undergrad is a must.</p>
<p>I was looking at the WashU website (and there are others) that offer a 5 year MBA program. 3 years undergrad and two MBA.</p>
Been there, done that! Yes, it was more than a couple of years ago, but I majored in American Studies at a small LAC in Maine. Worked for 5 1/2 years and then got my MBA from an Ivy. Agree with all the others who say work experience before going for an MBA is crucial/required.</p>
<p>My oldest D is starting an MBA program in the fall. She’s going to Georgetown–she has an undergraduate degree from Tufts where she was a quantitative economics/Spanish major. She’s 27 and has worked for 4 years for an environmental consulting/engineering firm. </p>
<p>If you look at the profiles of admitted students for the top MBA programs, you’ll see that very few people are admitted right from undergraduate school to an MBA program. The average age for most MBA (full-time) students ranges from 26-28 years. All of the top programs are looking for students who have had work experience. Work experience plus your undergraduate GPA and GMAT scores are what count the most.</p>
<p>I am an occasional guest lecturer at Kellogg (only for the full-time program). Absolutely, the students are mostly late twenties / early thirties. Any background (LAC / uni, any major) is just fine. Some of the most interesting students have the most interesting backgrounds (philosophy, classics, art history, etc.).</p>
<p>off the top of my head, some of my classmates from Connecticut College are currently at/just graduated from/will be starting this fall at (all MBAs): Wharton, Yale, Harvard, Indiana, Columbia, Northwestern, UConn, Northwestern, Michigan, NYU.
And thats from not even a “top” LAC :)</p>
<p>I know a lot of folks who went to LACs that went on to great MBA programs. The only caveat I have, and this is not restricted to those who went to LACs, is that if the student is light on mathematics from his/her ug studies, it might behoove him/er get a booster in that area. I know that Columbia offers summer course for those accepted to their program and is light on the math.</p>
<p>I’m a business school professor. Be assured, you not only do not have to have an undergrad in business, it’s actually probably to your benefit not to have one. Any educational background is perfectly fine and most classes are quite mixed, from engineers, to fine arts students, and from all kinds of colleges. Diversity is desired, and the curriculum is designed with no business course pre-reqs. From an educational perspective, it doesn’t even make sense to plan to do an undergrad in business if you are going for an MBA later anyway (though may do this too).</p>