Can someone help me chose a major?

College Majors Business Major
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<p>I'm way over my head, and totally confused.</p>

<p>What are some skills needed to be good in business? What does the work in college and in real life include?</p>

<p>What are some jobs in business? What are some good majors?</p>

<p>What is some overlap between business and other things? For example, I know you can major in biology and master in business. So what are things like that, except with a business major?</p>

<p>The colleges around me mostly have things like business admin with emphasis on X, I heard a lot of people say that everyone has this major and that I will find a hard time trying to find a job and that this major is not very useful/ practical and that I will have to do a lot to stand out.</p>

<p>I'm good with managing people/money and that's what I want to do. I think I would be good at reasoning, analyzing, increasing efficiency and productivity. I want to do something that gets me a good paycheck. I know that not everyone can be successful and have a good paying job, and I know that's a possibility for me.</p>

<p>What is consulting? What does this job entail?</p>

<p>I've heard that accounting is a good major, but it's boring, what would I be required to do in a real life accounting job and what type of work would I get in college? </p>

<p>Accounting sounds like a stable job but I'm worried that there's not a whole lot of room for advancement (aka making it over 100k) if I don't get hired by Big 4. It also doesn't seem to be very interesting to me. </p>

<p>what would I be required to do in a real life finance job and what type of work would I get in college? What are some jobs that I would be able to get? </p>

<p>I want to be able to find a job that's high paying.</p>

<p>I read a post a while ago by syncastar that said,</p>

<p>being a consultant doesn't require you to major in business since you can special in medicine, law, tech, & etc where as consultanting is concern, so figure what kind you want to be.</p>

<p>Can someone explain this? So I can do something in medicine and business or tech and business?</p>

<p>Here are my interests</p>

<p>Managing people, money, etc.
International business and international business relations
Politically involved things
Marketing
Creating innovating ideas and finding loop holes.
Finding what consumers want/how they think
Forex
Commodities trading
Investment funds
Hedge funds
Consulting
Being an Analyst
Arbitrage trading</p>

<p>I've read on a lot of this, but I don't quite understand some of this beyond a simplified version, if someone can explain then it would be great.</p>

<p>I've read about a number of successful people involved in business, there aren't a lot of information for what they majored in for a famous example of this wikipedia says someone like George Soros majored with something to do with economics/law</p>

<p>Then he worked as an arbitrage trader with F. M. Mayer from 1956 to 1959 and as an analyst with Wertheim and Company from 1959 to 1963.</p>

<p>Does an economics give you the skills to be a trader like that?</p>

<p>I've also read on someone like Reggie Fils-Aime, who the COO of Nintendo. How did he get a job like this when he majored in Applied economics?</p>

<p>I sound like an extreme newb, everything is disorganized because I wrote things as they came. Sorry.</p>

2

<p>I'm a business school professor. You ask good questions. You sound like someone who would be a good fit for a business school, given what you express as your interests and abilities.</p>

<p>The short answer is this: Get into business school, and while there, the rest of your answers will be addressed all in good time (and at a time when the answers will also make the most sense to you).</p>

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<p>I'm a business school professor. You ask good questions. You sound like someone who would be a good fit for a business school, given what you express as your interests and abilities.</p>

<p>Wow thanks. </p>

<p>Sarcasm? >_> I can't tell. After reading it again, it doesn't sound like it.</p>

<p>So, what do you think of a BS in business admin?</p>

<p>The short answer is this: Get into business school, and while there, the rest of your answers will be addressed all in good time (and at a time when the answers will also make the most sense to you).</p>

<p>I see. I want to know everything about what I may be doing, I want to know how the course work in college will be and how the work will be in real life. I don't want to go into this blindly. I've had some difficulty finding a lot of these answers to my questions, I've searched everywhere. The thing is, I live in Southern CA, which doesn't have that many options in terms of business related things. I am also considering doing gen ed in a CC to save some money, so I want to know how things will be affected. My parents can't support me, in fact, I'm going to have to support them during my college years so I don't have a lot of money to spend. This is going to be quite difficult so I want to try to plan things and ensure success.</p>

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<p>A little help guys? Please? I'm running out of time as we speak, I know I've asked a lot of questions but can someone at least skim this, or just answer things/help me? Please? V_V</p>

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<p>there's nothing wrong with bus admin
what matters just as much is what school you go to</p>

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<p>here's nothing wrong with bus admin
what matters just as much is what school you go to</p>

<p>I thought that didn't matter. And what can I even do with a business admin degree? Seems a bit useless since thousands of people have the same thing. I would have to get an MBA which I don't have the money or time to do.</p>

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<p>Someone correct me if I am wrong, but with an accounting degree you can get into finance and pursue the things you tell us you are interested in such as "being an analyst" "trading" "funds" etc.</p>

<p>Majoring in accounting doesn't mean you will have to be an accountant when you graduate but it's a good way to start a career.</p>

<p>Economics sounds pretty good for what you are interested in and there's a good chance your school will have that (probably not in the business school itself)</p>

<p>What schools are you looking at?</p>

<p>By the way, are you interested in medicine or technology?</p>

8

<p>I would say go with economics and maybe throw a little math in there, if you have graduate studies in mind.</p>

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<p>If you want to make money Finance and Accounting (need strong math for the first). More humanistic stuff, Human Resources, Gen Mgt, and Marketing. School may have other options available (e.g., insurance, risk management, etc.).</p>

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<p>What are some skills needed to be good in business? What does the work in college and in real life include?</p>

<p>To be good in business, you must be able to deal with large amounts of information in order to see how everything fits together. You must like working with people and information.</p>

<p>What are some jobs in business? What are some good majors?</p>

<p>Some jobs in business would be a marketing manager, sales, credit analyst, accountant. The possibilities go on and on. You can even get into OMIS if you enjoy sytems development and providing solutions for tech problems.</p>

<p>What is consulting? </p>

<p>Consulting is broad, but basically you provide people with advice as to what their options are. This could be tax advice, business strategy planning, marketing advice. </p>

<p>As to a high paying job, you have to really pick something that you enjoy because you are going to have to work hard at it for many years. Any business area have see high pay if you are good at what you do.</p>

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<p>H and I both have accounting degrees and CPA certification. H worked for a few years in auditing/defense program accounting/cash management and then took over the family business. Although he doesn't "do accounting" on a daily basis the knowledge he has of accounting has been invaluable in making good business decisions. He also obtained and MBA in Finance which again isn't something he does on a daily business but is invaluable in making business decisions. My personal opinion is that you can't go wrong getting an accounting degree even if you don't intend to work in an accounting firm. Both us of chose to go into corporate auditing right out of college and were able to do a significant amount of traveling (including international) before we settled down. The paycheck you can make with an accounting degree is limited only by your imagination and your determination. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Live it seems like you have been living in a box your whole life</p>

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<p>Live it seems like you have been living in a box your whole life</p>

<p>I'm not sure I understand what you mean, at all. Elaborate.</p>

<p>And I said those were my interests, I don't necessarily really understand what half of that stuff really is. I'd actually like to be one of those rich investors like George soros. >_> It's my dream..but I know it's never going to happen. Haha. Most of them got where they are by luck.</p>

<p>I would like to be a vice-president or someone who does something in the upper echelons of a business. Something in managing.</p>

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<p>George Soros got to where he is by luck?</p>

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<p>Have you graduated high school? Have you ever read the business section of a newspaper or looked at job postings online? I would suggest doing both of those things if you want to get exposed to how a business major can help you.</p>

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<p>You're right in saying some people might have gotten successful by pure 'luck,' but others have worked their asses for it. Others are wise and know how to make connections.</p>

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<p>I understand that you may have financial problems and that you might not have 8 years to figure out what you want to do. While it is good that you are trying to get answers now, you need to understand that they are going to come to you as you advance in your educational career. I didn't know what I wanted to do before college, business in general and money were two things that interested me. So I took the business route my first year and started taking some general pre reqs for the business admin major, and now I have realized that both accounting and economics interest me. </p>

<p>It sounds like you are going to take the business route also, you have a lot of unanswered questions but you have to understand that once you get to college you will learn a lot more than you are in high school (im assuming you are still in high school).</p>

<p>Find a school that fits you, don't worry if its not some ivy league, and start taking your introduction business courses (intro to bus, financial accounting, economics, statistics, quant bus methods, etc), find out if this is the stuff that you really do enjoy, and talk to your professors about all your questions as they should help you figure your answers out and guide you to a good path.</p>

<p>**On a side note, thinking about your situation it sounds like you would succeed a lot more at a smaller school with small class sizes vs sitting in an auditorium with 500 students and having trouble getting in contact with your actual professors.</p>

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<p>George Soros got to where he is by luck?</p>

<p>It's true that he graduated from the London School of Economics in 1952 and was a student of the philosopher Karl Popper, however, there are probably many who had the same degrees and possibly the same skills. Having a degree and skills doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be successful in life. I also, don't quite believe in "luck" but I meant it as a figurative term to the things you can't control in life, many people attempt to control their lives, but the truth is, a large part is not really up to you. He persuaded the company to set up an offshore investment fund for him and started the Quantum fund. Not to mention the currency speculation on Black Wednesday where he sold short more than $10 billion worth of pounds.
*
Have you graduated high school? Have you ever read the business section of a newspaper or looked at job postings online? I would suggest doing both of those things if you want to get exposed to how a business major can help you.*</p>

<p>No, I am close, in 2009. I do read the news quite often, and I know some simple things like how to calculate some things for researching companies to invest. I know surface level information about some things. I have not really been anywhere near any of this stuff in real life though.</p>

<p>You're right in saying some people might have gotten successful by pure 'luck,' but others have worked their asses for it. Others are wise and know how to make connections.</p>

<p>Success comes from various sources, you can have the skills, the money, and the education but it doesn't mean you'll be successful. I also don't believe in luck, and I didn't really say he got where he is by pure luck. It's just the sequence of events that happen in life, sometimes they're beneficial. By connections, do you mean social connections? </p>

<p>I often try to find information about the early lives of people who are successful, sometimes in business or other things to try to learn something, it's quite hard to find early life information.</p>

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<p>I would like to be a vice-president or someone who does something in the upper echelons of a business. Something in managing.</p>

<p>Would a business Admin degree get me that, or what? I know business is very different as you can do many different jobs with different degrees. Like you could take economics major and get something in investing. </p>

<p>*I understand that you may have financial problems and that you might not have 8 years to figure out what you want to do. *</p>

<p>I see. It's just that I don't want to be unprepared, I want to know the most I can and prepare the most. I already had troubles in high school because I didn't have enough information sometimes, as I am an immigrant. I really don't have anything to fall back on. My parents can't support me and I have no extended family here. I can't fail, and I'm very pessimistic about my future right now, as this whole "real life" thing is quite, scary. >_< </p>

<p>While it is good that you are trying to get answers now, you need to understand that they are going to come to you as you advance in your educational career. I didn't know what I wanted to do before college, business in general and money were two things that interested me. So I took the business route my first year and started taking some general pre reqs for the business admin major, and now I have realized that both accounting and economics interest me.</p>

<p>I see. It's just that I'm interested in more than one thing as I don't know what I'm going to be like in 4 years, so I can't waste time and take prereqs for two diff majors. I think there is overlap between some majors though, but something in the medical field and economics are different.</p>

<p>A lot of people here are saying accounting, but every person I know who has taken accounting said it was really boring. One of my school councilors has an MBA and is an accountant, he started teaching and is not a councilors.</p>

<p>It sounds like you are going to take the business route also, you have a lot of unanswered questions but you have to understand that once you get to college you will learn a lot more than you are in high school (im assuming you are still in high school).</p>

<p>Thank you for clearing this up. :)</p>

<p>Yes, I am a high school senior, graduating in 09. It's just that everything comes really fast, applications were due nov 30 and CC applications are in April.</p>

<p>Find a school that fits you, don't worry if its not some ivy league, and start taking your introduction business courses (intro to bus, financial accounting, economics, statistics, quant bus methods, etc), find out if this is the stuff that you really do enjoy, and talk to your professors about all your questions as they should help you figure your answers out and guide you to a good path.</p>

<p>Hmm..I see. Thanks.</p>

<p>**On a side note, thinking about your situation it sounds like you would succeed a lot more at a smaller school with small class sizes vs sitting in an auditorium with 500 students and having trouble getting in contact with your actual professors.</p>

<p>What do you mean my situation? Though I do agree, I'm thinking of taking the CC route and trying to figure out what I'm going to do.</p>

<p>There's no time to be wasted, I'm going to start this summer. >_<</p>

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<p>Anymore help guys?</p>