<p>Hi I'm in the process of applying to Columbia University and I want major in business/marketing. What's the best pathway to do this at Columbia since I noticed they don't have an undergraduate business program?</p>
<p>There is no pathway to do that – there is no undergraduate business school at Columbia. Either pick another school or another major. Some people might do an economics major, but that is a liberal arts discipline and is very different from going to an undergraduate business school.</p>
<p>@Chlobro Colubmia has a business management minor</p>
Columbia is a liberal arts school, not a vocational school. Business undergrad major is vocation. Columbia (and most of the ivies) you major in economics.
^^Really? Do you then consider UPenn (has business undergraduate) Cornell (business and engineering undergraduate), Princeton (engineering undergraduate) Brown (engineering undergraduate) to also be vocational schools? And by the way, Columbia has an engineering undergraduate school – does that make Columbia a vocational school as well?
The truth is that in four years students have room for a lot of classes – it is very possible to give students a strong liberal arts background as well as the appropriate coursework in business, engineering etc. My S went to Fordham’s business school and believe me he got a very strong liberal arts education as well (just look at the school’s core curriculum) and I also received an excellent liberal arts education when I attended Wharton (many years ago).
^ Why are you comparing business to engineering? Only Penn really has an undergraduate school for business. All the ivies, you major in economics in the arts and sciences division.
@ricck1 Look up the Dyson school at Cornell – despite the name (Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management), it is a complete business undergraduate school which requires completion of both a business core and a major such as accounting, finance, marketing etc. I’ve worked with CPAs who graduated from Cornell - Dyson and it is both an undergraduate and graduate business school. In addition many future investment bankers come out of Princeton with the school’s undergraduate certificate of finance (which I agree is not a full blown business degree, but a course of study specifically geared toward students heading for a track in business).
And I equate business and engineering only because they are not typical of liberal arts schools in that they directly prepare a student for a career so you could easily lump them together as “vocational” in your words.
It is very different to major in economics as compared to business – one is not better or worse, they are just different. Economics is a liberal arts degree which will have a liberal arts core while an undergraduate business school offers often a somewhat smaller liberal arts core (although my S at a Jesuit school still had to take 3 English , 2 Philosophy, 2 History, 2 Theology, 1 Science, 2 Math, and 1 Arts class) plus a business core (introductory classes in many different areas of business) as well as majors in specific areas such as accounting, finance, marketing etc.
“Vocational” can be defined as having a high probability of getting a job (other than at Macy’s and Starbucks) right after graduation without having to go to a grad or professional school.