Does my Major Matter?

College Majors
1

<p>I'm currently a freshman at a T35 University and participating in Navy ROTC. After I graduate, I'll serve, at the very minimum, 5 years active duty in the Navy but am more likely to serve 8 because I want to be a Naval Aviator (that requires more training, thus more required service). After I fulfill my service, I'm thinking about getting an MBA and/or a grad degree in international affairs/public policy or the like. From there, I'd like to go into finance, start my own company, public policy, politics, or international affairs. </p>

<p>The Navy places a high emphasis on quantitative pursuits and I received a scholarship because I declared major in Math/Statistics.</p>

<p>However, my main interest is international affairs, politics, and economics. I have quite alot of validated classes and could fairly easily double major. My concern is whether I should double my Math/Stats major with Financial Econ, Econ, IR, or Polisci. Polisci/IR is easier and I think I could get a 4.0 in the major (I got an A in a junior/senior class last semester) but I'm worried if I majored in IR/Polisci then I'd lose much hope of working in finance/business. Econ is harder and I'm a little worried my grades in upper level Econ classes will hurt my GPA and disqualify me from top grad programs. </p>

<p>My question is, since I won't be applying to graduate schools for at least 5 years after graduating, does my major really matter? Will the T10 business programs care if I got a 3.95 with IR/stats as compared to a 3.7 with FinEcon/Stats? Will an IR major hurt my employment chances coming out of the Navy?</p>

2

<p>I think you could get more specific advice regarding T10 business programs in the Business Majors forum. MBA admissions typically depend on GPA (to include prereqs), GMAT, and work history.</p>

<p>Uncle Sam has been known to pay for a graduate degree for officers who are on active duty, so you may not need to separate in order to pursue a degree. An MBA is a common choice for those selected, and an IR degree would also fit in well with what an Armed Service could use. Honorable military service is a plus when applying to grad school, and pretty much anywhere else.</p>

3

<p>As a matter of fact, many political science majors go on to pursue high positions in businesses and even open their own. Political science is mainly teaching one how to become a leader: the major typically focuses on public policy analiysis, micro- and macroeconomics and business techniques, foreign languages, and literature analysis and communication skills.</p>

4

<p>MBA programs care more about the quality of your work experience than your undergrad degree. There are lots of people who go onto business graduate studies with non-business undergrad degrees. The GMAT will be important, but the scores are only good for 5 years so don’t take it during or right after college unless you want some sort of “dry run,” but that would be a waste of your study time and money to take it if the scores won’t be valid when you actually apply 5 years later.</p>