<p>As a new member of this site and new to the whole college life (I will be leaving for college in two weeks) I have a few basic questions for you guys. Just so you know I plan on attending a top MBA program out of undergrad at BYU (ok release the Mormon jokes...) I have 4 year tuition scholarship to BYU and am highly highly driven to succeed (like everyone here).</p>
<p>1st - Engineering seems like a good major for higher level MBA progs. What kind of engineering do most of these people do? Like civil? Chem? Mechanichal!? I just don't don't see how having job experience in building bridges etc would help me get into HBS. But then again, most people seem to think a lib art or engineering major is BETTER than a business related major like finance, marketing, accounting... Why?</p>
<p>2nd - BYU has one of the best accounting progs in the nation. Their engineering is not so much. Would it be better to major in what my college is recognized in? Is accouting in general a good major for top B-school acceptance?</p>
<p>To answer your first question, liberal arts and engineering are not better majors than undergrad business. It doesn't really matter what your major is, as long as you have a quantitative background. Engineering majors tend to be well represented because 1. their work is highly quantitative, 2. engineering programs are difficult, and getting through them shows good work ethic, and 3. many of them don't want to go into pure engineering, which is becoming more outsourced and not as high-paying in the long term. It doesn't really matter what type of engineering you do, because all of them exhibit the three above traits. I heard that computer science majors are highly sought-after, but don't take my work for it. Plenty of liberal arts majors also go into business (of course, they should have some quantitative background and business knowledge).</p>
<p>To answer your second question, accounting is a great major for pre-business. If your school's program is really well-known in that field, you might as well pursue it (of course, assuming that that's what you want to major in).</p>
<p>Here's another issue that concerns me about all of this.</p>
<p>If I major in accounting and get one of the 1000s of jobs accounting at some Price Waterhouse place somewhere, this work experience would NOT be unique or eye catching to the admission people at top colleges.</p>
<p>With that in mind, would it be better to do something else just to get a more interesting good (some crazy thing in like chem eng etc.) It just seems that the options for accounting grads are low to say the least. </p>
<p>(by the way I would minding majoring in either as a love math)</p>
<p>any job at a big 4 accounting firm (Deloitte, Ernst&Young, KPMG, PWC), bulge bracket ibank, or big 3 management consulting firm is very well regarded by most top MBA programs.</p>
<p>I would not recommend you major in engineering in order to become a better manager. In other words, if you goal is to be a great manager, engineering is no better preparation than most other quantative majors. The reason so many engineers get MBAs is because engineers often burn out after a decade or two becuase being intensively creative/inventive all the time is a young persons game. They get MBAs because that want to advance up the food chain of the corporation. I would suggest that if you really want to be an engineer pursue that and consider yourself as an engineer. Obtain the MBA in order to create options for yourself as an engineer.</p>
<p>In contrast, if you wish to be a great manager, obtaining an accounting degree will help you with that goal. A manager who is an expert in accounting and auditing will have a distinct advantage over one who is not. Some of the most sought after MBA grads are ones who are also CPAs.</p>