<p>Hey, I am currently in my summer before senior year. I was just wondering if it is realistic to combine management/engineering majors at top schools like MIT and Stanford and survive. Also, would it then be possible to get accepted to a top business graduate school i.e. Stern, Wharton, etc. from an engineering background? Thanks</p>
<p>Oh yea!! I love that attitude and so do top corporations. Most of the top executives at Fortune 500 companies had some sort of engineering background. Why? Because engineers are capable of handling things that they might not be comfortable with to begin with. They have analysis skills that are unmatched by most majors and top executives require this skill. About/Over 50% of the students in the top 5-10 MBA programs had some sort of engineering background.</p>
<p>Engineers are not forced into a traditional field. Everyone wants them because of their work-ethic etc. Some even become successful in med school! You'll be fine as an engineer. Make sure you get some good work experience at a consulting company/banking firm as an analyst etc.</p>
<p>What sort of engineering are you talking about? Some combos are easier than others -- for example, it's hard (at MIT) to double aerospace engineering or chem e with anything, just because there are so many requirements for the major.</p>
<p>There are many MIT students who double in engineering and business. Many of them, to be honest, consider the Sloan classes to be their happy, A-filled blowoff classes...</p>
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Most of the top executives at Fortune 500 companies had some sort of engineering background.
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<p>Really? That seems to be a rather strong statement. I'd like to see the data that backs up the assertion that more than 50% (ergo: most) of the top executives at Fortune500 companies have some sort of engineering background. </p>
<p>Think about it. Plenty of Fortune500 companies aren't technology or engineering companies. Take Walmart. Is that an engineering company? Not really. Yes, they use some industrial engineering knowledge to run their supply chain and their IT operations, but would anybody really try to claim that Walmart is truly a technology company? Probably not. Take Coca-Cola. Is that a tech company? Coca-Cola's recipe hasn't changed in over a century. Take Citibank, the largest bank in the world. Is that a technology company? No, it's a bank. </p>
<p>Even at tech companies, plenty of the leadership does not have any true engineering background. Take Microsoft. The CEO of Microsoft is Steve Ballmer (Bill Gates is now just 'Chief Software Architect'). What's Ballmer's academic background? He has a degree in math from Harvard and finished 1 year of the MBA program at Stanford. However, he has no real engineering background, unless you want to say that majoring in math is the same as majoring in engineering (and very few engineers or mathematicians would say that they are the same). In fact, if you look at the executive ranks of Microsoft, yes there are some super-technologists, but on the other hand, you have the plethora of the usual corporate suspects - finance guys, accountants, HR managers, legal staff, sales/marketing managers, etc. etc. </p>
<p>Or take Intel. The CEO of Intel is Paul Otellini. He has a bachelor's degree in economics and an MBA from Berkeley. It's not clear to me what sort of engineering background he has. Take IBM. The CEO of IBM is Sam Palmisano, who did his undergrad in history at Johns Hopkins. The CEO of Cisco Systems is John Chambers, who has degrees in business and law, but not engineering. The CEO of HP is Mark Hurd, whose undergrad is in business. The former CEO of HP was Carly Fiorina, whose undergrad was in medieval history at Stanford, and she subsequently got an MBA from Maryland and a Master's of Science in Management from MITSloan (note, it's NOT an engineering degree). The CEO of General Motors, Rick Wagoner, did his undergrad in economics at Duke, and did his MBA at HBS. The CEO of Ford is William Ford Jr., who studied some liberal art at Princeton (can't remember which one, but it wasn't engineering). </p>
<p>Hence, even many technology and engineering companies are run by people who do not have any engineering background. This calls into serious question the assertion that most Fortune 500 executives have engineering backgrounds. </p>
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About/Over 50% of the students in the top 5-10 MBA programs had some sort of engineering background
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<p>That's a gross exaggeration. The MITSloan MBA program has the most, with about 40% of its entering class being engineers. That shouldn't be surprising because after all if there's one MBA program that really caters to engineers, it would be MITSloan. The other MBA programs in the top 10 have about 20-30% of their entering class being engineers.</p>
<p>I know there are a few related threads on here but I wanted a place to put them all together. I will be studying MechE but might switch to ChemE, still undecided. Love both fields. Anyways, I was wondering what degree would compliment those degrees? I was thinking about either minoring in Math, Physics or Chem because those are easy minors to accomplish with an engineering degree, but would this really help me in anyway in the job market or in my future job? I was also thinking about minoring in business. I am attending UMich and they have not only an excellent engineering school but an excellent business school as well. Or I could double major in one of the above mentioned concentrations. Would there be much difference between minoring and majoring in these? How would it play out in my search for a job in the future? Also, I would like to attend an elite Business school to attain my MBA after 4-5 years of work experience. Would I just be better sticking to only my engineering degree to try and keep that GPA up since it is a very hard major on its own or would I benifit by minoring or doubling majoring in business? Is any of this even doable if I still would like to participate in extra currics and have some sort of social life?</p>
<p>Anyways.. some combos available are:
Financial engineering at pton, columbia, mit(certificate)
M & T program at Upenn
Also you can do a minor in economics with engineering..this will act as a precursor to your graduate degree in management</p>
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Financial engineering at pton, columbia, mit(certificate)
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<p>While I don't know about the other ones, the Financial Technology certificate at MIT is only available to graduate students, not undergrads.</p>
<p>well at princeton, its surely there (am doing it :p ), i thought it was offered at mit though..</p>
<p>I thought that some 25% (at least) of Fortune 500 CEOs have engineering backgrounds. Then again, about 30-40 years ago, engineering was huge with the space race. More numbers going in than there are now.</p>
<p>I did chemical engineering and a liberal arts degree - a route I would highly suggest to anyone with the energy to complete both degrees.</p>
<p>its actually around 50%. but to be fair, i think a lot of fortune 500 companies are tech-oriented?</p>