<p>I would also look into the Miller College of business at Ball State, it seems to me that most people who apply to IU also apply to BSU as a safety school. I recently visited Ball State, I used to think it was a sub-par party school but honestly I found it to be way more modern, and dynamic then say Purdue (which I saw in the same trip). They have a good Finance program, and a very good entrepreneurship program. Graduates have included John Schnatter (Chairman and CEO of Papa Johns), Kent C. Nelson (Former CEO of UPS), Niel C. Ellerbrook (Chairman and CEO, Vectren) and many others. Certainly not top tier, but also not low-brow either; i’d look into it as a safety school.</p>
<p>If the OP is looking to become a hedge fund manager or an investment banker, then an undergrad business degree from the midwest other than maybe at Michigan (Chicago doesn’t have undergrad biz as I believe is the case with Northwestern) is really not going to help him. The stereotypical person in that role usually has a liberal arts or hard science major from an Ivy (or Ivy peer) school, followed by a couple of years crunching numbers on Wall Street followed by a top 10 MBA.</p>
<p>If his focus is that narrow, I’d almost recommend him trying to excel in a science or engineering major at most of the schools being talked about as a pre-req to getting into a Chicago-Harvard-Stanford type MBA program.</p>
<p>What I’m looking for is a college that can help land me a good internship so I can eventually get into a top 10 MBA program. I want to go to one of the best ones possible where I can excel and network. Would it not be good to have an undergrad business major? I thought having a double major plus a minor would set me a little apart from some of the other people or is this not the case? Would you recommend going to a better school that doesn’t necessarily have a b-school where I could major in something like econ?</p>
<p>Actually, a business major is NOT going to be that important. First of all, the very top MBA programs do not consider an undergrad business major as anything special. They rank it below engineering/sciences and then humanities/social sciences.</p>
<p>What is ultimately going to matter the most to these MBA programs is the strength of your undergrad record, the quality of your work experience in the years in between college and applying to the MBA program and your GMAT scores. </p>
<p>Regarding work experience, it doesn’t have to be strictly business related. Trust me, a University of Chicago type program is going to be a heck of a lot more impressed with the physics major who spent five years serving on nuclear subs or the history major who spent five years in the Foreign Service than they are a business major who went to work for an accounting firm or commercial bank.</p>
<p>Hmmmm okay. Well, I really hate physics and science so I don’t think I would want to do that, but I’m much more interested in humanities/social sciences. If I pursued a major such as econ and maybe double majored in poli sci, would it be fine to go to a LAC or something? Aside from Midwest b-schools, I’ve kind of become interested in Northeast LACs for econ. Some of my favorites are Holy Cross, Bucknell, and Trinity. Since I want to become really involved in politics, I think that might be somewhat of a distinguishing thing for MBA programs but I’m not sure. Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>To be succinct…absolutely. BTW, don’t immediately dismiss the social science departments at the Big Ten schools. Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Indiana et al have some of the top departments and faculty in the country for humanities and social sciences.</p>
<p>Definitely not. If I went in-state at UW, would my double business major and poli sci minor be better than say a double major in econ and poli sci?</p>
<p>It will be better for getting a good first job. Recruiting in the B school is still better than liberal arts overall for professional level jobs. In 4 years who knows.</p>
<p>Michigan State’s Broad is pretty good…but its OOS, so they probably will take alot of money</p>
<p>On my UW and Miami apps I’m definitely putting down Pre-Business or whatever because they’re two year programs. I think I will get better recruiting from those two because of their reputation compared to an econ degree.</p>
<p>Im in Chicago right between DePaul and Loyola. Loyola has business but nothing great so far. Strong in ethics and religion a bit more than DePaul a Catholic univ. DePaul has strong Poli Sci and there is a Law School attached as well. In Chicago you have an infinite possibility in the way of internships, both formal and informal. There is a huge diversity in Chicago that is valued more in politics than in corporate world.</p>