<p>I am thinking about doing economics undergrad at Princeton, and was wondering about the chancing of getting in HBS. I heard some people say that you should major in something else non-business related so your application "stands out". I would imagine there are tons of econ majors applying to HBS. How does HBS look upon econ majors? What about a BSE in something like ORFE?</p>
<p>An ORFE degree would be great for business school, although in my generation most of the people who did ORFE thought they were too cool for business school, especially Harvard, which was not nearly quant-y enough for them. On the other hand, a Princeton economics degree, with a decent GPA, followed by good business experience, would not pose any kind of problem for getting into a top business school.</p>
<p>Where you go work (and what your supervisors think of you) is far more important than what you major in for undergrad (unless you’re trying to go straight to HBS?..)</p>
<p>Out of Columbia, Princeton, Yale and UT Austin’s Engineering Honors Program, which sounds cooler for HBS? Considering you have the same -ish GPA and activities?</p>
<p>They are all really good schools. I’ve heard of HBS students from all of them :)</p>
<p>What’s ORFE? Sorry if that’s a stupid question.</p>
<p>KiwiKisses–My exact choice as an admitted student was Yale-Princeton-Columbia (I’m interested in business). Both Yale and Princeton have a great amount of prestige and pretty great programs in anything. I perceived Columbia as a step down on most levels from those schools–endowment, prestige, and etc.</p>
<p>The huge advantage in niche Columbia has over the other two for business is that they’re located in the middle of NYC and they don’t have classes on Fridays. That means there are lots of internship opportunities, both in the summer and (I assume) during the school year (Fri-Sat-Sun). You’re literally minutes away from Wall Street, plus if you want to intern at some sort of Corporate headquarters you’ll have that massive opportunity too.</p>
<p>I don’t think Yale or Princeton students have problems getting internships (I chose Yale) but the proximity to the internships is a nice advantage for Columbia over the other two. Just make sure you like it better as well, because when it comes to business, I thought that they were about equal all things considered.</p>
<p>Operations Research and Financial Engineering, I think. I’m certain about the “OR” part.</p>
<p>Your work experience, recs and GMAT scores are far more important than what you studied and where you went to undergrad when it comes business school admissions. Of course you should have a high GPA no matter what, and taking difficult courses are viewed more favorably, but deciding between an econ major versus something else, or deciding between Princeton, Yale, Columbia etc. really won’t have an impact on your b school app. A Princeton Econ major versus a Columbia Poli Sci. major for instance doesn’t matter. They are both in the same category of top schools. It all depends on what you do with yourself AFTER you finish school. What you should be asking is not which major and school will get me to the best B School for me, but which major and which school will give me the access to the best and most interesting jobs and experiences after school.</p>