<p>I am an incoming freshman at USC from Indiana. I was just admitted to Marshall, but I've been having a lot of reservations about the program.</p>
<p>Obviously, job recruiting and connections are second-to-none at Marshall. Moreover, a lot of the finance classes (appear to be) much more relevant to those aspiring to enter the financial services industry. On the other hand, and this might sound kind of stupid, the idea of being a "Business Administration" major really turns me off from the program. I mean, a comprehensive business education is why you get your MBA, right? I feel like being a Business Admin major is sort of a cop-out when you can take more rigorous coursework in the economics/mathematics/comp. sci departments.</p>
<p>That's why I'm considering majoring in economics or economics-mathematics. What kind of reputation do these programs have at SC? I'm shooting for investment banking, and my concern is that I might be making a huge mistake recruiting-wise by leaving Marshall. Does anybody from Economics/Economics-Mathematics break into IB?</p>
<p>I would really appreciate any advice. I'm really, really conflicted here.</p>
<p>Nearly everyone who recruits for IB tends to be a business major or business/accounting double major at usc (I say this with a bit of bias being an accounting major). I’m sure there are a handful of people who come out of engineering/math as well but they would be a minority. If you are looking to get more of a quant background then I’d suggest a business major with focus on finance so you can take the valuations and investment courses and then consider a quantitative minor or model a minor after after: [USC</a> Dornsife: Mathematical Finance | USC Catalogue](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/cat2011/schools/college/finance.html]USC”>http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/cat2011/schools/college/finance.html) Keep in mind this is a graduate program but you can use it as a model for taking similar classes (the math/econ courses outlined) unless you could somehow petition to get in as an undergrad.</p>
<p>Are you saying Business Admin is too easy? </p>
<p>The Economics vs Business argument inevitably centers around the idea that learning theory is in some way superior to learning application; yet you never hear those arguments about Physics being “better” for you than Engineering. If you want to go into business then study business, if you want to go into economics and study economic theory, study economics.</p>
<p>I agree. And to add to that point, most likely your first job out of college will have little to do with your exact major and you’ll have to re-learn everything for that company. You should understand that most jobs/careers out there are nearly 100% “trainable” which means it’s not so much what your educational background is, but whether you learned the skills to pick things up and learn as you go - so pick the major that you think will stimulate you the most intellectually and challenge you to think, learn, and question, as you’ll have to do in the real world.</p>
<p>@Kulukai: I knew Marshall was strong, but I didn’t know that nearly everyone recruited for IB was in the program. As an aside, do you know how common it is for Marshall grads to go into IB? Do a lot of boutiques and mid-markets in addition to the bulge brackets come to recruit? </p>
<p>@Vinceh: I wasn’t insinuating that the business admin. major is too easy, but I guess I’m partial to the humanities (economics/mathematics). And I completely agree with your physics vs. engineering analogy. I guess my gripe is that I have little to no interest in 50% of the Marshall core curriculum (bstats, marketing, management, bcom, etc.) when I could be taking econ/math/cs courses instead. It’s the opportunity cost I suppose.</p>
<p>@grabbit: Those were my thoughts exactly! I wanted to major in something very quantitative and less vocational than the business school, but not at the expense of investment banking recruiting. </p>
<p>@ShiftMake11 - everyone recruits here more or less but keep in mind USC is a semi-target meaning they don’t recruit heavily for NYC (though USC does send IB recruits to nyc each year, check out the NYC IB trip for marshall students). They primarily recruit for LA/SF and Asia offices. I’d suggest business/accounting dual major or business/quant dual major(may be hard with engineering but doable with math or econ) or business/quant minor.</p>
<p>Engineering is such a heavy load that it is hard to dual major with it and something else and finish within 4 years. Considering reaching out to [Trojan</a> Investing Society |](<a href=“http://www.usctis.com/]Trojan”>http://www.usctis.com/) for advice too since they are the student org that people join if they’re aiming for IB. They have the IB mentor program and host the bulge bracket and boutique/mid-market IB networking panels each semester.</p>
<p>@Kulukai I think that’s definitely the way to go; business/quant or business/accounting both sound like a great combination from both a recruiting and intellectual standpoint. I’m rather impartial to working in a NY office–I would much rather work in a tech group in SF anyways lol. I have also heard amazing things about TIS so I’ll hit the ground running with that. </p>
<p>Also keep in mind the TIS faculty advisor is Professor Julia Plotts who also teaches the FBE valuations course (Basically the IB class) and she is a great resource for networking to get summer analyst internships. Also scroll down here to read about the nyc trip:
[USC</a> Marshall Career Development](<a href=“USC Marshall”>USC Marshall)</p>
<p>A fellow Hoosier! Which part of Indiana are you from? </p>
<p>I’m in a similar situation; I’m admitted as a political science major but am considering a switch to econ or business. I’m actually thinking International Relations might be the route to take, that would combine business and politics, plus allow me to brush up on my spanish!</p>
<p>@Calej, South Bend, actually. My dad is a professor at Notre Dame and I get all sorts of glares around town when I rock my USC gear. It’s awesome haha.</p>
<p>@ShiftMake11: Your dad is a ND professor…and you’re going to USC?! I can’t imagine he took that too easily. Wouldn’t you get free tuition going to ND too? I thought ND had a pretty decent business program though I guess the schools are completely different otherwise.</p>