I need help deciding on a major

<p>First and foremost, I'm an INFP according to the MBTI and a Helper Idealist according to the Keirsey Temperament Sorter.</p>

<p>I'm a freshman in college, and I can't decide what I'm going to major in. First of all, I really like Economics. I have the mindset for it, I've read books on theory and I've already asked myself most of the questions they've posed beforehand. However, I want to go to business school to get an MBA in the future and it's known to me that Business/Econ majors aren't preferred in the admission process.</p>

<p>Another thing is that I like singing. I've been singing for years, had private vocal training for a while and I've sung in collegiate choirs for 3 years now. I love the discipline that comes with it, and every time I sing I feel like I'm playing with creation.I believe it's something I need to excel not only in college but in life. The thing is I don't want to be a musician but I want to study it. A minor's not enough for me in my mind because I can't study performance.</p>

<p>And lastly, I have a fresh interest for programming. I've learned how to do mostly webscripting and front-end design using HTML, CSS and Javascript, and I have a partner with whom I'm currently working on projects with. I've also heard many great stories from Comp/Sci majors, like how a friend's brother got a job at Apple straight out of college with a 25k signing bonus.</p>

<p>If any of you can help me put things in perspective, I would very much appreciated. I accept all comments, be as blunt as you want to be. Thank you.</p>

<p>Why do you think business/econ aren’t preferring in the MBA admissions process? I don’t think that is true…</p>

<p>Hey, thanks for replying. My opinions is based on this article: <a href=“http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/11/20/which-undergrad-major-is-most-preferred-by-the-top-mba-programs”>http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2009/11/20/which-undergrad-major-is-most-preferred-by-the-top-mba-programs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

…and how did this become known to you? You say it’s because of the article, but reading the article it doesn’t say that business and economics majors are at a disadvantage in business school admissions. It simply says

? Probably something we already knew: That what you major in doesn’t really matter quite as much as how you do in that major, and how difficult your classes are…MBA programs aren’t looking for majors, or even specializations—honestly (although they won’t ever say this out loud) they probably don’t even care what your major was, as long as your GPA is decent and your GMAT score is good. What they’re looking for are qualities.

Her basic point was that what you do in college and the kind of work experience you get post-college are more important than what you major in. So you can major in economics - if you like it and are interested in it - and still be competitive for admissions to the top business schools, as long as you also develop the other kinds of skills and net the experiences that make people competitive for business school (leadership, internships, and excellent post-college experience). You could also major in computer science and develop them, too. You could probably major in music performance and develop them…but I would be wary, as music performance is usually a very demanding major that requires a lot of time and effort put into developing the craft of voice. You’ll have recitals and concerts, probably private lessons as a requirement of the major, and you may have to attend performances as part of your study. It might not leave a lot of time for business internships and the kinds of extracurriculars in which you can develop leadership skills.

Econ and business majors make up huge chunks of the admitted classes at top business schools. At Harvard, they were 41% of enrolled first-year MBA students; they make up 36% at Yale; business majors alone make up 28% of Columbia’s entering MBA class and 27% of Wharton’s. (Many schools like MIT, Stanford, Columbia, and Wharton collapse economics majors under the social sciences instead of grouping them with business - which is correct, I would say - and so it’s not really possible to tell how many of those social science majors were economics majors. I am betting most of them).