<p>Hey, I am a second semester freshman and I truly do not like ILR (where I am). I would like to transfer to be a gov major, but I would still like to maybe be able to go to law school or business. I know government is conducive to law, but is it feasible to go into business with a government major or would I be hurting myself? Thanks.</p>
<p>Hey Stringa, I’m a current ILR Junior and am sort’ve on the same path. I’m going directly into finance (interning with Goldman Sachs this summer), but have law school as a backup.</p>
<p>If by business, you mean a finance-oriented career like on Wall Street, your major doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>If you want to go to law school, again, your major doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>Just go into the major you’re most interested in. It’s good that you’re thinking about this at the end of your freshman year. If you want to do it, definitely go for it now instead of waiting otherwise you’re going to screw up your graduation timing.</p>
<p>Succinctly, your career options will not be hindered by your major.</p>
<p>you have realized that in govt CAS you will need to take 100/120 credits there? also a language requirement…</p>
<p>you could work ILR to be a mix of govt and business (taking the courses that interest you…and not what’s required by your major)</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, how come you don’t like ILR? I’m a hopeful fall transfer and I would love to hear multiple perspectives on ILR.</p>
<p>so could I get an honest assessment on what would look better on a resume when looking for a job in, say, consulting? or applying for any job for that matter (outside of specific government related fields)</p>
<p>honestly, who the f*** cares which looks marginally better on a resume.</p>
<p>It’s not like you are a French Literature major applying for a Statistical Consulting position in an IBanking firm.</p>
<p>In my opinion, doing ILR has MUCH more to do with business than Govt (govt? Really? for business?)</p>
<p>yeah if you dont like ILR i dont see how you can like doing business to begin with…have you ever worked in a business environment? </p>
<p>unless you’re interested in thinks like advertising…ILR is closer to what real business is like than GOVT would be…</p>
<p>many moons ago when d was accepted into ILR, there was a handout with “sample programs of electives” geared towards your interests for career preparation. (Yes- I kept a folder with all the Cornell info re: kids admittance).</p>
<p>as an example of electives for those interested in being a Financial Analyst - electives and approved ILR courses included:
security and portfolio analysis (Hotel Admin)
financial accounting, managerial finance (ILR approved).
As this info is dated, I’m not listing other courses- but ILR does seem to be very flexible and allows and encourages you to take classes outside of your usual ILR selections.<br>
This handout also included course selection for those interested in Management Consulting, Professor of Psychology, labor Reporter etc. </p>
<p>Point is -ILR allows alot of flexibility in the curriculum. My guess is that it still holds true today.
and stringa- if you are NYS resident, why the heck would you want to pay higher tuition fees? Use the savings towards law school- and pick your electives wisely.</p>
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<p>havent seen something like that recently…i’ll mention the usefulness of literature like that to the recruitment folks…</p>
<p>but yeah the ILR major is a solid critical thinking degree…which is supplemented by awesome electives across cornell…</p>
<p>ILR itself is already starting to implement more courses on globalization…which pairs nicely with my IR minor…</p>
<p>in terms for recruiting for business ILR is marginally better than govt. ILR is generally only specifically recruited for HR jobs. I know many govt majors working at top banks and consulting firms after graduation. </p>
<p>I personally would not put much weight into the comment “if you dont like ILR i dont see how you can like doing business to begin with”… Its not like being in most hotel/ILR/AEM classes are anything close to what it is actually like to work in business. It is completely reasonable to not like those classes and still want to be in business. I am an AEM major, and the classes I enjoyed the most were in Govt and International development, yet I have still loved two business internships.</p>
<p>Consulting/wall street jobs usually recruit university wide, and don’t give preference to major. If I were you, I would transfer to the major you are most interested in. You will likely do better taking classes you enjoy, and a high GPA is key for consulting jobs. </p>
<p>One tip though is that if you potentially want to go into business and are a govt major, you should show interest in business as well. The best way (and most useful for interviews) is to take financial accounting (you dont need managerial accounting), and take corporate finance. Those two classes are going to be really important to show your interest in business (list “relevant coursework” on your resume).</p>
<p>I would look into joining a business oriented club or business fraternity if you find one to be interesting. Or if you really want to show interest, getting a minor in AEM is not very difficult. </p>
<p>[Applied</a> Economics and Management/Cornell](<a href=“Applied Economics and Management Degree Program | Cornell Dyson”>Applied Economics and Management Degree Program | Cornell Dyson)</p>
<p>[ILR</a> Course Offerings](<a href=“http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/studentservices/curriculum/courses.html]ILR”>http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/studentservices/curriculum/courses.html)</p>
<p>This has the course listings by concentration.</p>
<p>well I am currently in ILR and minoring in international relations. the thing that is getting to me is that I feel like the class I am taking, introduction to OB, and predict the same with HR, is not intellectually stimulating at all. I am learning that people need a roof over their head to be happy, and that everybody has a different personality. This is not really what I imagined going to an ivy league school would be like, and I fear that the rest of ILR will be like this. Anybody want to confirm or quell my fears?</p>
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<p>I am also an ILR major with IR/Law&Society Minors…OB and HR introduce you to theories that are similar to those found in other Social Science courses (psychology, business, anthropology, and yes even GOVT (have you taken intro to IR yet?))</p>
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<p>I can quell them. It is only an issue for the two classes you reference. All of the courses in LE, IC, CB, and ST are great. Even some of the upper level OB courses are quite good and very intellectually stimulating, as they essentially become courses in economic sociology.</p>
<p>Also, when I took my intro to OB course eight years ago, we read Rousseau, Voltaire, and Weber, and the median grad on the final was a B-. I suspect some things have changed.</p>
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<p>wasnt OB taught in micro/macro phases? </p>
<p>i liked OB better than HR because HR was simple common sense stuff made difficult by a prettyboy professor…</p>
<p>OB was really great b/c i had already taken psych101 (during a summer in high school) and understood the way social science theories were formulated…</p>
<p>stringa, are you currently in OB with rubineau? If so, I agree the class is a waste of time (same with my current intro HR course), but labor econ is the opposite, and I suspect labor law and collective bargaining, along w/ all the upper level electives will be too.</p>
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<p>Yep! There were two semesters of OB. I took micro as a summer course, and the fact that it was only three weeks long made it mildly tolerable. But macro was a great course – we had two prelims and a final, coupled with a bunch of quizzes and a paper. As I mentioned, we read Weber, Voltaire, and Rousseau, and learned about the Stanford Prison Experiment, the Hawthorne studies, and the reason why the Challenger (and now, the Columbia, too, I suppose) blew up.</p>
<p>i took OB with martine haas (who graduated with a phd from harvard) but unfortunately she went on to teach at penn…i took it the first time OB was taught as 1 semester…</p>
<p>i have always felt that ILR has struggled with finding professors to teach courses…and to offer variety…which is why ILR gives so much room for electives…</p>
<p>^I think rubineau got his PhD from either MIT sloan or Harvard (I think he went to one for undergrad and the other for grad), but the class is still a joke. The material is so easy its not even funny, so to compensate he wrote a test that was extremely difficult to understand the wording of the questions and did nothing but confuse everyone. He wrote it like a lawyer.</p>
<p>He majored in Math and Brain & Cognitive Sciences at MIT, a Masters from the Harvard School of Public Health, and PhD in Organizational Studies at MIT Sloan… anyway, I agree that intro OB at ILR is very problematic, and was even more problematic when I took it when micro and macro OB were split. What’s interesting about the studies being cited isn’t the theory, but the actual studies in which the theory is rooted, and how human behavior can be systematically understood and “engineered” to the benefit of an organization. Unfortunately, the intro course has always been so orphaned from the empirical studies that provide it a compass, that the end result can seem pretty ridiculous. </p>
<p>Cornell forum-goers know that I hold ILR in high esteem, but I would generally agree with Cayuga that OB and HR are missing important intellectual and scientific complementarities with statistics, labor economics, and CB that would promote rigor and share some of the meaty insights that HR and OB research has offered. </p>
<p>I’m afraid to say that my personal experience with advanced OB electives was disappointing, while advanced electives in LE, SS, and CB were more challenging but rewarding. I’m sure there are more rigorous HR/OB electives out there, but my impression is that they’re harder to find.</p>