Yes, @Data10, but those are Stanford history majors. They may have been hired primarily because Stanford is so highly respected. In fact, they could have gotten their jobs in spite of their major rather than because of it.
A history major from a less awesome school might have a very different experience in the job market.
Meaning no disrespect to anyone doing this type of work, but I would add that not only could they have gotten their jobs in spite of their major, they could have also landed the jobs in spite of Stanford. (But that is a discussion for another thread I suppose)
LAC grad here, history major, and went on to veterinary school… history can add depth to a resume provided you take the prerequisites/classes necessary for the next step if there is a program that will follow undergraduate program.
Yes, that may be a significant factor in the undergraduate major origins of MBA students. Some majors may have more pre-professionally oriented students and/or may be preferentially recruited into jobs where work experience impresses MBA admissions readers, so those majors may be over-represented among MBA students for those reasons.
The point was the types of jobs that are available for history majors. Most of the jobs are not specific to Stanford. For example one could become a paralegal, become a project manager, teach high school history, work in a museum, . without a Stanford degree. You can probably find similar lists for other colleges, but the ones I am familiar with tend to be the colleges that are more frequently discussed on this site, rather than less selective colleges. Vanderbilt has another good summary, which is quoted below.
As @LOUKYDAD mentioned, there is a question as to whether you would enjoy business school at the MBA level if you don’t enjoy it at the undergraduate level. Assuming you still want to go for an MBA, at the elite levels (which is all I know something about), good grades and scores are typically a prerequisite but typically the quality of your post-undergraduate work is what gets you in to business school. Did you do interesting things, exhibit leadership, etc. that show that you are likely to be a success later? Working backwards, the issue is how do you get those kinds of jobs if you are a history major. As others here have mentioned, history majors can get good jobs, though getting internships in college probably meaningfully raises the probability of doing so. In the current job market, I’d suggest to humanities majors building up some expertise in data analysis or coding as they may be the key to getting you in the door for lots of jobs @mathmom’s son did a little bit of programming that made him helpful, as an example, above and beyond his writing skills… Also, I suspect that a number of humanities majors get their early career breaks (internships or first jobs) in part through connections (parents, professors, etc.) – I have no data here but seem to see that among my well-connected friends, their humanities major kids get good jobs in part due to the parents’ connections. Without those connections, I’d suggest adding some technical skills to your quiver.
Incidentally, I believe @MYOS1634 is correct that undergraduate business degrees tend to be under-represented (relative to number of applicants) at elite schools (with a couple of exceptions like Wharton) because most elite schools don’t have business majors and perhaps in part because they don’t see the undergraduate business programs producing the exceptional performers but I don’t know if that is true.
Undergraduate business does get more popular at less selective colleges. For example, looking at Common Data Set section J, a flagship state university grants 4% of its bachelor’s degrees in business. At a nearby much less selective commuter-heavy state university, 25.7% of bachelor’s degrees are in business.
History degree? Why not? Too many students focus on the name of the major instead of what’s likely to be important to future employers: skills. By “skills” I would list research, writing, speaking, computing (coding), statistics, language, international experience, work experience, initiative and leadership (ENERGY level).
The major matters for some occupations, and also for access to some graduate programs. But all those other things are likely to matter more in the job market. While admission to some types of graduate programs (e.g., law, medicine) is driven by gpa and test scores, for many, perhaps most, it is not all grades and test scores. Even for MBA’s while having a good GPA and high GMAT score is important, work experience and leadership are critical for admission to the best programs. You can major in ART and get into a top 10 business school if you have good 3-5 years of work experience and other skills along with credible grades and GMAT. (I know this is true because my daughter did just that.)
A history degree from where exactly?
A history degree from Yale is not the same as one from Arizona State.
The former an actually get you a job with a top bank or consulting firm after graduation. The latter, not so much.
history major,
My D is a Literature major so I’m going to stay out of this conversation. ;))