Is an undergrad business degree worth it?

College Majors Business Major
1

<p>How valuable is it to just have an undergraduate degree in business? Especially in the declining economy, can one still recieve job offers right out of college without a background in any other field? I am seriously considering pursuing an undergrad degree in business, but am wondering if it would be better to get an undergraduate degree in something like engineering and then later pursue an MBA. I have heard people say that some employers don't like to hire people who have no background besides business - is this true? Finally, how much of a difference does getting a degree from a top business school (Wharton, McIntire, Mendoza, etc.) make in getting a job?</p>

<p>Any help/info/advice would be greatly appreciated.</p>

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<p>Normally, I would NOT recommend an undergradate degree in "general "business. However, there are some notable exceptions:</p>

<p>First, if you go to a name schools such as Wharton, NYU, CMU etc., any degree in any business subject would be fine for jobs.</p>

<p>Second, if you don’t go to a famous named school, you should consider only certain business majors that are in high demand. Examples would be accounting, acturarial studies, statistics, and maybe operations research and mathematical finance. In fact, these in-demand majors would also be good choices at named schools too.</p>

<p>Surprisingly, I wouldn’t recommend most other business majors. Thus, I would generally advise staying away from business administration, marketing, management, etc. unless you have a family business and you need management skills. </p>

<p>Even if you want some form of sales, I wouldn’t advise majoring in marketing. You would probably be better served majoring in psychology. </p>

<p>I should note that if you have some entrepreneural ideas and want to run your own business, you might want to consider entrepreneural studies,which could provide a strong overall business acuman and help facilitate your business ideas.</p>

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<p>Business is one of the more marketable degrees along with those in engineering. Accounting is generally regarded as the surest shot for a good job (McCombs accounting students have a 99% job placement rate for example). Engineering pays more right out of school, but the pay increases slowly throughout your career in comparison. Also, engineering degrees are pretty specialized so unless you want to be that type of engineer or be the boss of that type of engineer, they won’t help you much in other business ventures.</p>

<p>I’ve heard of employers who don’t like to hire people with business degrees for business positions (go figure) but most of your desirable business jobs will look at you first if you’re in the business school. Also, the people that hire non-business majors are looking for people in philosophy or psychology or something very general where you’re not really going to learn the inner workings of a business, which is what I want a degree for. </p>

<p>Overall, I think you’ll have more job offers and learn more relevant skills in a business school.</p>

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<p>

You’re silly. All schools have names.</p>

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<p>Can more people add on to this thread? Cuz people tell me undergrad business is BS but if thats the case why are median starting salaries for people graduating from undergrad business schools pretty high? I’m looking at Business Week’s list of the top undergraduate programs and so many average starting salaries were like, at the $50k+ range. Surely undergrad business isn’t BS? Or is it?! Is an undergrad business degree only worth it if you’re graduating from a top 10 undergrad biz program like USC for instance? Cuz if so thats great cuz I’m going to USC haha.</p>

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<p>It is BS that’s why so few people get business degrees from undergrad. If I were you I’d major is something more prolific like rhetoric. ;)</p>

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<p>Engineering pays more than accounting at every point in one’s career, on average. Stop being misinformed, go read a book, or a blog, or salary data. Just stop spreading this drek on the internet and being so misinformed.</p>

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<p>If you’re really interested in business for an undergraduate major then your best bet is to save it until post-grad. The best advice you’ll ever hear is this - Bachelor of Mathematics, or applied if you must, followed by the Master of Business. These days you can’t get more fire power than that along the lines of your interests.</p>

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<p>Also is this, too many people nowadays, especially undergraduates, have either BUS or ECO as their concentration and with those you’re a dime a dozen. You need to separate yourself from the crowd if you want the top spot. Plus, not to mention, math is undoubtably the best preparation for any field, and even more so in business. After all, its not only the universal language, but its the language of money. Upon completion you’ll have most of the skills you need for acing tests like the GMAT, and if thats not your road then you’ll at least be able to answer the math-based questions on the fly that top interviewers such as GS for example have always been know to ask. A lot of the time believe it or not, proficiency in mathematics can be determining factor for your hire.</p>

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<p>At today’s college costs it’s not a great deal; and I understand college costs are quite a bit more today than 30 years ago (and my father still complains during holiday visits “it cost him forty thousand dollars to put me through school”). It is not that I am against college because I am definitely not! The education, experience and memories are priceless, and I would have done it again in a heartbeat; with three modifications.</p>

<h1>1) If I had gone again it would DEFINITLY NOT be in Economics, Business, Finance, etc.; I would only have gone for what I like to call a “skilled” degree. If you have a business degree or the likes you may as well go for Liberal Arts, General Studies, Basket weaving or the likes (at least you can party more). If you must go with any of the above degrees I would strongly recommend getting a law degree rather than an MBA. I would have best benefited from a degree in Pharmacy, Accounting, Nursing, Engineering or becoming a Physical Therapist…At least you have a professional shingle to hang out and use, OR do something else with. “Want to be a in law enforcement, have that law degree cause you can always go into law or politics but not with a criminal justice degree”. “Want to sell bricks (I know someone who does this and does pretty well), but I would have an engineering degree behind me”. “Want to be a pharmaceutical sales rep, have a pharmacy degree”. “Want to work in Insurance, have a BSN in nursing”. Even if you decide later you want to be an executive at a medical supply company, with a dental license you can do it…because you can, and still have a “real” degree to fall back on. By “real” degree I mean, a “skilled” or “professional” degree that allows you to be what you want, or go back on your license in the worst of times (like now). Be a CFO with a finance degree and when you’re laid-off, don’t be surprised finding yourself starting your own business or selling insurance.</h1>

<h1>2) If I went back to school it would be to a community college, then to a local 4 yr. college to finish up. Take half the money spend at the big name school and put it into an annuity to mature at age 48 (30 yrs. sounds like a nice round figure). That way regardless of where life takes you, you can know at 48 years old you have a solid stream of income or play money FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE…(it may come in handy if/when there is NO Social Security or Medicare).</h1>

<p>Lastly, #3…No-one ever hired me because of the school I went to…they just required I had a 4 yr. degree from an “accredited” school to get my foot in the door. I myself have hired better employees from the local college than from the Wharton School of Business (true story…he was an idiot!). School names (except for Ivy league; yea ok), are just bragging rights…”I went to Texas, I went to USC”, yea, I went to “who gives a dam”! “DO YOU HAVE A DEGREE?” Unless the employer went to the same school, I never experienced it mattering (maybe what was my GPA, or degree in). “Harvard, Yale?…sure come right in…but Penn State or the University of North West Southern Detroit…”I’ll take the better applicant and the skilled degree”. I know plumbers, electricians and cops that make more than college grads (although yes, Law Enforcement is requiring a degree in most cities).<br>
I hope this opinion (and it is just an opinion from the school of “my life”) has caused some controversy as I never said I was right or wrong…It is just a blog. I will say I wish someone would have told this to me in 1982 because, not only did my degree in Economics from a top state university do little for me, my MBA did less (except it is cool to put “MBA” after your name on your business card)! But if you don’t want a manager job at Payless Shoes, think about it…at least before responding. Thanks!</p>

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<p>Here is the deal with UG business. Accounting and Finance are key. Accounting anywhere is a good choice, finance at a school with brand recognition and alumni on the street. Ivy League schools mainly have econ degrees which is a close runner up to finance. </p>

<p>Engineering is a great major, as is nursing and stuff like that. General business degree’s are not going to help you much, especially when you are competing against people tangible majors. </p>

<p>I agree with the community college statement. </p>

<p>School name is important, but don’t go nuts with the debt. Networking is one of the best ways to get a job and if you go to a school with a limited or geographically limited alumni base you will find it hard to go elsewhere. </p>

<p>MBA is basically branding. If you can’t get into a top 20 business school go part time or have work pay for it. Your ROI isn’t going to be high enough to justify taking two years off and $100K plus in debt for three letter.</p>

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<p>“How valuable is it to just have an undergraduate degree in business? Especially in the declining economy, can one still recieve job offers right out of college without a background in any other field?”</p>

<p>There are ALOT of business majors out there. If it is what you are interested in, go for it but be aware that it is competitive. With that said, plenty of business students get good offers right out of college. So, it is more than possible. </p>

<p>Like others have said, try to specialize, so that it is not just a “general business degree.” But if your school doesn’t offer that, don’t sweat it, just make sure you take enough classes to “specialize” in something (accounting, MIS…etc). </p>

<p>“Finally, how much of a difference does getting a degree from a top business school (Wharton, McIntire, Mendoza, etc.) make in getting a job?”</p>

<p>This also probably depends on the type of job you are looking for and in what region. In most cases, going to one of the best business schools in your state (whether there is a “name” school or not) is a good bet and you will likely get lots of recruiters from companies located in that state/region. For example, if you want to live/work in your current location, it probably would not be necessary to move across the country to go to a “name” school; it’d be more practical to go to a top program located in your state.</p>

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<p>I have an MBA.</p>

<p>However, in my opinion, if you get an undergraduate degree in business from a top school, you will not even need to get an MBA.</p>

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<p>Is Haas a reputable b-school?</p>

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<p>Yes, Haas is a top school.</p>

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<p>An MBA remains one of the hottest graduate degrees, but you need to go through at least six years of school to get there. Because it’s so prestigious, an MBA is also amongst the costliest college programs, especially at top-tier B-schools and universities.</p>

<p>I don’t think it’s a bad idea to pursue an undergraduate business degree if you are okay starting your career at a lower rung than an MBA grad would typically do. A Bachelor’s [degree</a> in Business Administration]( <a href=“http://www.cc-sd.edu/business/bachelors/business-administration]degree”>http://www.cc-sd.edu/business/bachelors/business-administration) or something related would qualify you for entry-level business roles. Once you get started, your academic background and experience would make it easy for you to rise up the ranks.</p>

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<p>I’ve graduated with a BS (really b/s) in Business Management, and I’m having a hard time just finding any job. If I had known how hard it is to find a job in this field (regardless of the economy) I would not have signed up for it. Even when you choose a specific major, as it was mantioned here, such as HR that would mean that the only jobs you’ll be lookig for is in that field. And we all know that out of, for example, 100 employees in one company there is only one or two doing the HR work, so it’s hard to get into. You do not need a degree to become an Assistant Manager, or even a manager, so unless you have experience then your chances of getting a job that would pay you what’s expected for that much school are small. Business field requires experience, and you won’t get a job right after you graduate, then when you do don’ t expect to be paid more than what’s worth for a HS or an Associates, much much less then what you’d hoped for. So… after spending all of my savings, not working cause I had to study, I dont’ even have the money to buy the clothes for the interview, so this is just my experience, but none of my classmates have found a job in our field yet, and it’s been 5 months since we graduated.</p>

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<p>how is business program in Sacramento state?</p>

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<p>Ambusiness: That is very unfortunate. What school did you graduate from? GPA?</p>