Is Haas worth the risk?

<p>Since only 50% get in from the pre-business major, is it worth taking the risk and attending Berkeley?</p>

<p>If the only thing you can possibly see yourself doing is business, no. You don’t want to be sitting through the last two years of an econ major going “man, this is terrible, I hate my major”. And I’ve heard way too many stories of people who have that happen to them.</p>

<p>^hmm, see I’m fine with Econ, but I’d prefer studying business for four years. Do Econ students generally enjoy their major (this may be a dumb question, but I’d like to know)?</p>

<p>What do they think of coursework difficulty, career opportunities, and etc?</p>

<p>Are you guys sure you want to do business? I was pretty sure that was what I wanted when applying to college, mostly because I was really active in a business club and thought it was cool. I applied to USC Marshall/Wharton/everything with a business school and chose Berkeley thinking I was doing Haas.</p>

<p>So I got here, took some business prereqs, met the people in the major, and realized I was really not into it at all. I would really rather learn something in my 4 years of college and take classes where I learn something more than just how to be professional, interact with people, and fill out accounting statements. The business classes are not actually challenging at all, the only reason it is “hard” is because the material is really boring and you have to memorize so much random information to beat the curve. All getting into Haas really requires is that you put in the time and effort to do well in the classes and you work on getting a resume that sounds impressive (doesn’t actually have to be impressive). And I’m not so sure about the amazing “job opportunities” Business majors get… maybe for Finance majors, but I went to a business career fair here and the “best” positions they had were like to be a retail manager for a section in Target. And wouldn’t you want an MBA anyway?? That just seems like the biggest waste of 4 years possible, especially in a university like Berkeley.</p>

<p>Anyway that’s my rant. I’m just really glad I chose Berkeley because I got to switch very easily into other majors that were also very highly ranked (MCB and Econ). If I had ended up in USC or Wharton I would have been a declared major from the beginning and would have probably been stuck there.</p>

<p>Several people I know in Haas like to think of it as their double major, something to supplement their main interest and boost their resume and career opportunities. If you were super interested in business you wouldn’t be spending years 18-22 of your life in school.</p>

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<p>You can change your major. For most colleges, it’s always easier to transfer out of business school than transfer into business school.</p>

<p>I just meant that Wharton/USC have their own business schools that you’re in from the beginning and you follow a set program. Here you’re just undeclared along with everyone else in L&S and just feel a lot more flexible in choosing classes. And both Upenn and USC have excellent business programs, but are nowhere near Berkeley in their rankings for most other programs.</p>

<p>But isn’t the pre-business major in Berkekey also has to take some prereq of business in order to apply for HAAS?</p>

<p>The only business class you have to take before applying is UGBA 10. The rest is just econ, math, stats, english, breadth stuff.</p>

<p>Hey, I am currently debating whether to attend berkeley or nyu stern. I have always wanted to study business but I was thinking that I wanted to obtain an MBA in grad school anyway so what do you guys think what be the best choice?</p>

<p>@polymorphism - I googled some threads you can look at, which are below. I’m not trying to be rude, but I’d appreciate it if we kept this thread strictly about Haas and if it’s worth attending Berkeley b/c of it. (Perhaps you can start another thread?)</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/new-york-university/501711-nyu-berkeley.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/new-york-university/501711-nyu-berkeley.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/business-major/51310-berkeley-nyu.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/business-major/51310-berkeley-nyu.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/883641-i-banking-nyu-stern-berkeley-haas.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/883641-i-banking-nyu-stern-berkeley-haas.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>do Haas grads ever get an MBA afterward? It seems that getting an undergrad business degree from a great school like Berkeley negates the need for an MBA in later years…but it seems that really competitive, brilliant kids from Berkeley wouldnt forgo the opportunity for an MBA when they get older…</p>

<p>Any answers?</p>

<p>Adding to missionewokzzz question, would it be better to obtain a bachelor’s from an easier school or one that is not as well known for business if we plan to get an MBA later on?</p>

<p>I’m currently a freshman and was also dead set on business. Penn (Wharton) was my first choice. I also came to Berkeley thinking I would apply to Haas and major in BA. Having said that, I’m no longer an intended business major; luckily both UGBA 10 and Econ 1 (I’m taking both right now) can be used as Humanities/Social Science breadths for one of the majors I’m intending to switch into (Chemical engineering in the College of Chemistry).</p>

<p>If you’re going to eventually get an MBA, don’t do business for undergrad. Also, for most MBA programs, if not all of them, you would need to get some work experience prior to getting admitted; it’s not feasible to go to b-school right after undergrad unless you’re amazing and started your own successful business (at least that’s what I’ve heard about the top b-schools). </p>

<p>I figure I can check out some business textbooks and learn on my own. I’m thinking of pursuing an MBA later down the road. The curriculum is really underwhelming to me, and I think I would be wasting my time pursuing business for undergrad. Econ 1 is so boring (is it only me who doesn’t find Olney that amazing?? Maybe it’s because I’ve learned half the material already in HS and would’ve preferred more math and less writing in this course). UGBA 10 reminds me of HS with its memorization scantron exams but coupled with curves. </p>

<p>I was also considering ORMS (Operations Research & Management Science) alongside BA. While I don’t find BA that appealing or challenging, ORMS is a great and hard major (impacted as well), and is like business/financial engineering. It’s heavy on Math, Stats and Computer Science, sprinkled with Econ. IEOR (Industrial Engineering & Operations Research) is the College of Engineering version of ORMS (more engineering courses, less flexible). Now these two majors are very worthwhile in my opinion and you would actually learn something rigorous. Having said that, I find IEOR boring and to an extent hard because I could care less about all of its applied math.</p>

<p>Thanks for your input tuttyfruit - I didn’t know about the ORMS major until now and I just looked it up - it seems really cool!</p>

<p>so what was the final consensus on going to berkeley and risking it for the haas program. I’m in the same boat. I’m guaranteed a spot in the business program at university of utah. . . I know it’s wayyy less prestigious, but at least its guaranteed and I got a full scholarship. </p>

<p>I just don’t want to go to cal, kill my GPA, don’t get into haas, and then graduate with thousands of dollars in debt and zero job.</p>