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then you have to major in business because the top firms won't think to recruit at your school.
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<p>Well, the firms will be recruiting at major schools. Whether you, as a non-business major, will know about it or be a candidate they would be interested in is another subject. It is quite likely that non-business majors have to do more legwork to find a position in business. However, they are not necessarily precluded from business jobs. It would really vary school by school, company by company, and even job role (finance, marketing, IT, etc).</p>
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So would they start lower in the company than a business major? Less starting salary?
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<p>No. When you graduate from college you pretty are much at the bottom of the food chain and you don't know $hit regardless of whether you majored in business, engineering, or something else.</p>
<p>I was wondering, whenever I look at the average starting salaries for liberal arts majors and business majors, I'm amazed that there's a huge disparity. Liberal Arts - 33k & Business - 45k</p>
<p>Would a liberal arts graduate get paid as much to do the same job as a business graduate?
Could the pay disparity be explained simply by the fact that a business graduate would have more justification in asking for a higher starting salary than someone with just a business minor?</p>
<p>The pay disparity can be explained by liberal arts graduates generally not going into the same fields as business graduates often do.</p>
<p>Work experience > everything else, though. If two people are applying to, I don't know, work at UBS or something--and one of those people graduated with a degree in finance and did nothing worth mentioning over his summers, and another graduated with a degree in philosophy or French or something and interned twice in asset management at say BoA and then Wells Fargo, the second person is going to get the job. A business degree is worth more than an other degree not because of what you necessarily learn (I'm sure some people are going to argue with me, but not every school is Wharton) but because it makes your life easier when it comes to entry-level jobs and internships when you're in school.</p>
<p>I'm a business school professor. Yes, lots of jobs in business (and no, its not just ibanking..) for non-business majors. You needn't be at some top 10 school either. Many many employers prefer more well rounded students than those found in business undergrad programs. Your access to the first job might be more difficult, but its completely doable. </p>
<p>All MBA programs require work experience. Most of the time its in business. Most of the applicants were not business undergrads. </p>
<p>If my child wanted to into a business career, I would NOT want them doing an undergrad in business.</p>
<p>"In most cases you don't need a creative-savant to carry out the responsibilities of an entry level positions."</p>
<p>How can you compare someone who majored in something in liberal arts to a creative-savant? By definition, someone with a classical education will be extremely different from a savant. What are you thinking?</p>
<p>"Would a liberal arts graduate get paid as much to do the same job as a business graduate?
Could the pay disparity be explained simply by the fact that a business graduate would have more justification in asking for a higher starting salary than someone with just a business minor?"</p>
<p>Nope, I would assume that the disparity comes from the difference in jobs taken by "liberal arts graduates" and business graduates. Think about your high school teachers. In general, your english teacher majored in english, or literature. Your math teacher majored in math. Your history teacher majored in history. Your biology teacher majored in biology, and so on. I think it would be safe to say that the majority of BBA's go on to work in business, with jobs that have the starting pay around the 45k mark. As for liberal arts graduates, they go on to teach, work in business, med school, law school and many other things. Might be way off the mark here, but just what came to mind.</p>
<p>"If my child wanted to into a business career, I would NOT want them doing an undergrad in business."</p>
<p>Can you explain this? I'm just a high school senior, so in reality, I don't know very much about the business world. I have been reading this forum for a while, and what I have taken from Vectorwega is, and correct me if i'm wrong, that if you are sure that you want to go into business there is no reason not to major in business unless you are just interested in studying another subject. Majoring in something different from business, with the plan to return for your MBA is kind of silly because with a BBA, you might be able to accomplish what you want without going back for an MBA. If you are sure that you want to go into business, a business major is the best path. Just what I have taken from some of your previous posts VectorWega. Again, correct me if I'm wrong. I, like many other College Confidential users, am a High School senior and trying to decide what I should do in college.</p>
<p>""In most cases you don't need a creative-savant to carry out the responsibilities of an entry level positions."</p>
<p>How can you compare someone who majored in something in liberal arts to a creative-savant? By definition, someone with a classical education will be extremely different from a savant. What are you thinking?" </p>
<p>Did you just write that post to point out the difference between the explicit meaning of savant and the implicit meaning many people hold for the word? I was only saying that in the mind of an employer their new hires do not necessarily need to be someone who is unique or a more creative thinker (something some "liberal arts majors" emphasize). This is only an internet forum after all.</p>