<p>Many students study economics at a LAC hoping to pursue a business career. Others attend an undergraduate program in business at a university. What are the pros and cons of each? What opportunities (post-graduation) does a degree in economics offer? I'd be interested to hear from people who have experience in either realm.</p>
<p>twinmom - I hope someone has some ideas on this subject because this is our question too. Daughter is trying to decide on LAC with Economics degree that would set us back 20,000 year or LAC with Business degree that would set us back 10,000. I also think its important to look at the individual school and see what kind of internships are available.</p>
<p>Last year my D was deciding between finance/business at NYU-Stern and an Econ.(possibly) degree at U.Chicago. Visited both, sat in on classes, loved both; even wrote the deposit checks to both on April 30. After hours of discussion, reading, talking with friends, and self-analysis, she came down to breakfast on May 1 and said "I cannot restrict myself to a business school". And that was it.</p>
<p>We had actually spoken with a few friends in Corporations who had undergraduate business degrees, and they said that they felt they had missed out on something. One of them went back for a Master's in a Social Science.</p>
<p>The top investment banking Cos recruit graduates from LACs as well as business schools. Some business schools have excellent corporate relationships and great records of summer internships.</p>
<p>How sure is your child that they want to study business? And what about what type of school would your child fit in? At Stern, the student body has the reputation of being cutthroat competitive from what we heard.</p>
<p>For the most part, there is no strong general answer to this question. As a rough rule of thumb, business programs are more "focused" on professional preparation than economics departments -- which purport to provide a general liberal arts education. But it matters much less than you think unless the specific business program has some particular internships or feeder arrangements with specific companies you care about. In some schools business programs are weaker or less rigorous than the econ programs and vice-versa. Big employers may sometimes know which is which, or they may not care. Moreover, the B-school profs are often recruited from top PhD programs in econ.</p>
<p>I personally am biased in favor of a general econ degree for its flexibility (being an econ prof myself) but truthfully cannot make a definitive argument one way or another. This is one of the LEAST important choices most students will have to make. This is NOT like choosing between an MBA or a PhD in econ. </p>
<p>Also, an econ student can become more businesslike by taking accounting and finance classes. A business student can branch out by taking more straight math and upper division econ.</p>
<p>You can major in anything and go on to work in business, so I think the much more important question is what your kids want to study. </p>
<p>Most business programs (at least the top ones) have a strong liberal arts component, so saying that they are "restrictive" isn't accurate. At Wharton you still have to talk almost half your classes in arts and sciences.</p>
<p>But with business programs, you will be required to do the finance, accounting, marketing, management, etc that not only won't be required of Econ, but in a lot of cases won't be offered or available at all at the institution (unless like Penn it has a ug business school and an arts & sciences school).</p>
<p>Some people want to steer clear of things like accounting but take classes like marketing - in those cases maybe a lib arts curriculum is better and you can just dabble in some business courses (provided they are available).</p>
<p>Other people really want to learn the fundamentals of business and get in-depth knowledge in a particular area - like marketing - and in that case, a business curriculum is better because that is in fact what you want to learn and study.</p>
<p>My advice would be to look over the various curricula at the schools to see exactly what they entail and how much flexibility they have.</p>
<p>Ummmm...no-one said that business programs are "restrictive", in case you are referring to my post. I said my D did not want to restrict herself to a B-school. Slight difference.</p>
<p>A BS in economics could be an entry ticket to a corporate management program.<br>
Most likely, BS in Econ will require MS or even PHD in Econ to work in the economics field.</p>
<p>BS. in accounting, marketing, management, etc at a business school would qualify the student into entry level corporate jobs such as auditors, management trainess, marketing assistants etc.</p>
<p>my experience is a somewhat unique one but regardless of which direction your daughtor goes i would STRONGLY recommend that she become as mathematically proficient as possible. i am set to graduate this may with a double major in mathematics and economics and though i am going the grad school route myself (foundations of mathematics), i have been contacted on numerous occasions by professors whose corporate friends were looking for mathematically talented economics students. a few of the offers definitely made me think twice (and in one case forced a very serious conversation with my parents).</p>
<p>my recommendation would be to look for the postgraduate placement reports at the two schools you are considering. while on average economics graduates make more than business graduates out of college (a recent survey found that economics was actually the highest paying major for women), the quality of business programs varies pretty wildly from school to school.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for your input and great suggestions. Looks like it will be the economics route here.</p>
<p>Ericatbucknell - I'd be very interested to hear about the kinds of offers you've had if you're willing to share (either on the forum or by PM) ... also, by any chance do you have a link to the survey you're referring to?</p>
<p>Most Ibanks and consulting firms only recruit at very select top 10-20 LAC's and only take select top students who can pass their screening. If it is below that you are in for a much tougher time finding a good business job out of a LAC.</p>
<p>i find both econ and business interesting. I personally wouldn't be able to choose. How about just doing econ for undergrad and business for grad or vise versa.</p>
<p>which are good LACs for econ undergrad??</p>
<p>This thread started in 2006. </p>
<p>Things have changed, called recession, since then. How does that change your decision about eco degree vs biz school? One thing that may be different is that fewer kids go to grad school straight out of college. Not sure if that’s everywhere, but it’s true in this house.</p>
<p>Claremont McKenna</p>
<p>My daughter who considered to double major in business realized it was not for her by reading course catalog - just the descriptions of the finance/accounting/marketing/management proved to be enough…</p>
<p>This is an old thread, but there are colleges where you can have the best of both worlds. For example, at University of Michigan you don’t enter the business school until junior year. You have a lot of freedom to study other things for the first two years. Then the last two years, you buckle down on accounting, marketing, finance, operations, business law, etc. It used to be that you didn’t even know if you could enter the B school until junior year, but I believe that has changed and you can apply when you enter as a freshman (but you actually still start your studies in the subject as a junior).</p>
<p>As someone who works in business, it seems like no one has pointed out that business majors study the various components of BUSINESS. Economics majors do not get into the nuts and bolts of it, but instead the broader outlines and theories. I was an undergrad business major (at U of Mich), and as a long time consultant I regularly find that those core business classes give me a leg up on those around me. Understanding the basics of many areas of business can be very helpful if you are gonig to make a living at it, and I think it has given me a competitive edge in my career. Translating into both $, and the ability to move among assignments and companies more freely than my peers.</p>
<p>I have no beef with an LAC education, and definitely see the value of critical thinking and communication skills that one can develop at an LAC (D1 goes to an LAC, not sure yet where D2 will attend). But if you know you want to work in business (or if you suspect you will end up there anyway… that is where an awful lot of the jobs are :)), there is something to be said for the more targeted classes of a business major.</p>
<p>"For example, at University of Michigan you don’t enter the business school until junior year. "</p>
<p>This is not true. You enter the business school starting your sophomore year. If you don’t enter until your junior year then you MUST take at minimum 4 and a half years to graduate, since Ross requires 5 consecutive semesters of Ross classes. I don’t know if it was different when you were an undergrad (because you said you went here), but it is not that way now. </p>
<p>I would like to point out that business isn’t training to be an investment banker. There isn’t a major that is designed to set people up for investment banking. The argument “investment banks recruit at schools X, Y, and Z too” should have no importance. </p>
<p>I’d also like to point out that the choice between Econ and Business at generic mediocre state university isn’t the same as the choice between Econ and Business at MIT (or whatever top schools you want to substitute MIT with). The factors in making this decision are completely different for the average Joe as they are for the best and the brightest. Average Joe isn’t going to work at Goldman Sachs or McKinsey, no matter what he majors in. Best and brightest student can work for either regardless of which major they picked. Average Joe’s job options will be more heavily influenced on his major, and thus, his priorities will be different. </p>
<p>It is my opinion that it makes more sense for Average Joe to get a BBA over a BA/BS in Econ. This can likely be the only degree Average Joe will ever get, and this will influence his whole life (keeping in mind that it’s influence will decrease over time). Best and brightest will probably get an MBA 4 or 5 years after undergrad anyway, and is going to get a great job whatever they major in. So why not major in whatever they want?</p>
<p>Those are just my thoughts.</p>
<p>I’ve heard, and it tends to make sense to me, that if you intend to get an MBA, it is better NOT to major in business as an undergrad.</p>
<p>Of course, it is hard to know when you are just starting college to know if you will eventually get an MBA.</p>
<p>Hmm, I just looked online, and they have changed it (along with the name) 
I went to the University of Michigan School of Business Administration, not the Ross School of Business Administration. Not too pleased that they sold the name of the school for a new building a few years ago…</p>
<p>^Have you seen the building? It’s really nice. It is definitely the nicest building on Campus. If you saw it you’d understand them selling the name.</p>