<p>Hello, I have recently been admitted to the Smith School at College Park as a transfer student. </p>
<p>For background info, I am a non-resident and coming from a community college (60 credits) with Associate's on the way after Spring semester. 4.0 GPA, Phi Theta Kappa member, EC's and internship. I am majoring General Studies with Business and Technology emphasis.</p>
<p>I am unsure what major to decide upon and the reason is because business is not my future goal. My current goal was to get into the Smith School to complete my undergraduate program. However, I have a firm belief that I want to get into one of the best law schools in the U.S, hence why I needed a "big name" school around MD. I have no doubt that I want to become a lawyer after law school, but as you may all know, law school does not have a specified major to get into law school. </p>
<p>Smith offers:
Accounting
Finance
Management
Information Systems
International Business
Supply Chain Management
Marketing
Operations Management</p>
<p>My declared major right now is Finance (last minute choice, if anyone can explain to me what a Finance major learns, meaning which fields, and if Smith has a good Finance program).</p>
<p>Can anybody help me out with some personal experiences or advice that may help me in deciding which major to stick with (that will guide me in the right direction towards law school)?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Most lawyers I know had majors like English, History, Poli Science, or Govt & Politics. I don’t think it will be a detriment to graduate with a business degree if your intent is law school, but I suspect you will work harder and it might be easier to get higher grades with one of the majors I noted above. Grades will go a long way in being selected at a top law school.</p>
<p>I was a Finance major at UMD about 20 yeas ago. All business majors take many of the same classes but focus on several in one area. In finance, you will learn about how companies manage money, investments, the stock markets, etc. I found it really interesting but it is not for everyone. Finance came naturally to me but it was very difficult for others I knew. </p>
<p>I can tell you that the Accounting students had by far the most challenging workload and were most in demand for a job when graduating. But that is a tough grind. If you would consider tax law, this would make sense. </p>
<p>If I were you, I would either consider not being a business major, or if you stay in Smith, choose Marketing or Management. Of the majors you listed, Management is the most general and would probably make the most sense for you. Marketing is also slightly less challenging than some of the others. </p>
<p>@marylandhome Thank you for your advice! I really appreciated it… I am leaning more towards Management. After reading your post, I can clearly tell that Finance is not for me. I did not even consider Accounting because although it made sense, it did not interest me. Management or Marketing seemed reasonable, but I saw that Management was originally known as General Business in previous years, so I think I will declare as a Management major. Thank you!</p>