Majoring in Business Administration vs Accounting vs Economics

College Majors Business Major
1

<p>Lately, I've been pretty torn between majoring in Business Administration, Accounting, or Economics. My original plan was to major in Business Administration, but seemingly everyone (friends, family, teachers) are discouraging me. I excel in math and science, and they've been pointing out that majoring in Business Administration is a waste of that talent, however, my dream would be to be at the head of a business, whether it be working my way up, or starting my own business. I'm passionate about it, but I'm also now worried that it is a waste of my talent, and also that it'll do me no good because of how saturated the market is, and how many business majors there are.</p>

<p>I've always loved math, so I began to think about Accounting also. The idea of being paid to crunch numbers for a company seems amazing, and so does the idea of working anything related to finance, considering my math skills. However, research into accounting careers shows that it's basically a miserable career in the beginning, with good pay, but lots of hours and stress, and reliving high school/college doesn't sound appealing to me. </p>

<p>Recently, I read an article about economics majors. I had never considered it, despite taking AP economics in school, but after seeing the article and seeing that a good career is possible for economics majors, and that its a less saturated market, I'm kind of interested. Also, it fulfills my desire to work in a finance-related job. However, I don't know much about what an economics major can do. Like what would my degree do for me? What careers are open for me? What can I expect after college, in terms of internships, job opportunities, entry-level salaries, etc.? </p>

<p>Overall, I'm pretty conflicted. For reference, I'm a high school junior, which I know leaves me time to decide, but I'm under a lot of pressure from my family and guidance counselor to be on top of this entire college search process already. My passion lies with business definitely, accounting seems nice but the career experience seems awful, economics is interesting to me but I don't know enough about it yet. </p>

2

<p>There is absolutely no reason to decide now. I would focus your search on colleges/universities with strong undergraduate business programs. Most schools don’t have you declare a major until second semester sophomore year. And I’m told by admissions officers that of the people who choose majors before that, about half of them end up switching.</p>

<p>As part of any business program you will take a business core curriculum which will include introductory classes in a number of disciplines including the three you mentioned (and others such as Information Technology, Business Law, Marketing to name a few). Once you take these introductory classes you will have a much better idea where your interests and aptitudes lie. For now, knowing you are focused on business is enough to get going on the college search process.</p>

<p>PS I’m a CPA and it is a strong career in its own right and it can also be a great entree to many different areas of business. But again, take some classes and see what you like.</p>

3

<p>I had same issues when I was looking to take admission in Business Administration. Most of my friends discouraged me but then I went to Dr. [Aloke</a> Ghosh](<a href=“http://www.swufe.edu.cn/2010-01/06/4807696492010-1-6103611000.pdf]Aloke”>西南财经大学) and he helped me in selecting a good business school.</p>