<p>(Reposted from the Business majors board since I’m getting no response)</p>
<p>Hey all, now that I’ve finally gotten at leat one acceptance letter back (Marquette: some good scholarships/honors program offers ), I’ve started thinking a bit more about majors and what I want to focus on.</p>
<p>Like many people here, I’m having a hard time figuring out, in relation to what I want to do, the difference between business school and a major in econ. Every source I have tells me different things about career possibilities for different majors. So I’m wondering what you all think.</p>
<li>I’ve been marking “Prospective major” as econ on all my apps and have been applying to the schools where the econ major is offered.</li>
<li>I prefer domestic economics over International econ/business.</li>
<li>I’m very good at math and love the math of economics</li>
<li>I don’t want to teach or just do research work, I’d rather use whatever I study in a practical situation/the real world (ie. work for investment firms, brokerage houses, banks, etc.).</li>
<li>I would at some point very far down the road enjoy getting into politics either as a politician, econ work for the government (Federal Reserve, Treasury, etc.).</li>
<li>I will probably try to go to law school and study corporate law.</li>
<li>My best skill is my writing ability, especially pursuasive and/or explanatory pieces.</li>
</ol>
<p>So, based on these seven pieces of info (and assuming the business and econ departments are of equal merit), would I fit in with an econ major, or should I look into a more specialized major? If I should “switch”, would the fact that I’ve been marking econ and applying to the econ colleges be a problem? Thanks in advance :)</p>
<p>Hey I'm sorry no one was able to respond. I for one could not think of a good answer either way because these are criteria that are difficult to sort. Your overarching question is: Econ or business major. First of all, Point number one doesn't matter. Point number 2 doesnt matter.</p>
<p>Now for pt3: Points for econ.
pt 4: pts for business, but you can get into those jobs with econ degree
pt 5: econ woudl work well for you here
pt 6: same as pt 5
pt 7: econ > business</p>
<p>hmm on second thought, it seems very clear, to me anyway, which major you should persue. LOL. Your econ degree will satisfy you int he writing ability and math ability you seem to possess and want to develop. Econ is also a popular major pre law. You could go into practical work with an econ degree. And you can definately work for the govt in econ if you have an econ degree (although one may need more advanced degrees and on the flipside it is possible to work for the govt withotu any econ degree). All these points I guess prove that econ would be a better fit for you. If there are any questions I've neglected I'd be glad to expand as would many other users here.</p>
<p>Either one should suit you well in view of your career objectives. I'd probably pick the one that gives you the most opportunity to take a broad variety of electives. My personal bias is in favor of the liberal arts (econ qualifies), expecially for those people who are considering continuing their education. Econ is fairly practical, even if you don't continue your education. If you're pretty sure you want to continue beyond college, there's a lot to be said for being a little less vocational in your undergraduate orientation.</p>
<p>Lib arts + a good MBA program can yield the same if not better job/salary possibilities as a prestigious undergrad biz degree alone. And liberal arts majors make up a large portion of accepted MBA candidates - quite often, though depending upon the institution, a majority of them, in fact. So opportunity-wise, an LAC major such as economics is very workable for business.</p>
<p>The tough part about an enterprising person pursuing a liberal arts major, I've found, is staying focused and motivated. In a business program, your course is pretty well charted, and the end goal, clear in sight. Go to a LAC, and you are the sole architect of your curriculum, and the ultimate destination is much further away over the horizon. </p>
<p>There's a lot of eye-opening breadth to be gained from LACs. Econ majoring, especially, since you will gain a unique view of the forces surrounding the business process, rather than just narrowly knowing the process itself. But only if you're foward-thinking and dedicated enough to hang in something for four years that, however useful it may be, is still kind of peripheral to your actual desired vocation. Otherwise, you'll graduate with a mediocre GPA, won't get into a good MBA school, and be kicking yourself for not going to a b-school in the first place.</p>
<p>I must agree with all the others. An Economics and Math double major is more effective and versatile than an undergraduate Business degree. It will open doors into Law schools, Investment Banks, Consulting firms and MBA programs while giving you a Liberal Arts education. Can't beat that if you ask me...then again, I am biased since that's what I did! hehe</p>