Majoring in Business?

College Search & Selection
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Most biz programs require the following classes outside biz

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<p>Most any college major has those requirements.</p>

<p>It's clear from reading over these posts that some people are getting a bit touchy when others suggest that an undergraduate business degree is a bit pointless, although it's safe to say that such views are hardly uncommon and, in my opinion, certainly valid. </p>

<p>The MBA is largely a separate issue. There's no question that an MBA can be a valuable tool for someone looking to gain some training in biz, although I believe that (relative to a decade ago) it has fallen out of fashion a bit. Whereas someone with an advanced degree in another subject wanting to get into business would almost certainly have gone to an MBA program, today many of those folks will, for example, go spend a few years working for a consulting firm and then onto a high level biz job without ever having set foot in an MBA program. </p>

<p>In my experience, those in business with a strong background in something other than business are almost always 'more impressive' individuals and better assets to their company. Why? Well, it's simple. If one is a high level executive in any company then (I would hope) they obviously know a thing to two about business, but if all their formal training is in business (BA and MBA in biz) then that tends to be all they know. Furthermore, their biz training isn't any better than someone else who did something else previously and then did an MBA or consulting gig. AND, and this is important, those other folks are not only experts in biz but also experts in some other field too (perhaps they have an advanced science or engineering degree). </p>

<p>Think about it... CEO of Google obviously knows something about business but also has a PhD in computer science. CEOs of most hospitals or pharmaceutical companies obviously know something about business but also frequently have a PhD or MD. </p>

<p>Someone with business training during undergrad and thereafter, and only that, might be well qualified to sit and stare at Excel spreadsheets all day but the really cool top jobs in business require a dynamic background of advanced training.</p>

<p>With all this in mind, I can only totally agree with comments that undergraduate business degrees are, generally, totally pointless. If one aspires to some eternal mid-level management position then perhaps it's not an issue but if one wants to shoot for the top then those with truly diverse educational backgrounds (and ideally even an advanced degree in a 'in demand' subject) will always, always have a leg up. </p>

<p>Please, study an actual academic subject at the undergraduate level. If you still want to study 'business like' things then major in mathematics, economics or something along those lines but generic general business undergrad programs is the classic 'jack of all trades, master of none' situation. Whatever you do, make sure you leave undergrad as the master of something!</p>

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<p>Yes, business is a jack of all trades, master of none degree. But please point me in the direction of a science undergraduate education that actually involves mastery. It is at most training for graduate school, and quite often ignored and leads into an unrelated field.</p>

<p>There is a reason we speak of BACHELORS and MASTERS degrees. One suggests incomplete knowledge, the other mastery.</p>

<p>The advantage of a different major is differentiation, which can either be a curse or a benefit. This could put you into a higher position earlier, yes, as you may be more qualified for a specific position. But to claim that leadership positions seek other fields, at that point accomplishment has far outweighed the degree itself, so to claim correlation is purely accidental, or speaks to preparation, not business preference.</p>

<p>And, quite frankly, most people in any organization should have non-business degrees, as most people at large have non-business degrees, and most people end up in business.</p>

<p>So, I don't understand this demonization, but whatever.</p>

<p>*not a business major</p>

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<p>As if a bio major leaves college as a master of bio. They will know a little but about a narrow area of biology (which as at least 10 major subareas) abd will forget most of that within three years. The fact is very few people who shoot for the top actually get there. As many are business undergrads as any other major except engineering which has a lead at certain size compnaies. Not that many are PhD's or liberal arts grads outside econ. which at many schools is a substitute for business.</p>

<p>Here are the facts:</p>

<p><a href="http://content.spencerstuart.com/sswebsite/pdf/lib/2005_CEO_Study_JS.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://content.spencerstuart.com/sswebsite/pdf/lib/2005_CEO_Study_JS.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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Sakky, I think you are assuming business majors don't take courses in the arts and sciences.

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<p>Actually, I made no such assumption. </p>

<p>What I am saying is that, even if it's really true that a business major does not offer a 'broad' education, frankly, neither do many other majors. For example, if nothing else, I don't see how the business major is any less broad than, say, the typical engineering major. Yet nobody is criticizing engineering. </p>

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Think about it... CEO of Google obviously knows something about business but also has a PhD in computer science.

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<p>Ah, but the obvious rejoinder is that the venture capitalists who funded Google probably have MBA's. The first VC investors in Google were Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins, and most of the partners at those firms hold MBA's. </p>

<p>In fact, it has been said numerous times that the best MBA's don't want to become CEO's. Instead, they'd rather be investment bankers, VC/PE partners, hedge fund managers, etc. As one Harvard Business School student once said: Why be the CEO when you can be the guy telling the CEO what to do? </p>

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Please, study an actual academic subject at the undergraduate level. If you still want to study 'business like' things then major in mathematics, economics or something along those lines

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<p>I completely disagree with the notion that business is not an "actual academic subject". Why isn't it one? Says who? If it isn't really an actual academic subject, then how is it that people can get PhD's in business? A PhD presumably means that somebody has performed a work of substantial academic merit, so how can somebody obtain a PhD in something that isn't "an actual academic subject"? </p>

<p>Look, if nothing else, I would argue that business is at least as much of an actual academic subject as is, say, engineering. After all, both are pre-professional. Neither are members of the classic "liberal arts" (as traditionally defined). Yet people don't seem to have a problem in treating engineering as an "actual academic subject". So why not business? </p>

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but generic general business undergrad programs is the classic 'jack of all trades, master of none' situation. Whatever you do, make sure you leave undergrad as the master of something!

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<p>I have to agree with the posters above: exactly how many undergrads in any major are masters at anything? I know guys who were superstar engineering students with stellar grades at MIT, and they all freely admit that they weren't masters of their major when they graduated. Far from it, in fact. Heck, one of them stayed at MIT for his PhD in engineering, and he still doesn't feel that he's a "master" of his field. Granted, he obviously knows a lot, but he also knows that there is still far far more remaining to be learned.</p>

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<p>I am pleasantly surprised with the wide range of thoughtful responses here. Very interesting.</p>

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<p>I think an MBA also has use in non-profits and government, and anything else that requires some degree of management of organization. It can be applied to more than just a narrowly-defined segment of "business"</p>

<p>I myself am rather fond of the joint MBA-international studies programs, such as Penn's Lauder Program (Huntsman for grownups) or a CBS-SIPA combo at Columbia.</p>

<p>But that is all a few years down the road...for undergraduate I would still recommend against "business" as a major (or choice of school depending on the nature of the institution in question)</p>