I’m a rising senior, and I’m interested in advertisement and the fashion industry. I originally wanted to pursue a degree in marketing but after seeing that it’s not the most useful degree, I’m starting to consider other options. Would it be better to major in something else like finance or statistics and minor in marketing?
You might want to combine marketing with statistics/business analytics for a more useful degree.
That said, there is no reason to decide your major now. If you know you want to apply to business programs that is enough at most colleges. Once you start college at a business school you will take a core which will include introductory classes in subjects such as (but not limited to) accounting, finances, IT, business law, marketing, statistics and so forth. Through these intro level classes you can start to get a sense of what you enjoy, what you are good at etc. You will also have opportunities during your first year in college to talk to professors about different fields and ask career services about job opportunities in different majors.
Big Data and Analytics is incredibly hot now. This is not a fad as the digital explosion has created whole new ways for companies to market their products. I can’t imagine any marketing program not diving in to that. I know many schools have introduced degrees (at least at the masters level) in Data sciences and Data Analytics.
So a combination of marketing and data science or business will be very useful going forward.
Keep in mind that advertising isn’t necessarily the same as marketing. Many schools that have true advertising programs offer them from the Communications Department/School. It is sometimes also paired with Public Relations as Strategic Communications. When D21 let me know she was interested in fashion advertising, I found myself learning a LOT I was unaware of. Of particular news to me was the fact that one of our large state universities (University of Alabama) was ranked 8th in the nation for their advertising program. We have a little longer than you to figure this all out, but I’ve really enjoyed lurking here on CC for the last month.
https://www.collegemagazine.com/the-10-best-colleges-for-advertising/