<p>S2 just finished his first year at USC in Marshall. He took BUAD 304 (Leading Organizations) and BUAD 307 (Marketing Fundamentals). He really did not like either class- boring and too much memorization without solid connections to application.</p>
<p>He is still fairly certain he wants to stay in Marshall with a Finance concentration, but he was grumbling the other day that he is a little frustrated.</p>
<p>Any thoughts, experiences, etc. are welcome (especially those that will tell him it gets better)...</p>
<p>Not just saying this to make him feel better: 304 and 307 are the worst classes I’ve taken from Marshall. </p>
<p>I just finished my sophomore year, and I’m also planning to concentrate in finance, so your son and I probably have similar academic interests. One of the problems is that 304 and 307 are, in many ways, anathema to the finance-oriented mind – they’re somewhat touchy-feely and creative, they involve limited theory but extensive memorization, and a lot of the time it feels like you’re simply putting a vocabulary on common sense. </p>
<p>I suspect that he’ll find 250a much more interesting, especially with Merle Hopkins. </p>
<p>From what (many) older students have told me, Marshall’s real strength is in its upper-division (concentration) courses. I was similarly discouraged after my freshman year, but older students assured me that the core courses (like 304 and 307) are something you just have to endure, so that you can later enjoy the concentration courses (which, they promise, are truly exceptional). </p>
<p>I’ll be taking my first concentration courses next semester, so I guess I’ll know for sure at that point…</p>
<p>^Thank you- that's exactly what I was hoping someone would say. I will show this to him. You hit the nail on the head with your analysis of the finance-oriented mind.</p>
<p>304 (OB) is a crap class because it is almost purely rote memorization and I was seriously thinking about dropping business because of it. 307 (Marketing) I enjoyed probably because I had a good professor (Kovacevich). I thought 250a (Accounting) would be dreadfully boring, but I found it surprisingly challenging and engaging.</p>