<p>What are the pros and cons of a Marshall business major in comparison to a CLAS Economics major? Do econ majors have access to the same alumni network and recruiting as Marshall students? Is it harder to get into consulting and/or investment banking from an econ major? And conversely, is it harder to get into a law school from a pre-professional school like Marshall? </p>
<p>I feel like econ is a broader and more versatile field of study (maybe even more interesting?); but Marshall seems a lot stronger than the econ department. </p>
<p>And I want to keep my options open: I might want to go to law school (will Marshalls B-minus curve and pre-professional emphasis mess this up?), but I might also want to go into consulting or ibanking (will the econ departments lack of prestige mess this up?). </p>
<p>Ugh
Im stressing. Please advise! </p>
<p>Thanks. </p>
<p>P.S. Im also interested in International Relations, as either a second major or a minor. Is this harder to do as a business major?</p>
<p>To answer your first question, Marshall alumni have a stronger network than CLAS, but USC's network in general is pretty strong.</p>
<p>It seems like you can't make up your mind on really basic things. A lot of Marshall graduates go on to law school, so I don't think that will be a problem. Econ will definitely not help you as much as Marshall would if you're going to do consulting. Overall, it seems like you don't know what you want to focus on in the future so I'd suggest you opt to be a business major...at least for your first year...so you end up taking some beginning econ and business courses without wasting your college time. That way, you'll get a feel for what you want to do because it seems like you want to do consulting, be a lawyer, do ibanking, look into international relations, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, therevenge. You're right in that I don't really know what to do. The issue is largely this: if it was just about what I WANT to do, I'd major in international relations and go on to law school. But I'm graduating with significant debt, and I'm not sure that I can rely on being able to afford law school right after college. So I want to have something to fall back on - i.e. consulting or ibanking (both careers that make good money for paying off loans, while offering strong background for grad school later on). </p>
<p>So my concern, in context, is that if I just do Marshall, I'd be too pre-professionally focused on my fallback options, whereas if I just did something like IR or Econ at CLAS, I'd be passing up important opportunities that I'll wish I had taken advantage of when trying to pay off loans. </p>
<p>So I think you're right: Marshall does seem like the best bet for now.</p>
<p>Do international relations if that's what you really want. Try getting financial aid and scholarships. I was kind of in the same boat as you. I wanted to do music industry instead of business, but I just sort of went with business because I thought it was more practical. I've already taken so many business classes that it's pointless to switch to music industry so I just decided to minor in it instead.</p>
<p>I understand you dilemma, but I think you should probably be looking into financial aid if you're going to be in "significant debt." USC is expensive and law school is too. It would be hard to have fallback options if you're not a business major just because I don't think econ has consulting classes and ibanking would probably require some finance skills as well, which econ doesn't provide. I guess you should express this at orientation with your advisor.</p>