<p>I'm a bit confused by this whole MBA thing...do you have to go to business school for undergrad to get an MBA? I'm attending the College of Arts/Science at NYU this fall to study econ and I did not apply to the Stern biz school because econ was through CAS. Did I screw myself over if I want to get an MBA? Or is an MBA like a law degree where you major in almost anything you want, work for a couple years, then get a degree? Just wondering because ibanking sounds interesting, and I don't want to shut myself off from ever getting an MBA.</p>
<p>It's like a law degree, but you have to work. (5 years is a good amount.) You did not screw yourself over. If that was the case, then how would HYP grads and grads from the top LAC's have i-banking jobs with MBAs later on? Many good schools don't have business undergrad. You'll have to compete with the Stern kids, tho. But you can definitely get your foot into the door of an i-bank and study business later on. Ask jwblue on the NYU forum. He's from CAS, but got offers from i-banks and then moved into hedge funds (I think).</p>
<p>As stated above, I'd wager that MOST ibanking jobs would go to the Stern kids, but yes, you can definitely get an MBA with an Econ degree. Indeed, you can get an MBA with nearly any bachelor's degree.</p>
<p>I think you should be okay, NYU's economics department is strong. I'll be in NYU CAS this fall also, and I'm doing an econ. and math double major(I'm much more of a quant. trader type than a banker). I'm doing the wall st. thing after graduation, but I have no desire to to study business and be one dimensional. </p>
<p>Your major for ibanking is pretty irrelevant if you have good grades/EC's and know how to do the hard finance that will be required. The same goes for getting an MBA from a top school, just get solid grades, GMATs, and work experience, and you should very competitive for the top programs regardless of your UG major.</p>
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I'm doing the wall st. thing after graduation
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<p>Wow, you seem pretty confident with yourself to say that you already know that you are going to get a Wall Street job after your graduate. A lot of people spend all their undergrad years trying to position themselves for a Wall Street job, and still don't get hired.</p>
<p>I didn't mean to come of as arrogant Sakky. I know how hard it is to get some of these jobs. </p>
<p>This fall when I start NYU, I'll be interning part time at a boutique investment bank. I got this position through my dad's friend, and I know it might just be gopher work, but at least it's a good way to start and lead to bigger and better things. I'm also much more of a trader type than a banker type, I already do some commodities trading on my own, and will probably be more involved in that industry also.</p>
<p>To be honest, I know a lot of kids who's dad's got them their first Wall St. job. It lasts for the analyst years. After that it's every man for himself. I really hate to say this, but you'll have to beat out a lot of guys who beat you out for admission to better colleges. Good luck, but it won't matter who your friends are after the first chance.</p>
<p>Not that I'm proving myself to you but here are the schools I got into:
NYU, Cornell, Brown, UMich, BU, Bates. I was waitlisted at Harvard, I obviously would have gone there in a heartbeat. I also went to a top private high school. So I doubt a substantial portion of the population beat me out.</p>
<p>"After that it's every man for himself"</p>
<p>That's exactly what I love about playing the various markets of the world. I also think this statement applies more to trading than banking. In trading, the market doesn't care who you are or where you went to school, all that matters is your P&L, which is based on your talent. On the other hand, I know several investment bankers, and at the higher levels (beyond analyst and associate levels) a lot of the job is about schmoozing and connections. So I don't think it's as much of a "who your friends are doesn't matter" field as you try to imply since knowing people in that type of a field clearly never hurts. In fact, many say that the number 1 reason to get a MBA is not for the schooling but for the networking...trust me, I know.</p>
<p>MBA definately does not need undergrad biz school! Some ppl even think that undergrad biz school is redundant and most of em find them selves learning the same thing over just to get into managerial postions.</p>
<p>I'd like to put on the table an interesting point: In the top 5-10 MBA programs, over 50% were undergrad engineer majors of some type. Many engineers go into consulting/wall street because companies know they have very good analytical skills and can handle competition.</p>