<p>Hey all, </p>
<p>I'm having a dilemma over which major I should couple with Economics- Operations Research or Business. I intend on going into Finance or Ibanking, though I'm not certain. Which major would better suit me? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p>What's a "business major"? You can usually major in finance, marketing, accounting, IT, actuarial, management, etc...but I've never heard of an overencompassing "business" major, I can't see it being that good.</p>
<p>actually there are several schools that offer a "business administration" major... Haas and Marshall being some of them, and they are far from being "can't be that good". ;)</p>
<p>I'll try to be more clear. I'm currently an undergrad at Berkeley looking into applying to Haas, which offers a B.S. in Business Administration. At the same time, I'm looking into Operations Research Management Science, in which I'm very interested. ORMS is a branch of the Industrial Engineering Operations Research major in the School of Engineering, and is offered in the liberal arts college in Berkeley. </p>
<p>With that said, I was wondering which major would help me more in terms of job offers in finance or ibanking. </p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>If I were you, I'd try and do both. However, since Haas is so highly ranked, it would pay off to actually go to it.</p>
<p>Haas, hands down.
Both will be good since Engineering and Business are THE TOP TWO majors that send people off to ibanking, but Haas in particular is known for suking up to the Ibank recruiters and they are pretty successful with the result, so if you go to Haas, you will more likely get helping hands from Haas career center.</p>
<p>OR may be part of Engineering at Berkeley, but it has plenty of business applications. One example: queuing theory affects everything from the design of banks to fast food places.</p>
<p>"OR may be part of Engineering at Berkeley"</p>
<p>OR is a major part of any Engineering schools (in the Industrial Eng. Dept. or a similar dept.)</p>
<p>"However, since Haas is so highly ranked"</p>
<p>The IEOR program of Berkeley Engineering is highly ranked as well.</p>
<h1>3 for undegrad</h1>
<h1>4 for grad</h1>
<p>Yeah, definately haas if you want to go into ibanking.</p>
<p>Haas for sure.</p>
<p>One thing I forgot to mention is that I wish to pursue a MBA in the future. For those who replied, would that change your opinion about majoring in business instead of OR? Is an undergrad business degree worth it, if I plan on getting a MBA?</p>
<p>From talking to people, I get the sense that Haas is largely based on reputation and that the hardest part about it is getting in. If that reputation is going to get me jobs, by all means I would like to be a part of it. But will that carry on when I apply to graduate business schools? Will majoring in something else prove to be more beneficial? </p>
<p>Again, most of what I say is based on what I have read and heard, so I may not have the clearest understanding of all that I have mentioned. </p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>Graduating from haas --> great job</p>
<p>therefore, going to a good undergrad program with a great repuation (haas) + good job experience ---> admission into a top mba program</p>
<p>I wouldn't put down ORMS as quickly like some people here--realize that many of these posters are not students at UC Berkeley and do not know what it is. Your only concern should probably be how few people ORMS takes every year.</p>
<p>If I'm not mistaken, it's first-come, first-served too, which is no easy thing.
Overall, it depends on you--ORMS is a very good major to come out with from Berkeley.</p>
<p>Haas is still pretty good, though realize that Haas is more of a certification than anything else. But even this depends on how much you extended yourself in networking and building skills.
Most people underestimate how much Haas applicants compete even with each other--it's far from a guarantee that you'll get a good job just coming out of Haas.</p>
<p>The primary reason why you see so many successful Haas students is largely due to self-selection in my opinion.</p>
<p>By the way, as a Haas undergraduate, you DO NOT GET ACCESS TO HAAS'S CAREER CENTER FOR RECRUITING. You get access to the same career center all other undergraduates do. Haas gives some very nice advantages, but it certainly isn't for everyone and certainly is not essential for getting a good job.</p>
<p>My personal suggestion is that you do a major that builds analytical skills (which is basically anything--so pick what you like), and if doing Haas, also do a double major (which isn't too hard anyway).</p>
<p>P.S. For business schools, it doesn't really matter. Your work experience matters more as well as what reasons you can leverage for wishing to get an MBA. It might make for a slightly more compelling argument without any academic business training, though there are many other reasons you can come up with anyhow.</p>
<p>It won't matter one way or another as long as you do well in your major and interview well. There's quite a bit of experience in modeling that you can use to your advantage in trying to obtain various finance jobs from ORMS as well.</p>
<p>If I major in ORMS, I'll have a stronger mathematical foundation- stronger analytical and quantitative skills. Would this give me an edge going into finance?</p>
<p>Having a business degree will not help you get into graduate business school. Having good work experience and a good GPA will (among other factors). IMO, it's not that tough nor that uncommon to get into a top gradute business school having graduated from a "mediocre" undergraduate institution. </p>
<p>Obviously, if all things are equal (price etc) then going to a top school is in your best interest. However, your undergraduate school of choice isn't nearly as important as your graduate school of choice (although, it seems much more important to get into ibanking..which seems to be a popular choice at first and then an unpopular one as people discover more about it).</p>