<p>I'm curious as to what the general requirements are to apply to an MBA program. I see that a lot of students are Bus Econ or Bus Admin students and also engineering students, but there are also social science and humanities majors in the bunch. Being that calculus and courses in macroeconomics and microeconomics being required for admission most of the time, are there any other courses? How do social science majors and humanities majors (like myself) prepare for this if we are working towards our degree? Is accounting needed or can we take that after we complete our degree at a community college or take it when we start our MBA program?</p>
<p>Thanks. Real facts about people who have been through an MBA program is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>The first time I took accounting or econ classes was in the MBA program (I’m an engineer). Calculus was required for the program, luckily I have taken more math than I will every need (hopefully). Most programs I have seen require and undergrad degree and at least one semester of college level calculus. IMO, regardless of your major, you would do well to take Calc in college.</p>
<p>I was a Political Science major (econ minor) for my undergrad, and I am now half way through my MBA.
Before I started the program I took 3 undergrad courses: pre-calc, intro to managerial finance and entrepreneurial finance; and I scored 620 on my gmat.
The pre calc helped me pass the calculus class that I needed, due to the fact the math is not my string suite. The two finance classes helped me get to 12 undergrad business credits, which I needed to get into the program. They also helped in preparation as well.
I am in a cohort of 30 people (we do labs together, study, and take the same classes every semester) in which more than half had no business at all in their undergrad.</p>
<p>Anything is possible… just take a couple finance classes, and kill it on you gmat, and you will be alright.</p>
<p>Actually, I don’t think calculus is required at any of the top MBA programs - not even at MIT, which you would think would be the most likely to require calculus knowledge. HBS certainly doesn’t require it, as HBS uses all cases, and there are no cases that have calculus. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, I think calculus is certainly useful.</p>
<p>it’s been a while since i’ve taken calculus, maybe 5 years, and i didn’t even complete it in high school, so do you think it is better if i take it at the community college level or when i transfer at the university level, will it matter to business schools, and are the business classes or accounting classes necessary because I have a major planned out and a minor, but adding a calculus sequence is possible but business classes would mean another year. Is it possible for me to take these courses after i graduate, maybe part time with a company at a community college in preparation for the gmat and solidfying my academic record for business school?</p>
<p>was the econ minor a primary reason for you getting work right after undergrad? I have a minor planned in health, but the college im planning to transfer to has no econ minor, but it does have an accounting minor which is notoriously difficult to apply for and maintain if im accepted to it. is there any way to market myself to companies considering that i have a social science background? and did having a political science major in any way shape the course of your events or will a major in a similar area like psychology, geography, anthropology, or sociology will suffice?</p>
<p>I was a poli sci major econ minor, and I did not work in a field at all related to what I went to school for. I chose to go a different route and make twice what I was offered in state and local government positions. It was, however, a poor decision.
You must do something you are passionate about, or it really hurts you in the long run. Financial success is really a bi-product of loving what you do and excelling in your field.
My econ minor was key to my MBA acceptance I believe. It correlates with a lot of the material I am studying now. Accounting would have been equally as beneficial.</p>
<p>are you saying that majoring in political science was a poor decision or that choosing to not go into state and local government positions was a poor decision</p>
<p>Not really… I am simply stating that I made poor decisions about almost everything, period.
Taking a job in government for a couple years, and then going to grad school would have been ideal, but it was not the choice I made. I did not want to sit in a cubicle, I wanted to live and work in Manhattan… etc etc… I just had other interests at the time.
I really enjoyed political science, and I want to go for my PhD in it as well, so it was not a mistake.
There are majors in college (such as accounting, engineering, business) than can produce a higher starting salary out of school, but if you do not love learning about it, then why do it? Life is too short to do things you do not enjoy.</p>