Should I reject the b-school PA?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
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<p>I'm a Preferred Admit student at Ross, but I'm really confused between quitting the program or pursuing it.</p>

<p>After talking to my honors and b-school advisors, I'm really realyl confused on what to do. Anyways, I know for sure that I am going to pursue an MBA right after graduating. Because of this fact, would pursuing a BBA become redundant and useless? It seems to me, adn the advisors, that it would be best to stay in LSA and prefect my Chinese and Japanese (both of which I already am a native speaker) while majoring in poly sci and studying some economics. Combing a liberal arts education with an MBA will, I think, be better then a dual degree in BBA and MBA, both of which study a relatively similar core. The Ross advisor has already state without hesitation that the BBA will not increase chances for a grad school acceptance. He tried to tell me to stay in LSA for a year and study calc and econ just to fill the requirements of the PA so that I may take a year to come to a conclusive decision. However, now that I think about it, I can only take 8 courses in a year; I'm forced to take calc just ot fill the requirement, which I could have replaced with a poly sci course or something... </p>

<p>Is this a smart move? It seems like a giant waste to reject PA... I mean, it was the deciding factor for me to select umich over many other places. Now that I'm considering to not pursue a undergrad business degree, I may even go so far as to transferring out. Please hlep me with this dilemma! >.<</p>

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<p>Why are you so set on getting an MBA after you finish your undergrad? A major reason for pursuing a BBA (particularly one as strong as a Ross BBA) is to get into jobs that are normally reserved for candidates with MBAs... why not get your BBA and save the 100k that you would spend on an MBA? It's not like there aren't any liberal arts requirements for BBA students... you'll still have plenty of time to take all the poly sci, chinese, and japanese that you want</p>

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<p>Don't think that you'll be going to B school for your MBA "right after graduating" from college, if that's what you mean by pursuing your MBA. It's not like law or medical school.</p>

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<p>Yep, you'll probably need a couple years of experience to get your MBA.</p>

<p>I hear you though. I'm torn on going for a BBA or BS (engineering) and going back for my MBA. Route two sounds kind of appealing, since I have completely changed my mind and want to work in the automotive industry....</p>

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<p>I went through the same analysis. If I didn't get into Michigan as a PA or Wharton, I may have not majored in business. I would have pursued economics at a top university. I ended up following the same logic used by Wolverine. You can often (not always) get to the same place with a Michigan BBA as you can with an MBA.</p>

<p>However, despite what others say, you should go with your gut and where you think you will be most satisfied. You should have no trouble getting into a top MBA school if that's what you want to do eventually. Your PA status is a "sunk cost" as they say in economics. A good undergrad performance in a top honors program from Michigan will open plenty of doors for you.</p>

<p>I've had business on the brain since I was a kid, so getting into Ross as a PA only confirmed my chosen path. You are far more ambivalent than most Ross PAs. That's not a bad thing; your gut may be telling you to take another path.</p>

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<p>my perspective:
Ross undergrad --> great job/work experience --> top MBA
LSA undergrad --> harder to get the same job --> harder to get into the same B-Schools</p>

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<p>If you think a BBA will get you places, you're right. If you think a liberal arts or engineering degree will you places, you're also right. Think about what you really want to do/study. Do you think you would enjoy studying a business curriculum? Then go for it. Or do you think you would enjoy studying engineering or economics more? Then go for that. Don't study something just because it supposedly opens more doors. If you don't like it, there's no point in wasting your four years. I personally would have probably majored in economics and actuarial mathematics if I went with the idea of opening many doors. But I would rather study business.</p>

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<p>Unlike most people, I am not very limited in what I consider an "enjoyment" in studies. I can study business, poly sci, language, econ, and be more than happy with all of them.</p>

<p>Keeping this notion in mind, I am lost. Many people say that BBA will get you to a good MBA. However, I'm not really interested in being able to get into a MBA as much as I am about actually excelling as a future business person.</p>

<p>"my perspective:
Ross undergrad --> great job/work experience --> top MBA
LSA undergrad --> harder to get the same job --> harder to get into the same B-Schools"</p>

<p>I'll repeat what the b-school advisor told me regarding thsi flawed idea, which I used to believe in. A Ross undergrad and a MBA is relatively the same. Whatever you learn in MBA will cover all of the stuff you learned in BBA. Hence, a person who went to LSA will be able to provide more for the business community as compared to his counterpart that acquired a BBA. Why? Becuase the person at LSA would have had 4 years to study in detail a major other than business, whether that be the perfection of a foreign language or others. In contrast, a person with a BBA studying MBA will basically learn the same thing over.</p>

<p>Work experiences and interns are where a BBA will help. A BBA student will certainly be able to experience the business world more then the LSA studnet. However, this does not mean that the LSA student cannot participate in business; he can still get interns and such as a member of the LSA.</p>

<p>The simple fact is, a person coming out from a BBA will have more knowledge of business then a LSA student, but when graduating out of an MBA, the LSA student will be immensely more knowledgeable. The reason to this being that the LSA student will learn everything the BBA student has learned through the MBA, while the BBA studnet will lose opportunities to learn the materials covered in LSA.</p>

<p>Also note that both advisors have said, without even a slight hesitation, that grad school will NOT have a bias for a BBA over an LSA student. Rather, it may even be reversed because grad school only cares about the prospective future of the student coming out of their program; hence, this fact combined with what I noted above willl lead to a equal playing field. </p>

<p>Finally, although BBA students get to tap into the departments of the LSA, it is simply to fulfill requirements. It is not nearly enough to actually learn any materials in the LSA to a sufficient level.</p>

<p>For all people confused, I suggest a chat with a b-school advisor. I guarantee you that they will make you feel confused. When I mentioned that I was planning to achieve a MBA someday, my advisor simply said "then why are you trying to get a BBA?" with a confused look on his face. I'll talk to him some more over e-mails, but I really think we should all look deeper into this program and how it can affect us prospective-MBA students.</p>

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<p>You present a great point about the importance of a broad education. But the future is not as definitive as you want it to be. So you might think one thing naturally leads to another, but the world rarely works that systematically. Anything can happen, so you don't have to overanalyize your preparation to the business world. So I don't think you have to worry because you can major in ___ as an undergrad and do ___ as your career. So if you think LSA (or another college's liberal arts program) is good for you, then do it!</p>

<p>The bottom line: You don't need a BBA to get a job in the business world, but then again that doesn't mean it's a waste of four years. You don't have to major in a liberal arts study to be well rounded. You can be a well rounded BBA. The program requires only 45 credits in business. That means the other 75 can come from the LSA.</p>

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<p>Also, don't worry if your liberal arts isn't developed to a "sufficient level." Who cares if you don't know all the history/philosophy/sociology that these majors know? That will be the least important thing when it comes to interviewing for a job, and that is certainly NOT the deciding factor when it comes to how good of a business person you will be.</p>

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<p>One Suggestion............</p>

<p>DUAL MAJOR</p>

<p>That's what I'm going to do, business/linguistics...</p>

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<p>This would work, but what would be the purpose of getting a MBA then? After finishing BBA, one would already know the material. Are we all going to go to grad school to get an MBA for the simple reason of increased possible salary increase? </p>

<p>A dual major sounds good, but this still conflicts with a good reason why peopole would pursue a MBA.
It would look like this: business(BBA)/linguistics -> business (MBA)</p>

<p>The result would be 3 extra years studying the same material. You might have as well took the time to study, say, psychology for undergrad so that you may be able to better understand the workings of the human mind.
This would make: Psychology/Linguistics -> Business (MBA). This option will earn you the same amount of business knowledge with a wide liberal arts education. Granted, this is presuming that you were able to preserve ties with the b-school during your undergrad years to involve yourself in interns and business-related work experiences.</p>

<p>Don't get me wrong; I certainly understand the worth of the BBA. I do not think it is useless in general, but rather think that it is redundant for people pursuing an MBA since they will re-learn the same concepts.</p>

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<p>Yes, you have a very valid point. An MBA does overlap with a BBA. If you get an MBA, your BBA then starts to mean nothing to recruiters.</p>

<p>However, I think the one good thing about a BBA is that you'll (more or less) know what kind of business field you want to get into: whether you like finance, accounting, marketing, management, etc. It will be pretty clear. If you don't like what you're doing in your job, you can then get your MBA to strategically position yourself for a career change. And since you will know all the core material because of your BBA, you can take high level electives that they don't cover during your BBA studies in-depth, like venture capital and private equity, etc. So I guess you CAN make your MBA experience different from your BBA. Of course not as much as from liberal arts to business, though.</p>

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<p>I still don't get why you're so fixated on getting an MBA.You are right about BBA/MBA redundancy, so have you even considered just getting a BBA or a dual-degree BBA and then not worrying about an MBA? Or do what I've been advised to do and get your BBA, then work for a corporation that will pay for your MBA after you get a couple years' experience. Many corporations have programs in place that will do this for you if you sign a contract to stay with the company for a couple extra years. Not to mention that you'd save about $100,000.</p>

<p>I guess I wish you'd explain to us why an MBA is so important to you, and why you are so focused on preparing yourself for acceptance into an MBA program.</p>

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<p>IF I was to only get an BBA as you have suggested, I will nto be able to study anything else in my undergrad (well, other than the requirements). My other reasons for wanting an MBA is similar to nearly everybody else who strives for an MBA; higher degree creates more opportunity adn it will allow me to learn business (whatever concentration) at a more intricate level. Your question is the sole reason for the existance of this thread. I sought to get a BA in teh first place because of the many reasons other have posted above. However, with my chat with my advisors, I have begun to think otherwise.</p>

<p>To redhares, the point you iterated is very interesting. I will certianly take that into consideration now.</p>

<p>Anyways, Im goign to chat with my advisor to resolve this in deeper detail. Thanks for all your help.</p>

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<p>Let us know what your advisor says...</p>

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<p>Another thing, you should research a bit in the business major forum, there are several threads that discuss this. <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=216703%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=216703&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>I believe a dual major in BBA and LSA requires 150 hours. </p>

<p>An MBA from a top MBA schools will open more doors than a BBA. But, once again, I have been thinking along the same lines as Wolverine... get a job with a company that will pay for my MBA if I decide to pursue it. This seems like a win/win and offers the best opportunities.</p>

<p>I still think you should consider whether you really even want to pursue an academic degree in business. It does not seem to be your passion. You don't need a business degree to start a business or be employed in a business capacity.</p>

<p>If you want to be a CEO for a large manufacturing company, for example, you are probably better off majoring in engineering and then going to B-School.</p>

<p>You also probably stand a better chance at getting into Harvard's MBA program, for example, if you don't have an undergrad business degree.</p>

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<p>Why would you stand a better chance? Either way, having a great foundation in business, plus the dual degree companion (which can easily be done in the traditional 4 years), how can this hurt? You get out of college with a great job offer, then, like you said, work at a firm and end up getting your MBA paid for. How is this a negative? </p>

<p>But for OP, I do agree the passion is not there,at least from what he has exhibited.</p>

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<p>Hmm....I havn't really tried to put any of my longer life plans and my reasons into goign into business. If you want to knwo in detail fo my many reasons, you can PM me. Like I said many times, I don't think BBA is useless. I just don't see much purpose, int he long run, to get it if one is aiming for a MBA.</p>

<p>Anyways, I'm really interested in this dual major idea. Ill tlak to my advisor about that too. Goign to write my e-mail tomorrow. I'll let you guys know what he thinks.</p>