<p>Econ requires a year of calculus (2 semesters). Business requires one semester of calculus. Some high schoolers have more than that. Knowing high level math and statistics is incredibly useful, never want to just know the minimum to get by. </p>
<p>I am a Haas alumus, so don’t take offense. I want to make two points. First, economics and business aren’t really at all the same. I think that was clear from my earlier post (above). </p>
<p>Second, the best advice I would have for someone, whether they are a Haas undergraduate or not, is to try to create as many options for themselves as possible while in college. For a business administration major, a simultaneous degree, especially something quantitative, will help create options (e.g. internships, graduate or professional school, and different career paths that might not usually be available to business majors). With that goal in mind, the business administration major by itself is not rigorous enough in my opinion. If you combine it with something quantitative, then you’re going to be better off. Economics is one option, although undergraduate economics can be also not very rigorous if one chooses. </p>
<p>Haas surely was a good experience for me, but the opportunities created by my other major and the more rigorous, non-major courses that I took are what ultimately were the most valuable. In industry, you will be well compensated if you can develop the right mixture of technical skills, understanding of theory, data, and how they come together. </p>
<p>If you are a business alum, you know that the core courses aren’t really at all difficult. Some are interesting. To be perfectly honest, the classes are low level. Organizational behavior is a good example. The core finance class that a lot of people find to be one of the most difficult core classes is also pretty elementary. The reason why people say it is hard is because it is at their highest level of math/statistics training or slightly beyond. The concepts aren’t hard. Even 131, which most people say is a class that every Haas undergrad should take and I agree with that, is essentially a class that teaches that you can always argue multiple sides in business decisions and that there are no rules that you can always apply. It is an interesting class no doubt but nobody would argue that it is rigorous. </p>
<p>There’s a reason why most schools (e.g. Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Princeton are a few) don’t have business majors (and still place students into great ‘business’ jobs). It’s because the skills that one learns in an undergraduate business major aren’t really irreplaceable, e.g. finance companies are going to have a 2 week crash course in finance and accounting. You can learn those skills pretty easily with out majoring in it. Quantitative training and good decision making is harder to pick up on the fly. </p>
<p>Sunfish, I am not sure what kind of real jobs you are thinking of that you say I don’t know what they entail. Maybe clerical work? In my opinion, the more interesting careers in the business world require analytical skills. For example, in quantitative marketing jobs in silicon valley you’re much more likely to find majors other than business, even though marketing is a core business class. Note that many Haas graduates in silicon valley work in accounting or corporate finance (which in silicon valley is not these firms’ core business, which at least in my opinion, is not an ideal placement – consider being an accountant or corp finance analyst at Google vs. somewhere else). </p>
<p>You want to have as many options when you graduate as possible. I think too often Haas students don’t think in terms of creating option value. I think Lyons is on the right track by adding the modelling course.</p>