<p>Which degree is more valuable? I face a dilemma here because i cant get into the business school at UNC, so im thinking about majoring in sports admin. I plan on working in finance after college, and have some connections on wall street. I also have the option to transfer to UMD and major in Finance (already got into the business school) (ranked #18 finance in the country). In your opinion which degree is more valuable? UNC is clearly the more prestigious school and i love it here but UMD business school is great too. What should i do? Thoughts please!!</p>
<p>If I were you, I’d transfer, seeing as your degree will be applicable to your desired job field. Prestige is relative. While a UNC degree overall is better than a UMD degree, a degree in finance in a top 20 program is a lot better than one in sports administration.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>Thank you for your help! I agree with that, its just tough to leave a place i love over a major. the other thing is I will be able to get a good internship this summer with morgan stanley regardless of where I am going to school. do you think two legitimate finance internships before i go into the work force would balance the odds for UNC? or still stick with the finance degree from umd</p>
<p>I stick by what I said earlier. One of my parents works in finance and I’ve been able to see the methodology of selecting applicants to hire. An applicant may have great work experience and even if the applicant has an impeccable GPA/ECs, having a degree in the applicable field of work makes a huge impact on whether the person gets an interview/offer or not.</p>
<p>Having a degree in sports administration makes it seem like you decided too late that you wanted to go into finance or that you couldn’t find a career in it, so you decided to get some work experience just to have it and the available opportunities just so happened to be in finance. Just my two cents.</p>
<p>thanks again for the input!</p>
<p>Do you have any thoughts about attending graduate school?</p>
<p>No i do not plan on attending graduate school. im VERY blessed to have the connections i do finance wise in NYC, so luckily it will not be necessary for me. thats also why i have such a hard decision on my hands, because a lot of the time its about who you know. and with a high GPA, being connected, and coming from UNC chapel hill ive been in debate about how much my major will truly matter.</p>
<p>No question that contacts and internships are key for that field. Have you thought about a more business related major like economics? That is a very common major for candidates coming out of excellent schools that do not have a undergrad business program.</p>
<p>Its a long story, but i would not be able to major in econ at UNC. Early on i pass/failed a class (econ 410) that is an econ major requirement, meaning i couldnt major in econ (was never planning on it) and honestly i think id just be miserable with that major. its not my thing</p>
<p>Gotcha… I even got a A in 410 and I wouldn’t be too interested either…LOL. </p>
<p>Well, I’m sure you know that many firms “claim” to hire all majors. Best of luck!</p>
<p>If you do stay at UNC, you are allowed to take 18 hours of professional school courses. So while you may not have a BSBA or a finance emphasis noted on your transcript, you can still take classes like Corporate Finance, Advanced Corporate, M&A, Fixed Income, and Equities (as well as every other finance class). So while you may not be able to say that you’re a business major on your resume, you can indicate that you’ve taken a variety of courses that qualify you for a full-time job on Wall Street in your cover letters and in interviews. I would assume that having two years of internship experience on Wall Street would be very helpful. Firms often give their junior year interns full-time offers at the end of the summer, so if you’re almost assured of an internship, there’s a strong chance that you’ll get at least one offer. You can always use that to your advantage as well when you’re applying to other firms; they like to see that you’re experienced and capable.</p>
<p>Also, why did you pass/fail a class that is a business school prerequisite if you’re planning on going into finance? Just curious…</p>
<p>thanks that is awesome advice. I pass failed econ 410 because by pass/fail time i knew i was gonna get a C or worse in it, and i figured that would shut me out of the business school and hurt my GPA. i felt my best move was to save my GPA (thats the only C i ever received) and try to figure something else out with a different major. honestly though i cant thank you enough for just telling me that. i had no idea i could still take finance courses if im not in the business school. amazing news!!</p>
<p>I know this is kind of late, but Kenan-Flagler also offers that online Business Essential program.</p>
<p>As someone earlier mentioned, you can take KF courses as a non-major as well. I’d take something in statistics, and just because you can’t major in econ also doesn’t mean you can’t take a couple of courses in that department. Just note that ‘relevant coursework’ in your transcript or cover letter.</p>
<p>Lucky you with your connections! Very jealous.</p>