<p>i have heard lots of buzz that if you dont get into a top ranking b-school than its not worth it to pursue a business degree at a less prominent school? any thoughts. what constitutes a top ranking b school?</p>
<p>You don’t need to attend an undergrad business program to get a job in business. You will have better opportunities from any top college than you will from a middling business program.</p>
<p>Go to the best college you can get into.</p>
<p>I would somewhat agree with Hmom5 with some exceptions:</p>
<p>1.Not all business majors are created equally. Accounting and actuarial now are good for any accredited school. You don’t need to go to a top school or even a top rated school in accounting or actuarial studies to get a very good job.However, the better your college GPA, the better the chances of getting the higher paid accounting/actuary jobs. I know that the big 4 generally don’t consider applicants with less than a 3.4 GPA both overall and in accounting, although a particularly high GPA in accounting can result in a slightly lower GPA overall.</p>
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<li><p>I would NOT, repeat NOT, pay full tuition to go to a top school IF you or your parents have to go into significant debt to attend the school. Like wise, if the cost of the school would severely compromise your parent’s retirement, I would not recommend paying for that type of school even without debt.</p></li>
<li><p>Business majors at top schools would be fine. Schools such as CMU, UCLA, NYU, Wharton would fall into this category. </p></li>
<li><p>If you don’t go to a top college, you certainly want to consider the majors that I noted above. You can still get a job with many companies and/or consulting firms even from mid teir schools IF you get a very strong GPA such as 3.6+ or better and preferably better. A top GPA on a resume should get you some interviews.</p></li>
<li><p>Any studies in the health related field such as nursing, occupational therepy, physical therepy, audiology should have good job prospects from any accredited school.</p></li>
<li><p>Most computer science majors are getting jobs, especially if you can get good grades, regardless of the school.</p></li>
<li><p>Some engineering jobs are in big demand. It does, however, depend on the engineering speciality. There is a particularly acute shortage of well-spoken, English speaking PHds in Engineering. This is why there are many foreign professors teaching in the hard sciences and engineering.</p></li>
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<p>8.Finally, always, always, always make connections with alumni groups from whatever colege you attend. Networking is a big deal in life and much more important than the school that you attend and maybe even more important than your GPA. Thus, schools with large , strong alumni associations would be a good bet. Thus, make sure you do some volunteer work for alumni meetings.</p>
<p>I agree with tax guy and I’ll add that economies like this remind us that majors not directly leading to a job are more risky for some. Engineers and accountants are still getting jobs, English and philosophy majors not at top colleges are having a much harder time.</p>
<p>I don’t think kids should rush to anything their heart isn’t in, but it’s important to think about job prospects in terms of type of school, major and GPA they will require.</p>