Undergrad Business vs MBA

<p>I'm a rising senior in high school and intending on pursuing science degree and later med but also with an interest in business. How does undergraduate business schools (e.g wharton, stern, etc.) differ from a graduate MBA program and can you end up in finance, business sector, IB, etc, from either path? Is it worthwhile to pursue an MBA after bachelors in science and some years of work experience compared to simply getting a minor in economics or finance during undergrad?</p>

<p>I enjoy both science and business but I can only choose 1 path for undergrad; however, I would like to have the ability/freedom to potentially work in both sectors later on in life which is why I'm asking for other people's advice and opinion. Also, is it true that the school you go to for business is really important (e.i must be top 20)?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>I can tell you that my MBA from Belmont (Jack Massey School) required a great deal of writing. Most classes also included Harvard Business School case studies and some sort of team project.</p>

<p>During my undergrad time at UW-Madison, I took a Marketing class to supplement my Journalism major with emphasis in Advertising. The Marketing class I took as part of the MBA was much more writing-intense than the undergrad class.</p>

<p>There was a lot of writing within the Journalism major at UW… which makes sense.</p>

<p>But overall, I still did more writing per class – and more work overall --in the Master’s program. It’s not called a Master’s degree for nothing.</p>

<p>In fact you can always try MD/MBA joint degrees…</p>

<p>Do STEM first, then get an MBA later, as you won’t be getting a STEM graduate degree with undergraduate business.</p>

<p>And yes, top 15 is ideal (though there are about 20 schools in the top 15, 'cuz this is b-school :slight_smile: ), M7 is idealer, and H/S is idealest.</p>

<p>@purpletitan If I get an MBA later after a STEM degree and some work experience, will I still be able to get the same job opportunities in finance, IB, etc. as a graduate that went to business school directly from high school? I ask this because an MBA is usually only 2 years compared to 4 or 5 years for undergrad business school.</p>

<p>You’d enter as an associate coming out of b-school instead of as an analyst (so higher level with better pay). Same opportunities in finance/banking/consulting (no banks/consulting firms hire only undergrads and not MBAs).</p>

<p>You’d cover about the same material in an MBA program as in a BBA. Remember that much of undergrad is filled with distribution requirements and the like.</p>

<p>Do you want to be a doctor or a banker? You need to pick very soon so that you can focus on how you will be spending your summers. Major is virtually irrelevant.</p>

<p>You’re putting too much emphasis on the academic aspect. Truthfully, an art history major can handle an entry-level IB/consulting gig just as well as an economics major. You want to go to a school with the highest prestige, strongest alumni network, and best OCR.</p>

<p>If you wish to pursue STEM that’s fine. However, you have to be FULLY CONFIDENT that you can handle STEM without putting your GPA at risk. 3.8 English major will beat a 3.5 Engineering major when it comes to recruiting. It’s unfair but it’s the truth.</p>

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<p>Yes, so long as you take the above factors into consideration.</p>

<p>The only thing that will genuinely make a difference as you compete with jobs within your MBA program will be your past work experience. IB/PE/HF firms are going to be shooting for the kids who already held a job within one of the aforementioned fields pre-MBA. Consulting firms aren’t as specific.</p>

<p>@carotid My plan right now is to pursue STEM for undergrad, take some business related electives, and try to get into medicine. I will be doing all of my undergrad in Canada, since I’m Canadian and can only attend Medical school in Canada; thus it’s more practical to stay in Canada, hopefully from one of the top Canadian schools though.</p>

<p>If, however, I don’t get into medical school, my plan is to get some work experience in my STEM related degree and then apply to a top MBA program in the States.</p>

<p>Also, I’m actually spending this summer volunteering at a hospital.</p>

<p>@Martin18: Good plan.</p>

<p>@Carotid: A monkey can do IB work, but trading requires quant skills and consultants value analytical thinking as well (there’s a reason why about half of McKinsey consultants are PhDs).</p>

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<p>I disagree. Not all IB analysts do the same work. You often hear that Ibanks employ all kinds of majors like art and history, well, those analysts will do non critical thinking jobs like doing excel spreadsheets and powerpoint presentations. Those are the people who will say any monkey can do their work because they don’t have the finance and accounting backgrounds to do anything more sophisticated.You can bet that very few Wharton grads will be doing that type of work. They will help with IBD that requires financial background and analysis.</p>

<p>Trading is done with those with more quant skills( but not much because it can be taught easily) and very few finance/accounting majors go into trading because exit opportunities are limited because many banks are shutting down their derivatives,prop and commodities trading because of new regulations.</p>

<p>@cbreeze‌:

  1. Depends on the type of trading.
  2. The exit opportunities in trading aren’t at other banks.</p>

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<p>I am very familiar with hedge funds. There are turnovers for portfolio managers, senior analysts because better opportunities exist, but with traders, they stay a long time. For each strategy group, you may have multiple analysts, but you only need one trader.</p>

<p>For the OP, there are many students who attend undergrad Wharton and head to medical school. All you need is to fulfill medical school requirements. However, Wharton is tough and to keep grades up for pre-med requirements won’t be easy.</p>

<p>From the 2013 Wharton undergrad class, a total of 4 (out of 576 responses - 89% response rate) went directly to medical school:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/files/WHA_2013cp.pdf”>http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/files/WHA_2013cp.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>And only 24 total students went on to grad school.
Only 4 med schools were mentioned , however Penn Med usually accepts multiple Wharton students per year.</p>

<p>How many UPenn Perelman students are MD/MBA and how many UPenn Perelman students were Wharton students as undergraduates?</p>