<p>Thanks, that makes a lot more sense now.</p>
<p>I'm going to major in management at Georgetown and land a job at M/B/B.</p>
<p>This just goes to show that a bunch of the people giving "advice" that hard science/engineering majors>all, have no idea what they're talking about and are generally incredibly biased. Thanks a lot for the real advice Calcruzer!</p>
<p>I'm not trying to argue nor do I want to.</p>
<p>However, all I wish to point out is that if you want to go into consulting, and I was in a position to recommend a major, I would not immediatley say choose Business or economics. I would say first and foremost look at what you are good at and excel in that. Simply because the majority of the people from Penn went into consulting and majored in business might not mean all management consulting firms want you to take business (It actually might once again idk). Those statistics don't take into account how many business majors that wanted consulting jobs that didnt get one. They also don't take into account the fact that everyone is a little bit different, meaning that I think the person that majors in International Relations and gets a 3.9 GPA vs. an identical candidate that majors in Econ/Business (which isn't their first choice but he is choosing it because a forum says they should if they want to go into consulting) and gets a 3.5 GPA. Now lets say that they happen to both survive the resume stage and both land interviews. The person that nails the interview has a better chance of getting the job. To nail that interview I would think the person who has expertise in public speaking, case studies, and practice (things that are not covered by either major) would actually get the job.</p>
<p>I don't think many consultants at M/B/B majored in management. 2nd tiers probably have quite a bit, but even 2nd tiers try to get the best students from elite schools and not just any business student. However, that is not to say that management is completely useless. Courses along the lines of Managing Change or a similar title might actually have cases that help you think like a consultant. Whatever major makes you reason critically, think outside the box, and analyze using assumptions and facts will be a good major.</p>
<p>Business Guy,</p>
<p>I don't think these others are trying to give bad advice--it's just that usually people give advice based upon the people they know--and occasionally the facts are just slightly muddied. I think that, as pointed out by MK99 and bananaphone, there is more than one way to get into certain business jobs. They might also have been confusing investment banking jobs with consulting jobs. </p>
<p>For example, it is true that "back-office" jobs (investment banking jobs) at corporate firms go to people who are extremely good at math and engineering--which might lead one to believe that math and engineering majors have the advantage at some of those jobs--and, to a degree, they do. But those jobs also go to people who have not only the math skills, but also the ability to apply the mathematical results to the "pitch books" and consulting presentations that then have to be made. So the answer is that part of the job favors math/engineeriing majors--and part favors business majors. But to say that one is definitely far favorable than the other (at least in "back-office" analytical types of jobs) might be going a bit too far.</p>
<p>And, as I've already indicated, this is not so applicable to consulting (unless you are talking about IT consulting). Redhare is right when he says that a lot of the "front" people are from the top (non-undergraduate business) schools. But this is primarily to do the "networking" stuff--and not the hard technical stuff. In the long run, the person that can do both (think strategically and read the financial reports and analyze the numbers and prepare the detailed conclusions) will rise to the top;--which is why many of these people go back for the MBA degree and then come back into the field afterwards.</p>