<p>If I were to major in something like psychology or philosophy, does that cripple my chances of being accepted into an MBA program at an elite college (assuming I got my undergrad degree at a similarly elite college)</p>
<p>If it does cripple my chances... what are the accepted MBA undergrad majors, just econ or business?</p>
<p>Nah, what matters most of all is your work experience. B-schools don't really care about your undergrad degree specifically. I've known people at Sloan and HBS who did their undergrad major in things like Classics, Religion, History, and so forth. </p>
<p>In general, certain undergrad majors are more predisposed to getting people strong MBA-type jobs than are others. For example, the aforementioned econ and business, but also engineering/CS. At most of the top B-schools, people with engineering/CS degrees comprise something like 25-30% of the entering class (and at schools like MIT Sloan, it's more like 40%, but of course, what do you expect from a school like MIT). The natural sciences and mathematics also tend to be somewhat popular, as well as political science/government (as many MBA students worked for the government). But again, the real key is not so much the major itself, but rather the kind of job you can get with the degree. For example, if you get a degree in Art History, but land an analyst job at McKinsey, then you're well positioned to get into a top B school.</p>
<p>What kind of analyst job are you talking about, sakky?</p>
<p>It would be the standard job you would land at McKinsey or any of the other major management consulting firms (BCG, Bain, etc.) with just an undergrad degree. </p>
<p>For example, you can see here that Mckinsey calls these new undergrads "Business Analysts/Fellows"</p>
<p>Basically, in these types of jobs, you would be helping out the "real" consultants (people who are associates and higher) with their engagements - preparing spreadsheets, analyzing raw data, writing reports, while at the same time learning what the consulting lifestyle is all about. It's a very common path towards going to B-school later, or just as a general resume builder for a future career in management, because you get to see a lot of industries, you get to see a lot of business issues, and you get to network with a lot of people.</p>
<p>Are these generally 2 year stints, or do they last longer?</p>
<p>About 2-3 years. But rarely any longer than that. By that point, the company will either have decided to promote you directly to the associate level (which is rare), or will end your analyst stint. There's no shame in that, as the vast majority of analysts will not be promoted and will therefore have their analyst stint ended. The expectation is then that you will go to B-school (or, rarely, some other graduate program like law school or a PhD) and you might return to the firm as an associate upon graduation.</p>
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B-schools don't really care about your undergrad degree specifically.
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<p>However, doesn't it hamper certain student's progress in the program? Doesn't an MBA have some pre-requisites that are not satisfied with certain undergrad degrees, forcing some students to take pre-req courses and an extra 6 months-year to complete their MBA?</p>
<p>311Griff, not really. I have never heard of anybody being required to hang around for an extra 6 months to get their MBA at a top school because of some prereq requirement. This might happen at some of the no-name schoos, but I have never heard of it happening at a top school. After all, think of the havoc it would cause from a recruiting standpoint. The major employers, such as the consulting and banking firms, know to expect a new crop of MBA grads to emerge every June, and they plan their entire recruiting schedule around that fact. If some students were in fact emerging 6 months out-of-sync, that would throw their entire recruiting calendars out of whack.</p>
<p>Go look at the curriculas of the top B-schools such as HBS, Sloan, Wharton, Stanford, and so forth, and you will see that none of them really forces any students to take pre-req courses. Some B-schools, notably Sloan, do run an optional 'cram session' for a couple of weeks right before B-school officially starts. But the point is, it is OPTIONAL. You don't have to go. Some programs, notably Wharton and Haas, will allow you to waive out of certain first-year core classes. But it doesn't really accelerate anything because you have to take more electives to replace those waived core courses. In some sense, that may make for a more satisfying experience as you can skip over classes about things that you already know and instead take electives on things that you don't know. There are other schools, notably HBS and Sloan that don't allow you to waive anything, even if you already know it. For example, take the required DMD core class at Sloan, which is basically a class on mathematical modeling and statistics. I know Sloanies who had PhD's in mathematics who were nevertheless still forced to take DMD. </p>
<p>In one sense, you could say that having a highly relevant undergrad degree could help you in that you will probably find the MBA classes to be easier, because you already know some of the material. </p>
<p>But you have to keep in mind that the MBA isn't really about classes. Many MBA students treat classes as simply secondary. The true value of the MBA experience is the access to recruiters and the networking. In other words, there's no point in getting straight A's in B-school but not getting the job that you want and not making important future contacts. It's far better to just barely pass your B-school classes but spend all your time recruiting and networking to get the job that you really want, as well as making lots of contacts for use in your future career. In fact, I know a number of MBA students who have frankly said that they probably spend too much time studying, and they should have instead spent more time socializing, or in the career office practicing their interview skills or recruiting with more companies. They say that because while they got top grades, they didn't get the job offer that they really wanted, and they see other students who didn't do as well academically, nevertheless getting better job offers.</p>
<p>sakky, you are prolific. what do you do for a living?</p>