<p>i plan on a career in ibanking or something in finance...what undergrad major would be best for me to apply as? business or economics?</p>
<p>Economics is largely theoretical & generally requires a grad degree for a decent job (often a teaching or research position). Business degrees may lead to a career in finance, but you may wish to contact firms you might be interested in working for & ask them.</p>
<p>Roommates doing IB and Marshall seems the place for that...he gets to do some pretty incredible stuff...i.e. travel to NY and meet w/investment banks, etc.</p>
<p>realistically, you have to be a business major. specifically, you should do a concentration in the finance department.</p>
<p>Econ will not get you into IB from USC.</p>
<p>I actually met with a USC career counselor to ask this very question </p>
<p>She didnt really give me a conclusive answer. She said that, on the whole, the business major is more marketable than economics, but that either could work for investment banking. She really emphasized the importance of setting up summer internships. </p>
<p>Its still a dilemma for me. Marshall offers a stronger degree than the economics department. Its ranked higher, and it offers a lot of great programs to give students an edge in the business world. But personally, I think economics is much more interesting. So far, Marshall has been a bit of a disappointment for me a lot of route memorization, a lot of competition, but very little substance.</p>
<p>Ive taken one class in economics and one class at Marshall. In economics, we studied the realities of the market economy the determination of foreign exchange rates, trade policy, inflation, etc In business, everything we studied seemed like something that really shouldnt be taught in a classroom how to communicate with people from diverse cultures, models of leadership, etc Perhaps it was just that class, and not Marshall as a whole, but it was enough to make me pause and reconsider my decision to major in business </p>
<p>I still dont really know what to do any advice from someone with more experience at USC or at Marshall would certainly be welcomed.</p>
<p>One other thing: Marshall has a lot more requirements that the economics major. And a lot of these are classes that I know Ill never use (why should someone going into finance have to waste precious credits taking a class on marketing?). In fact, it takes about the same number of credits to earn the bachelors degree in business as it does to earn the masters degree in economics through the progressive degree program. </p>
<p>But then on the other hand, Marshall is still a very much respected business program. Its tough </p>
<p>If you took OB this semester, I feel that may not be representative of other business classes down the line. I've also heard that you can do an economics concentration. On the whole though, I'd stay with Marshall as it is more respected and you will learn a wide range of applicable business knowledge (though you may not think you want to do marketing, it is valuable to know marketing strategies and you never know when it may come in handy). As you said, economics is purely theoretical. If you are doing well so far, stick with Marshall.</p>
<p>You could always major in business and take extra classes in econ (you might even be able to double major) Also, you can't really compare the credits, because even as an econ major, you'd have to have 128 units to graduate...it's not like you can use those "saved" units towards a master's degree.
I'd say the best way to get into Ibanking is to stick with Marshall and really work to get a good gpa/internships etc.</p>
<p>I'm a senior in Marshall, and i've already accepted an offer to join an investment bank in San Francisco next year.</p>
<p>The reality is, if you're going to be at USC, you need to be a finance major in order to make it into banking. There are plenty of schools where econ is the normal progression in banking (ie, the ivys), but that is not the case at USC. </p>
<p>I understand exactly what you mean in regards to your Marshall classes. Honestly, most of the Marshall classes for freshman and sophmores are totally useless. OB, Marketing, Bus. Comm, all fall into this category.</p>
<p>However, once your an upper classman, you will realize how strong the Marshall program is - not because of the core requirements, but because of the senior concentration classes. There are easily a dozen top notch finance classes at USC - all of which will provide excellent preperation for landing a job in the finance industry. You'll be able to pursue a concentration in multiple disciplines, whether it be Corporate Finance, Investments & Financial Markets, or Financial Valuation.</p>
<p>If you switch to Econ, you will not have those opportunities, and you will have to explain to recruiters why you choose not to pursue the business major. However, as a business major you can still take as many econ classes as you like - i took both 303 and 305 as electives.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>I have also been questioning my decision to major in business (for the same reasons stressed4college mentioned, namely route memorization for OB)</p>
<p>I've considered both Econ and SPPD as alternatives, but maybe I should stick it out. Thanks for the info, bicoastal.</p>