<p>I see many people majoring in business, and I'm considering that field as well, because it's related to economics and accounting, both fields which I enjoy. However, I don't really know all that it entails. What kind of courses does one take? Is it more about crunching numbers or critical thinking?
Thank you so much!</p>
<p>Your question is too general. </p>
<p>Just look at the curriculum for you school and then use Wikipedia to investigate each subject area. Look at you business core classes and read some of the course descriptions in in the catalog.</p>
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<p>No it isn’t.</p>
<p>Imagineall, “Critical thinking” is a buzzword, it means absolutely nothing other than “thinking hard”. Majoring in business involves taking several types of courses. Most of it is about number crunching. Some of it is about taking semi-easy multiple choice tests that are sometimes poorly worded, in classes where you aren’t expected to do any reading. Unless you are an accounting major, then by far the hardest class of your entire undergrad will be calc 1. So if you get past calc 1 you can breathe easy, but just remember to get a strong GPA so your resume doesn’t get thrown in the trash (if you e-mail it, some of them will literally print it and throw it in the trash. You’ve been warned).</p>
<p>You can be sure that it won’t entail building things with spaghetti and marshmallows.</p>
<p>The “number crunching” in accounting isn’t about adding. At least it hasn’t since somebody invented the computer spreadsheet. The issue is knowing the rules and processes which tell you which numbers to add. </p>
<p>For example, there are complicated laws to determine whether a business is considered a hobby or not and whether losses from that hobby business can be applied to reduce the taxpayer’s overall burden. If you have a client who likes to take photos of naked women(“aspiring models”) and his dirty little business has lost 3000 dollars this year, he ordinarily can’t deduct that from his other income(say, his 100k salary as a teacher in New Jersey). If his photography business has turned a profit in the past 3 years however he can. A 5 year old can figure out that 100,000 - 3000 = 97000. The problem is figuring out everything leading up to that, and once you get into the workplace dealing with more ambiguity as well as using your knowledge to help in planning for individuals or businesses.</p>
<p>^great post/summary. </p>
<p>I’d say a business major can do either (crunch numbers or think critically). To give you an idea, I’d say finance is more pure number-crunching (all of my finance classes so far have been using a formula to produce the IRR, expected return and all that garbage), Operations Management/MIS is more critical-thinking/problem solving oriented and accounting is surprisingly somewhere in the middle. </p>
<p>I think the best business major combo would be MIS (or equivalent) and Accounting. Finance is very simple (you can read a few books and pick up the generalities) and the rest of the business majors are pretty weak in terms of developing a hard skill. So I’d say if you’re more problem-solving oriented, go with MIS (or equivalent), else go with Accounting. Keep in mind that both MIS and Accounting will develop both skills though, just to a lesser extent than some others. I’d only suggest you major in something outside of these two if you know for sure you’re going to a masters program in accounting (they take non-accounting majors) or if you have an amazing network and can get the job you want regardless of your degree/school name.</p>
<p>Good advice from the previous posters. </p>
<p>One thing I’d like to add is that undergraduate business school heavily emphasizes the recruiting process. The classes and the material aren’t that important, but obtaining dubious “leadership” positions and learning how to “network” are a big part of the business school experience.</p>
<p>It really depends on the type of major. A major in business administration will cover courses on various business functions like finance, marketing, sales, human resources, etc. Youll be asked to choose a concentration in one of the business functions. A business major like accounting, on the other hand, will focus more on courses related to the subject and less on other business functions and will lead you to specific careers in the field. Why dont you browse through the curricula of different [business</a> degrees](<a href=“http://www.collegeamerica.edu/business-degrees.html"]business”>http://www.collegeamerica.edu/business-degrees.html) at CollegeAmerica? That might help you understand what different business majors entail.</p>
<p>You enjoy accounting??!</p>