Hi, my goal is to get into Harvard Business for graduate school after studying business in undergraduate. I’m choosing between University of Virginia and William and Mary for undergraduate. I intend to do my absolute best and get the highest possible GPA I can at either school. Which school would help me reach my goal easier?
First, studying business is not the best route for an MBA hopeful
Second, you would need at least 2 years of significant work experience after receiving your bachelor’s degree to be considered at HBS or most top MBA programs.
Third, there is no way to reach your goal easier.
Pretty sure if you study business undergrad you could go directly into the workforce like UPenn’s Wharton. Waste of time and money to go business undergrad and go to business school again if you ask me.
The real key would be your work experience after graduation from college and your progress and impact there. Harvard actually accepts more from Humanities/Social sciences majors than from business based on data I’ve seen. Science and Engineering are also very highly represented.
Depends on what your other goals are when looking at a school, and what type of environment would foster and help you reach your potential
To follow up. Bloomberg Businessweek ranked undergraduate business schools as feeders to top MBA programs. In 2014, UVA McIntire ranked 8 and W&M Mason 19. (I’m not sure this is weighted for school size, since W&M is smaller, but both are quite good.)
However, this is very misleading by itself. According to Poets and Quants, most of the top feeders DO NOT HAVE undergraduate business schools (Harvard, Stanford, Yale, etc. ) http://poetsandquants.com/2011/08/15/top-feeder-colleges-to-harvard-business-school/2/ .
UVA shows up at #19 with 1.1% of the class. W&M does not show up, but the survey stopped at 1% and W&M is only about 40% of UVA’s size, so it would have to significantly outperform UVA on a per capita basis in order to show up.
To put it in perspective Dartmouth, with no undergraduate business school (they do offer a few classes at Tuck) has 2.7% and UVA is 3.9X the size, so Tuck is producing about 9.6X as many Harvard MBAs per capita as UVA.
Anyway, take what you will from this. A lot has to go right for you to get into a school Harvard Business. There is just too much competition. You can do fine without going to Harvard MBA. You can do fine without getting an MBA. Even if you want to get an MBA, business undergrad might not always be the best bet.
If you really want to do undergraduate business, McIntire is certainly better known than Mason. Keep in mind you will have to apply to both.
I think you are overplanning, and overplanning can interfere with opportunities. I know that sounds paradoxical, but I really believe that is true, because premature planning can make you miss other avenues that present themselves.
For grad business, it may be better not to major in business as an undergrad, as a generalization. Many top schools have historically not had business schools because they want you to first become an “educated person” who is more well-rounded, has honed writing, reading and research skills, and so on. However, undergrad business may help you secure a job right after graduation, that suits your goals.
While in college, allow yourself to explore interests without being too narrowly focused on ultimate career, if you can. You may change what you want to do for work so stay flexible. Try out career paths through internships, volunteering and work and let yourself grow and change.
if you do end up wanting to do an MBA, you will probably work for a bit after graduating, and you do not need to go to Harvard to succeed. I would say try not to gear your present life to some imagined future at Harvard Business School. Not saying don’t go there, just saying wait a little before worrying about it .
Go to a school that you will enjoy where you will thrive, regardless of any future at Harvard : )
A top school majoring in economics or preferably physics, mathematics, etc.
Why? Is it because of a particular career goal?
Thanks everyone for the insight!
@TomSrOfBoston
I appreciate the terseness. It’s apparent that I’m ignorant MBA programs in general and I’ll be doing more research before making decisions that will ultimately lead me nowhere.
@hhjjlala
Good point! I’m gathering that I should probably look into interning directly after undergrad if I continue to pursue the business route. Thank you.
@IzzoOne
I really appreciate the time and research you put into this. There is a lot of competition with Harvard business and I see now that a bachelors in business isn’t comparable to or even compatible with an MBA. I’ll definitely keep these things in mind moving forward.
@compmom
Thank you! I’ll be sure to stay flexible. I’d love to have a general, lofty, goal to aim for and if it doesn’t work out, that’s okay and I’ll have been working hard, which can set me up for other good things. I’ll be sure to take your advice and take advantage of the many opportunities I’ll be sure to have at either school 
I’m very excited for college and I’ll smile at the future, regardless of if it is different than how I envision it.
@fbsdreams
Thank you! Math is great, so I’d be happy to adjust my field of study if necessary.
You can intern during school and during summers, don’t have to wait for graduation.
Just want to say I was impressed by your very nice (and “flexible”!) responses…very much appreciated. You are a nice, and an articulate, person and I think you will do well not matter what you do : )
Another approach is to study something that is complimentary to a business degree that you enjoy. Engineers with MBAs are valued in many businesses, from venture capital to tech to manufacturing. Art history majors with MBA run museums, and theater majors with MBA produce films and plays. Don’t get too bogged down in where you want to be 8 years from now; check in with yourself regularly on what seems to really engage you and why. Success at anything will require you to put in a lot of time, and this is SO much easier when it’s something you want to do.
This quote subtly illustrates the fallacy that your undergraduate major permanently limits your career in some important way. As it happens, one of my college roommates is an art history major with an MBA. He is an enormously successful commercial real estate developer and manager. The closest he has come to managing a museum is curating his own impressive personal contemporary art collection. Two other college roommates also have MBAs: a history major, whose career has been entirely in telecom, and a religious studies major who runs a hedge fund. Another, much younger friend with an MBA has worked as a commercial real estate investor, and is now beginning to get traction on his own as a principal. His college major was international relations.
One of the real benefits of an MBA degree (or, really, any professional degree) is that it gives you the ability to switch fields entirely.
I agree with other poster(s) that you do not have to have a business undergrad to get into a good MBA program. I was a comparative religion major (at Harvard) and got an MBA and later a PhD and now teach in a rival MBA program.
Secondly, I don’t think that much of HBS, to be honest. The courses are huge (maybe 100 in a room), the method is old-fashioned, and the social atmosphere is cut-throat. There are a dozen programs that teach you more and don’t require you to check your soul at the door. Yes, I said it.