<p>I'm a rising Senior in High School. My goal is to go to a very good business school. However, I am not especially interested in IBanking... I prefer business school for it's management and entrepreneurial aspects. Eventually, I want to work with the Private, Public, and/or Non-Profit sectors to improve the conditions of 3rd world countries and/or the inner city ghettos of more developed countries. If not, I would also be happy working within the business of the entertainment industry.</p>
<p>Which major(s) should I aim for? I'm thinking either International Relations, Economics, Finance, Liberal Arts, some cultural studies...? Any advice or input would be great. Undergraduate schools I'm reaching for: Penn, Columbia, Brown, Georgetown, Cal, USC...</p>
<p>“My goal is to go to a very good business school. However, I am not especially interested in IBanking”</p>
<p>That made me laugh. For some reason kids on this forum seem to think people only go to business school to be in IBanking, when in reality a vast majority have no intentions of it.</p>
<p>Anyways, posting this in the business majors thread would probably yield better responses.</p>
<p>I am a bit confused though. You say you want too go to a great business school but then go on to describe a field where business may not get you as far as say an international relations/foreign language double major. Are you saying you want to be involved in the economic development of third world countries? If not then I don’t see why business school is your choice? Other than your 2nd choice of a career is business related, but shouldn’t you be concentrating on achieving your primary career goal before your secondary one?</p>
<p>You even say International Relations as your first major. This would not be under a business school. Finance would not help you with either major as much as a different major would. Economics is more focused on research/consulting than actually going out and implementing things.</p>
<p>^ Well, I think that the private sector can have a greater impact on developing nations than the public sector can, which is why I believe business school would help me towards both of my career prospects. As you said, a foundation in international relations and foreign language would definitely help, and that is along the lines of what I plan to study during my undergraduate years. Any different opinions are always still welcome.</p>
<p>flyingllama, your interests cut across a number of different areas , and are somewhat not clearly focused at this point. What I do understand from your post is that you want to apply business skills (e.g., entrepreneurship) to economic development, whether in a developing country or domestically. OK, there’s an area for you to explore, which might combine your several interests (probably not the entertainment industry, though) and get you thinking about ways you could apply business skills toward the goals you mention: Microfinance.
Check out this link:[SeaMo:</a> Connecting the Microfinance Community | Paid Internship at Washington CASH](<a href=“http://www.seattlemicrofinance.org/paid-internship-at-washington-cash/2009/02/09]SeaMo:”>http://www.seattlemicrofinance.org/paid-internship-at-washington-cash/2009/02/09)</p>
<p>When you check out this link, click on the headings for jobs in the right hand column. This might give you some idea of the types of job opportunities that are available in microfinance, and the types of qualifications these jobs require. Also, Scroll down the right hand side and check out some of the organizations that are involved in microfinance. Finally, continue scrolling down and check out some of the university microfinance project sites. If microfinance turns out to be the area that interests you, you might consider attending a university that has some initiatives in that area. </p>
<p>Another link to check is the international careers website at the University of Wisconsin. <a href=“http://go.global.wisc.edu/[/url]”>http://go.global.wisc.edu/</a> Pay attention to the types of qualifications in demand for various international careers that are posted.</p>
<p>I think you’ll find that organizations involved in economic development are looking for solid training in their fields and real skills. These are not just “do-gooder” organizations. To do good, you have to know what you’re doing. In other words, you need some skills. Business skills would be one of those areas for the interests you mentioned in your post.
For some types of positions, you might need graduate training (e.g., an MBA). If that’s the case, you could major in whatever you want as long as you get some good quantitative skills and some basic economics courses as preparation. Language skills are another area to consider. Seek out internship opportunities in these areas, too. So there are probably many possible paths to what you want to do: Major, Major/Minor, Double Major, Undergrad/Grad School, Undergrad + Peace Corps + Grad School.</p>