<p>I'm an anthropology major, but recently have been thinking about pursuing a career in business (Working for an international corporation or a development bank or something along those lines). I want to be an expat and the business world seems to be the best avenue to do that. Would I be better off minoring in business administration or economics? Or do minors not really make a difference?</p>
<p>Probably doesn’t matter but I’d go for econ. Any undergrad business program outside of Warton and maybe UMich is kind of ******** in my opinion</p>
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<p>Why do you say that?</p>
<p>Because most undergrad business programs are pretty faulty and most of the education involved with business management comes from working in a business and then furthering this knowledge at a business school. What does an 18 year old know about business? You have to develop your knowledge of other stuff first before you clog up your brain with business stuff which is essentially applying what you learn in other fields- math, econ, statistics, etc.</p>
<p>I have an undergrad business degree (BBA) from U of Mich (Ann Arbor). And… I don’t buy that you can’t pick up some worthwhile business skills minoring in business administration at other colleges and universities. I say go for the business classes. They are generally more specific (marketing, finance, accounting, operations, business law, statistics, etc.) than econ. They will give you a more specific set of skills, which is what most corporations would like to see when they are hiring. I also have an MBA from another big 10 school, and I can tell you that they had very fine faculty, although the students were not up to the same par as Michigan. But the education was there for those who worked at it.</p>
<p>A minor definitely can help you get a job. Ironically, I ended up getting a job that was related to my “minor” when I graduated from Michigan with that business degree. I put “minor” in quotes because at least at that time, you couldn’t have a minor from the School of Business Administration as an undergrad. But I took a lot of classes in computer science on the side, and played it up on my resume. I parlayed that into a programming job. I have gone on to have a very successful career in IT management, where I use both my major (business admin) and “minor” skills.</p>
<p>By the way, I loved anthro, too, and almost majored in it. But… I wanted to get a job when I got out.</p>
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<p>:( way to rub it in</p>
<p>@ runxc6792. What makes Michigan and Penn different?</p>
<p>Minors can be marketable. A minor in a language means you’re probably fluent in it, making you marketable internationally as well as with multinational businesses stateside. A minor in mathematics as a social sciences major shows that you have a quantitative side. A business minor means that you probably have some decent background in the academic side of management and finance.</p>
<p>That said, I’m a political science major and German minor who works in the consulting industry; friends of mine are working in banking as communications, business, political science, psychology, physics and history majors, among other majors; other friends are working in marketing as anthropology majors, in law firms as language majors… you get the gist. Your major doesn’t necessarily dictate your field once you graduate.</p>
<p>Sorry, really didn’t mean to rub it in. I actually find my anthro perspective can be very useful in the business world. It can be quite helpful to be able to step back and be an observer sometimes. I am good at being objective when helping redesign business processes, for example. Just because something has ‘always been done this way’ isn’t necessarily the right reason to keep doing it that way, and I have a talent for peeling away the historical precedent and emotions. I honestly don’t think it is my anthro coursework that brought me that perspective, but I think that is why I liked anthro (especially cultural – you have not actually said if your focus is cultural or physical, though).</p>
<p>Regarding Wharton & U of Mich, they have historically had the top two ranked undergrad business programs in the country. Can’t say I have looked at those rankings in many years, though. Both happen to also have very highly ranked MBA programs, and I think they both leverage the same professors/facilities/approaches to business education (I know Michigan does, assume the same for Wharton). I wouldn’t worry if you are not at one of those schools. In fact, you are lucky if you are at a school where you can minor in business (at Michigan, you couldn’t do that, at least not when I was there – you were either accepted to the School of Business Administation and working toward a degree in it, or you weren’t).</p>
<p>Business minor without a doubt. An economics major will not hold any value when it is paired with anthro. At least a business minor will allow you to learn basic accounting and potentially some finance.</p>
<p>@2goose. What makes econ a bad pair for an anthro major? Aren’t they very different fields?</p>
<p>I can take a shot at that. Econ is not a bad major, but it is a more general major. Working for a corporation, you will rarely use a concept from an econ class to perform a task. I think it is a useful perspective to know how markets work, etc., but when it gets right down to building, marketing, tracking, financing, or handling legal issues for a product, it is not as helpful. So I think the business classes are a more marketable skill, more practical. You won’t use every business class every day, but you would be surprised how often someone mentions a general ledger report or something, and you would be happy that you knew what that is and why it is important. Anthro (no insult intended, you know I love anthro!) is a less practical major than many, so you would be advised to pair it with something more practical.</p>
<p>Thanks for the great answers everyone. I’ve heard that grad schools tend to look down on business majors, would they do the same for business minors?</p>
<p>Honestly, get whatever degree you want, take a few business (or econ) classes to supplement your degree, and most importantly, GET INTERNSHIPS. I’m an English major at a top 20 and every interviewer I’ve ever spoken to, from top bankers at Merrill Lynch to top commercial real estate brokers, have all told me the same thing: they value practical experience over anything else and all types of guys from all walks of life and with all types of degrees enter the field. They’re going to have to train you either way, so as long you show you’re intelligent, hard-working, and have experience/interest in the field, you’ll be competitive.</p>
<p>What kind of grad school? Your minor probably doesn’t matter too much in that process, I am guessing. If you are thinking about an MBA, it is probably actually a help.</p>
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<p>They are different fields, but Economics just doesn’t have a ton of practical usage, especially until you get into higher level applied courses (econometrics, applied economics, experimental economics, etc.). I think much more value comes from taking practical courses such as financial accounting, cost accounting, finance, and marketing (at least to learn Porter’s 5 forces and the like). I would also suggest Microeconomics just for a baseline understanding on supple and demand. Otherwise, I don’t think any other economics courses will add much value to you at this point.</p>
<p>Like others said, internships are more valuable than a minor. There are only a handful of minors that really hold value, but out of the two you proposed, I think business is the winner hands down (just focus on accounting and finance classes if possible).</p>
<p>@intparent. I’m leaning towards a masters in international development, but haven’t completely ruled out a PhD in Anthropology.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if PhD programs look down on business minors?</p>