<p>I have seen many people state that going to an undergraduate business school such as wharton (penn) or ross (michigan) is a complete waste of time? Does anyone agree with that? Is going into business now pretty much suicide because of our economic conditions? How would the job outlook be in a few years?</p>
<p>^^^^^A complete waste of time? Donât you think that sounds slightly harsh? Do you honestly believe that graduates of top business schools donât find work in their fields of study?</p>
<p>yeah, haha i of course disagreed and thought it was harsh im just wondering what everyone else thinks about undergrad b schools</p>
<p>I think itâs a waste of oneâs undergraduate education, and leaves its students with better training, but less in the way of what one must know to truly be called âeducated.â</p>
<p>My opinion. Business school can be a wonderful thing, but really should be saved for grad school.</p>
<p>Why learn the exact same thing for undergraduate and graduate school that will leave you narrow minded? A Liberal Arts education is really the way to go for undergrad.</p>
<p>Guys, letâs be perfectly, if brutally, honest. Many - probably most - college students are not truly interested in becoming âwell educatedâ or âbroadly mindedâ. Those are, at best, secondary considerations. Their primary goal is to simply get a decent job. Or, theyâre looking to get into a professional grad school such as law or med school with the purpose of getting a decent job. Put another way, many, probably most, parents would not pay to send their kids to college if it did not enhance their job prospects.</p>
<p>With that in mind, it then makes perfect sense for those people to choose to major in business, for doing so accomplishes their personal goals. The logic is, why study some liberal arts discipline that youâre probably never going to use anyway? Letâs face it: most poli-sci majors do not become professional political scientists, most history majors do not become professional historians, most psych majors do not become professional psychologists, and so on. Ross or Wharton bachelorâs business majors earn higher average starting salaries than their counterpart Michigan or UPenn liberal arts students.</p>
<p>Wow, that statement is completely biased and uncalled for. I can see the reason for getting a business education after a liberal arts education, but a business undergraduate education isnât exactly useless either. Itâs not like Wharton grads are much stupider that Harvard students here. A business education gives one a unique perspective of the world, and when combined with a liberal arts foundation, can give one the edge over a liberal arts education without a business background.
I donât get why people would want to disregard a business education over a liberal arts education. Iâm pretty sure than many business students can school humanities students in higher level math, logical reasoning, time management, and even writing (yes, business people have to write thesis papers and analyze financial reports, too). I often find that business-oriented students concise their writing and make their writing much more persuasive and powerful than English students who tend to stuff their writing with florid and unnecessary words.</p>
<p>I think business schools are great for those students who are sure about Business and want to get the right education for a quick start.</p>
<p>However, I still believe a liberal arts education or a major in another field would be useful to any business person simply because it provides a solid foundation of knowledge and philosophy to build a business base off of. The best businessmen out there did not major in business at the elite schools.</p>
<p>^^^^^^Thatâs only because many of the elite schools didnât have undergraduate business programs.</p>
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<p>Well, I think thereâs a simple reason for that: many successful would have majored in undergrad business if they could have. The problem is that many of the top schools simply donât have undergrad business programs at all, or if they do, they donât admit everybody who wants to get in, such as Berkeley Haas or Michigan Ross. </p>
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<p>Well, if that were really true, then you would think that companies would pay liberal arts grads better. After all, if they really do have a valuable foundation of knowledge upon which to build a business career, then companies ought to be rewarding that ability. </p>
<p>Two possibilities then exist: either that a liberal arts education isnât particularly useful to business, or that businesses are simply underpaying those liberal arts grads, whether due to irrationality or to simple market forces indicative of an oversupply of liberal arts students. Either way, from at least a financial standpoint, it is entirely rational for some people to prefer to major in business over a liberal art.</p>
<p>Having a business degree is a plus for companies initially because it saves them from teaching you the basic. For individuals, itâs not always the best route in the long run. A good liberal arts education teaches you how to be an analytical thinker and a good problem solver. </p>
<p>Business school is a trade school. A good business school, like Wharton, requires students to take liberal arts classes. As you go up the corporate ladder, itâs important you have a broad knowledge of art, history, philosophy, different culturesâŠAs a good business person, it takes a lot more than numbers to close deals. Knowledge of foreign local cultures, could often help traders, salespeople or investment bankers determine price of certain product or value of a company. My firm has a special international management program, which requires minimum 3 languages and study of a foreign culture. It is a plus if you have economics or finance background. It is a very short path to senior management within our firm. </p>
<p>In general, finance and accounting(applied) are fairly easy relative to math, econ or many science courses (theoretical), most recruiters/managers are all aware of it.</p>
<p>At the same time, I donât think everyone is suited for liberal arts education. I think more people should go into trade schools - nursing, accounting, technology, TV repair - instead of wasting money in 4 years college education.</p>
<p>People seems to believe management major donât get any liberal-art education at all. Thatâs just not true. </p>
<p>Everybody in most universities take probably much the same courses (liberal-art courses) for the first two years, English, Math, Sciences, Humanties, Social Science, foreign languages, etc.</p>
<p>For example, at UGA or Emory business schools, most students are in liberal-art school first two years before applying for undergraduate business school. Even in Georgia Tech, most students are required to take a bunch of liberal arts (history, politics, psychology, even one advanced English course) before graduation.</p>
<p>So only third and fourth students took most business specific courses like Accounting.</p>
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So does a good business education with a solid liberal arts foundation. Even more so, in fact. Who says that Warren Buffet and Donald Trump, both Wharton attendees, arenât good analytical thinkers and problem solvers because they did not have a liberal arts education? They would laugh at your face if you said that. The statement about the best businessmen having liberal arts degrees are only half true. Many of them chose economics as their major, and if the elites schools offered business education, then I bet that most of them would have majored in business or double-majored in business and something else. Itâs a shame that more top schools do not offer a undergraduate business curriculum besides economics. If Harvard were to have a business school, I will guarantee you that it will have a 1-2% acceptance rate.</p>
<p>Bill Gates also doesnât have a college degree, does that mean everyone could success without a college degree?</p>
<p>Top tier schools do not have undergraduate business school(or pre-professional schools) because they believe in value of liberal arts education. Cornell and Penn are not as prestigious as other Ivies because of their pre-professional schools (nursing, engineering, hotel, businessâŠ)</p>
<p>My daughter is looking into ibanking upon graduation. Advice sheâs been given is to major in math/econ and take a FEW finance courses to prove she could do it, otherwise sheâll learn everything else on the job. In her case, sheâs getting As in finance, but finding it a lot more difficult in math. I have work in finance 25+ years. There was no way I was going to spend 50000/year for her to go to undergrad business school.</p>
<p>If you must do undergrad business, load up on as many liberal arts courses as possible.</p>
<p>Since I am most familiar with Georgia Tech management program, here is requirement for its degree.</p>
<p>1 year of Calculus, one course in Stat
1 semester of computer science.
1 year of English + 1 advanced course in English
1 year of Science,
1 semester Politics and 1 semester of US history
1 year of economic
1 year of foreign language
two additional courses in Social Science (Psychology for example).</p>
<p>Thatâs a lot of liberal-art courses.</p>
<p>You donât need to go to an undergraduate business school to get an ibanking job. My cousin was a pre-law major at NYU and got an ibanking job at Merrill. He told me something like ibanks want to keep their internships diversified among majors, because there is not one discreet skill that is involved in ibanking, rather many different skills.</p>
<p>Undergrad business degrees are a waste of time unless you get into Wharton UG.</p>
<p>Spend your time doing something you love. You donât necessarily need a business degree to be in business. Save that specialization for your MBA. I think Hank Paulson was an English major as an undergradâŠhe became CEO of GS then Treasury Secretary. Case in point.</p>
<p>I assume many of those liberal arts courses could be exempted by AP credits. Too often students do not take another math class in college because of AP calculus, or another foreign language because of AP. What about art, music, foreign culture, philosophy?</p>
<p>Here is another thought - why would you major in management when youâve never had business experience? You would most likely start at the lowest entry level when you graduate, why would you need management skill? Would it be better after youâve had a few years of working experience? There is a reason why many top tier MBA schools require students to have minimum 2 years work experience.</p>
<p>âUndergrad business degrees are a waste of time unless you get into Wharton UG.â</p>
<p>Care to elaborate on that B Man 22?</p>
<p>People thinks about undergraduate business degree = general business degree (manage people or setup a business). How about specialized in finance, accounting, Information System or logistic analysis specialization? Those degrees are more close to math degree than to become a manager.</p>