molamann

I realized this is going to be a long story so I'll try to keep it short as possible. My mom is currently running a small yet very profitable precious metal exchange business in downtown Los Angeles that I will eventually be taking over. Now she really wants me to pursue a business degree of some sort because her business heavily deals with the stock market. However, I'm wondering if a business degree is really necessary in my position because I just don't think it's going to be useful in my future.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think a Business Admin/Management degree is quite necessary because it's a self-employed business and accounting also seems obsolete because all finances will be handled by the CPA.

Now I'm left with economics or finance but neither school I'm pursuing(USC or UCLA) offers finance, and UCLA's econ program is extremely competitive. Although I currently retain a 3.8 GPA at my CC, I just don't have the confidence to pass the upper math courses that UCLA econ program requires. Anyways, I've also considered USC's econ program but it's not under Marshall's which sort of defeats the purpose of a business related degree at USC.

So is it worth all the trouble to pursue a business degree or should I just pursue in something I like such as history, sociology, psychology, etc?


Again, I apologize for the long post and appreciate your comments.

Eriatarka

Does your mother have a business degree?

I'm going to say that it isn't necessary to get a degree in business to run a family business. My father has no university level education (although he does have a Certificate IV/Diploma in Electronics obtained at TAFE, basically an education institution below Uni), however he has successfully managed all aspects of his own business for the past 20 years. His only aid is from an Accountant friend with whom he provides electrical related services for in exchange for occasional account work. Likewise, my mother studied Education but also helped out in said business for a while.

Pursuing a degree you're interested in obviously is more beneficial as you'll be far more motivated and therefore likely to succeed. Not to mention the ones you've listed will be useful in a business context and can be utilised in other professions.

Kulakai

Marshall has a great finance and business econ (FBE) concentration as part of their UG business degree. The highest level math you must take is Calc 1 and statistics.

USC Marshall Finance and Business Economics

VectorWega

What degree do you feel will be more useful?

LMAO @ thinking that accounting wouldn't be useful because a CPA can handle all that. I guess if he buries your little business like Enron you'll be able to claim ignorance.

molamann

@Eriatarka

Though she graduated one of the top high school in her native country, she has not pursued a college degree. She's been in the business for nearly 20 years so she's just running it by sheer experience.

@Kulakai

Thanks for suggestion, I don't know how I overlooked that program.

@Vector

That's the thing, I'm not quite sure which degree will be more useful, or even useful at all. As for accounting, that's probably my last choice due to all the math courses.



Anyways, do you think I can somehow simultaneously apply to USC and UCLA with different majors? Currently I'm thinking of applying to USC as Finance and Business Econ and apply to UCLA as a major that requires minimum pre-req(degrees I mentioned in my first post?)

maxellis

Accounting doesn't involve math. It is simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. No fancy rules or long formulas or derivatives or statistics.

sp1212

Sure it's basic math, yet tons of students can't even pass the intro classes.

molamann

Still not too amused with taking accounting.

Kulakai

Intro Financial & Managerial accounting is all you would take for a business degree generally unless you elected to take more courses to fill elective spots. Sure the CPA will handle the books but you make business decisions off of your financial statements. Accounting will teach you to read financial statements to determine how much you have in assets, debt, revenue, etc. so really it is important to take a few accounting classes at a minimum. They are not that hard either at the intro level.

Ray192

Well... biz students have never been particularly known for their quantitative prowess. I mean, every engineer in my school takes financial accounting for an easy A+... the point being that if you have a modicum of quantitative talent, intro accounting should be easy.

VectorWega

^ why the hell would they do that?

Eriatarka

See: Easy A+ and GPA booster.

Edit: Not to mention its useful.

VectorWega

^ I guess i don't see the great usefulness. Lots of classes could be taken to boost GPA. I just don't understand why someone would go out of their way to take an accounting class.

BTW, I took a graduate level accounting course where the class avg on the midterm was around a 36 and I was in a class full of former engineers (not to mention ibankers, mgt consultants, and a few CPAs). So the level of difficulty could depend on the professor.

Eriatarka

Accounting is, although boring, rather practical in all careers.

VectorWega

^ it is certainly not practical in ALL careers. I've worked in several business areas and have never needed accounting.