Best business major

OTOTA457 · May 2012

I have been admitted to Arizona State, Michigan State and Ohio State as a business undergrad. I will be an out of state student for all of them so disregard the cost factor

I will be a transfer sophomore having completed my freshmen year at another 4-year uni.

Currently an Information Systems major but I am willing to change (seems like a good field)

*What school should I go to to receive the best undergraduate business degree in IS or any other major/major combination (most valued by employers/ highest starting salary)?*

I am planning on attending graduate school (when i do not know) so what majors/ schools could potentially give me the highest salary/ most successful career also

Thanks

-Lurker- · May 2012

Generally speaking, the more quantitative your degree, the more transferrable and marketable your skills are.

OTOTA457 · May 2012

that what i am getting at

so what specific majors should look into?

my thoughts as of now are: accounting, finance, information systems and economics

GoalsOriented · May 2012

I cannot comment on the specific schools. All I can say is name / prestige / reputation should be a major factor in your decision - however if they are all similar in that regard, that makes the decision harder. As for specific major, as a recent MIS graduate myself, I would be highly hesitant about pursuing MIS. In hindsight, I certainly would have majored in Computer Science if I had known back then what I do now. The competition out here is FIERCE and Computer Science majors have an advantage over MIS majors in EVERY single entry-level IT-related job, as well as many non-IT jobs.

If you are certain about majoring in business (bad idea in my opinion, unless you're specifically interested in an Accounting career or will be attending a top 10 or so business school), the best majors for career opportunity are Accounting, Finance, and *possibly* Supply Chain Management (career center statistics appear good for it...but you can't trust the methods schools use to make their statistics look good, even if they are technically true).

OTOTA457 · May 2012

so if i wanted to be an accounting and finance double major should i attend OSU or MSU?

GLOBALTRAVELER · May 2012

The competition out here is FIERCE and Computer Science majors have an advantage over MIS majors in EVERY single entry-level IT-related job, as well as many non-IT jobs.

This is the main reason I tell any student interested in computers to go the CS route over I.T. For the CS majors, the competition is NOT fierce since for most jobs, there are more non-CS majors than CS majors.

Even if you have to stay 5 years because you started with Pre-Calc...CS is a better route.

taxguy · May 2012

OK, listen up, the best business major is any major from: Wharton, MIT, Cornell, Michigan and other equally prestigious schools.If you are attending a top notch school like these, you can major in whatever you want.

If you are not attending one of the very prestigious schools, I would recommend accounting, computer science, acturarial studies, mathematical finance etc. Do NOT major in business administration, marketing, or management unless you have a set business that you can walk into such as your parent's firm. I would also take some courses to improve your reading and writing skills. Philosophy and English are very good for this.

geo1113 · May 2012

I couldn't have said it better, taxguy.

OTOTA457 · May 2012

what about Fisher at OSU?

would accounting and finance be a good idea?

taxguy · May 2012

Fisher is NOT MIT, Harvard, Wharton etc. Thus, the second paragraph of post 7 applies.

GoalsOriented · May 2012

I wish that was true GlobalTraveler. But have you taken a look at Dice's Tech Career forums? It is flooded with people with applied associate degrees, CS/Math/CE bachelor's and master's degrees, people with a list of certifications, people with years of work experience, etc.... Most of them cannot find jobs, are self-employed while not making much money, working for $10 / hour, etc... no matter what their education or work experience credentials. H1-B visas are killing the field.

That doesn't mean someone shouldn't major in CS, as there is not much out there that is better. Just, as with everything else, ALL the factors matter (school name/prestige, GPA, internships, co-ops, specific relevant classes taken, math courses, standardized test scores, etc...).

turtlerock · May 2012

taxguy wrote:

Do NOT major in business administration, marketing, or management unless you have a set business that you can walk into such as your parent's firm.

Okay, so what's the end difference when one degree program is Bachelor of Science in Accounting vs Bachelor of Science in Business Administration - Accounting?

Like, the school's degree descriptions sometimes explain them as concentrations and the same school sometimes describes them as the major, no matter if it's Accounting, Finance, Marketing, whatever.

Kajon · May 2012

Which major matches your personality/learning style?

Accounting is "by the rules"
Finance is about "risk"
Upper level econ courses incorporate "theories"

OTOTA457 · May 2012

not sure im not really a numbers guy so finance and econ seem like something i would enjoy more

however i recognize accounting is the safest bet to find employment yet the work seems so bland..ive heard accountants themselves say have the most boring jobs

OTOTA457 · May 2012

thank you, i can read..but i feel that its not so black and white..and its much more situational depending on where you go.. i know Fisher isn't Wharton or Sloan but it is still a damn good business school

Ex.

MSUs Eli Broad is not very impressive overall but their program in supply chain management is #1 in the nation

Texas at Austin is arguably the best school for aspiring accountants in the nation as well

GoalsOriented · May 2012

When you're not really a numbers guy, that makes it a really hard decision. Finance is definitely about numbers. Accounting is a combination of rules and numbers. Just about every decent job out there in business wants you to be strong with numbers. The business-related jobs that are not about numbers are both difficult to get and start with a much lower salary. But obviously, some people like numbers and some don't, and there is nothing wrong with that. Of course, that does not mean you should avoid developing technical skill with numbers to use when necessary.

I think that makes part of what taxguy said even more important. If you're not superb with numbers and/or just dislike them, you definitely want to become good with "words" lol. Reading, writing, and/or public speaking are important for anyone, but are even more important for someone seeking a career, at least in the long-term, less about numbers. However, be careful exactly what courses/professors you take for reading/writing. Depending on many factors at your school, a course might not focus so much on directly improving your writing skills as a similar course at a different school. So do not automatically think, "philosophy course...it will improve my writing."

GLOBALTRAVELER · May 2012

I wish that was true GlobalTraveler. But have you taken a look at Dice's Tech Career forums? It is flooded with people with applied associate degrees, CS/Math/CE bachelor's and master's degrees, people with a list of certifications, people with years of work experience, etc.... Most of them cannot find jobs, are self-employed while not making much money, working for $10 / hour, etc... no matter what their education or work experience credentials. H1-B visas are killing the field.

That doesn't mean someone shouldn't major in CS, as there is not much out there that is better. Just, as with everything else, ALL the factors matter (school name/prestige, GPA, internships, co-ops, specific relevant classes taken, math courses, standardized test scores, etc...).

What has happened is that there are fewer DIFFERENT industries in fewer DIFFERENT geographical areas. Right now, defense and healthcare are hogging most of the CS/IT job openings...and most of those jobs are out on the east coast. Also, companies are being very "copycat" with their technologies, so if one is not doing (or like doing) Windows, Java, C++, Oracle, SQL Server, Hadoop, Linux or Information Assurance then they may be left out at the moment.

Theojohn · June 2012

Degrees Employers Plan to Hire in 2012 - Yahoo! Education

New research from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) shows that certain degrees could lead to a hiring edge come graduation

Toshtemirov · June 2012

^That is B.S. Yahoo posts these kind of articles every week, and the careers in demand change every single time. I can't believe that once they even made bachelors of business administration #1. OMG, I just noticed that the picture of the girl next to the bachelors in finance was recently used for the bachelors in accounting lol.

trizz75 · June 2012

Yeah, biz admin to me makes no sense. Having a marketable business degree is all about learning a specific trade in the category of business. Otherwise, you will just end up having a general understanding of most business topics, which many BBA programs combat by requiring a concentration.

turtlerock · June 2012

^So, is BusAdmin considered marketable/respectable in the business realm when it is accompanied with a dedicated (on the diploma/transcripts) concentration of whatever business field - accounting, finance, marketing, management, etc?

Best business major

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