<p>How are business classes taught? How are they “learn by doing”? I’m guessing just lots of group projects? How would cal poly’s business classes compare to like santa clara’s, or any other liberal arts school’s business classes? I’m guessing less reading / lecture and more project? Can I get some more insight?</p>
<p>anyone???</p>
<p>For Business, this means more emphasis is placed on group work and collaboration in your upper division courses. Many of your projects are completed outside of class on your own time; very little homework is assigned, so the workload balances out. Being able to work in groups is a great way to meet people, make friends, and most importantly learning how do deal with different personalities. The drawback to this is that there is usually a “deadweight” on every team who needs to be constantly reminded to get their part of the project completed on time. Professors are aware of this problem, so they’ll usually have each team member fill out a group evaluation form, to which grades are assigned accordingly based on each person’s contribution to the project.</p>
<p>I used to dread public speaking and giving presentations. Still don’t care for it, but at least now I can do it effectively without a nervous breakdown. This has helped a lot with my current job with a consulting firm. Unlike some of my cohorts, my bosses have no qualms about putting me in front of their clients, despite my lack of industry experience. Which equates to job security and advancement opportunities.</p>
<p>Thanks! That style of teaching is what I’m looking for. What type of business major were you? I think I want to major in finance. Can you give examples of projects / presentations for finance? Thanks!</p>
<p>im a business major at cal poly most of my biz classes are really disappointing and the majority of the work is online…maybe i’ve just been stuck with ****ty profs tho</p>
<p>I did Accounting and Finance. Your first two years will be pretty much be spent getting the GE and lower division stuff out of the way. Your third, fourth, (and maybe fifth) will be much more interesting. </p>
<p>As for projects, my favorite for accounting was a case study that was put on by a Big 4 accounting firm that recruited heavily at Poly. They split our class into groups of 4-5 and gave each a case study to work on. We had three weeks to devise a solution and put together a presentation for the firm’s partners and managers. The cases were open-ended, meaning they weren’t necessarily concerned with a “correct” answer, but rather the reasoning and thought process behind it.</p>
<p>In Finance, we did a project sponsored by Bank of America where we teamed up with the Engineering, City Planning, and Architecture departments to develop a viable plan for low income housing in an area designated by B of A.</p>
<p>You’ll likely be meeting a professor by the name of Larry Gorman in the Finance department. The guy’s classes are incredibly difficult, but the information you’ll learn is invaluable. His Securities Analysis course requires an individual project where you’re assigned a real-life public company to valuate, which takes well over 100 hours to complete.</p>
<p>Thanks again. Sounds pretty neat! What kind of jobs to finance majors get after slo? good finance recruiting? where do they end up working since slo is in the middle of nowhere kind of?</p>
<p>would you think I’d get a better education at a private school in small classes with business, or was cal poly good? overall good professors?</p>
<p>One clear advantage Santa Clara has right now is the ability for students to double concentrate within the Business major. I’d imagine the remaining “quality” differences between the two schools are marginal, so you’ll be getting a good education either way.</p>
<p>I can’t give you definitive opinion regarding public v. private since I’ve never attended a private institution. Back then, the notable schools I was accepted to were Poly, UC Davis, USC, and Santa Clara. The two private schools were eliminated due to costs. My parents were in the “gray area” when it came to financial aid – they earned too much to qualify for aid, but not enough to support three kids in college, along with mortgage, health, retirement, and other expenses. Also, my goal was to graduate with less than $20k in debt. So, it came down to deciding between UCD and Poly. The city of Davis is flat, hot, and congested; as opposed to SLO which is nestled along rolling foothills near the ocean, warm, and wide open. UCD’s higher “ranking” didn’t matter much to me since I had no intention of applying to a professional post-grad program (e.g. medical school). </p>
<p>As far as jobs in finance, the industry has been hit hard by the mortgage and Wall Street meltdown in 2008, but you won’t be graduating for another 4-5 years, so the industry will likely have recovered by then. SLO’s location on the central coast is advantageous in that it gets recruiting by employers from both the Bay Area and SoCal. Good luck, let us know what you decide.</p>
<p>thanks for the indepth answer again!</p>
<p>im 90% sure on slo now. unless santa clara gives me a scholarship, im leaning slo. i would like to do finance / marketing. which i can maybe do at santa clara, but i realize that i can just major in finance and learn marketing on my own if i have to, and that finance is a quantiative skill so opens up more jobs…</p>
<p>ive been talking to a cal poly student on fb and slo sounds amazing. :]</p>
<p>I need to correct my previous post. My friend who went to Santa Clara says double concentrating is not permitted in their Business college either.</p>
<p>I think the difference is - Although you can’t declare double major in SCU, you have no problem to register/take classes across all majors under business college. While in CalPoly, students will have trouble to take classes in other concentration that he/she is not declared since CalPoly wants students to graduate as long as they meet their major/concentration requirement due to the current budget cut. So CalPoly makes sure the students are “on track” on their major/concentration, not more, not less.</p>