<p>So I’m planning on majoring in either law or business analytics at the University of Iowa. Business analytics is a new major incorporating some computers/data with business, which is very interesting to me. My biggest questions are: </p>
<ol>
<li>How rigorous will the analytics coursework be? </li>
<li>How does the coursework/rigor of a 4 year business analytics/computer science type degree compare to majoring in Econ and going to law school? </li>
</ol>
<p>Law is not a major at the University of Iowa (or most places). They have a pre-law curriculum that is designed to help people prepare for law school.</p>
<p>Law is a professional degree program and is not offered as an undergraduate major, but students applying to Iowa may declare a pre-law designation on their application to receive specialized advising and preparatory course work as undergraduates. This designation means you eventually intend to apply to a law school.</p>
<p>Business analytics is a new field, precipitated by the explosion of the use of data in business and the need for well-trained people to analyze and manage that data. CS requires a lot more math and a lot more abstract thought. Business analytics sort of applies the tenets/ideas and knowledge generated by CS folks to business. So the rigor of a CS major is going to be different than that of a business analytics major.</p>
<p>The answer to your first question really depends on the university and the rigor of their business classes. The rigor of every major varies from college to college.</p>
<p>You also can get a BBA in business analytics and still be pre-law and go to law school, if you want.</p>
<p>The rigor of the Econ major at Iowa varies based upon the specific major and track you are in.</p>
<p>The BA and BBA Econ majors require 2 Business Stats courses and Business Calc. The upper division Econ major courses you will take in the Policy or Business tracks will be ‘survey’ courses that use no calculus and only require the Principles of Econ courses. Not rigorous at all.</p>
<p>The BS Econ major requires Calculus I and II, 2 theoretical stats courses, and Econometrics. Your upper division Econ major courses can then be the easier survey type courses or the more advanced, rigorous courses that require calc and statistics. This can be a very rigorous and difficult degree degree program if you take certain classes.</p>
<p>The BBA program in Analytics requires 2 Business Stats courses and Business Calc. The Analytics program requires you to take…none of which are extremely easy but also not difficult for a strong student with a decent math aptitude…
Database Management
Decision Support Systems
Business Intelligence
Optimization and Simulation Modeling</p>
<p>You could pretty easily do a double major within Tippie…Econ and Analytics. Lots of Analytics students do a double major.</p>