Recruting: Stern & CAS

youkosiren
Mon, 20 Nov 2006 21:46:06 +0000

helen-li685:
I disagree with FBI_34 on one point - it doesn’t matter what you major in if you want to do an MBA. The reality is that you almost always need some work experience before you apply to business school. An econ major will not give you an edge in MBA admissions. I have heard that sometimes MBA schools will waive some of the MBA required classes for undergrads with a business school degree, but that is too uncertain to make or break your decision to apply for CAS or Stern.

I’m guessing from your nick that you’re a girl, so you can at least rest easy knowing it’ll be way easier for you to get into a good MBA program based on that alone. Just so you don’t think I’m pulling this out of my butt, MBA admissions officials told me so at a conference. Women are only 30% of MBA programs, sooooo… yeah. Get good work experience. That’s more important for getting into an MBA program (also, good GMAT scores).

If you’re interested in econ, by all means, major in econ. I don’t think it’ll narrow your employment choices, since most of the major firms don’t limit their analyst recruiting to finance-type majors. It may hurt you in th IB recruiting process though, just because you won’t know as much as other people, but you can make that up through studying. However, it won’t really give you an EDGE in recruiting.

Also, if you only don’t want to major in finance because it’s “too narrow”… you can always double major in finance & econ if you’re in Stern. Stern & CAS econ majors take the exact same classes - you’re just required to take fewer classes if you’re in Stern. Just saying!