Hi, I’m currently a senior who just finished applying EA to UMich (LSA Econ) and IU Kelley. I was curious to get opinions on the advantages of an econ degree vs. BA. Here’s the thing, my dream is to go to Ross but to hedge my bets, I applied for LSA. I’m pretty confident I can get into LSA and IU Kelley, but I didn’t want to take the chance of getting rejected from UMich for Ross. I’m in-state for UMich, qualify for free tuition, and top of my class, so UMich is my top choice based on those factors and I’m confident in my application.
However, if I have the chance to choose between either school, is UMich Econ better than Kelley if I want to pursue a career in the business sphere? My plan right now is to study econ with the hopes of breaking into marketing. I know UMich has great recruiting (better for Ross but I can still leverage these resources) and they have a business minor. I would love opinions, thank you!
Are you a direct admit to Kelley? Is IU affordable, defined as requiring no loans beyond the $27K max in student loans?
No one can really answer your question…it depends on what you want to study. Econ is theoretical, especially in the upper division courses. It’s not like studying finance for example.
Have you taken AP Macro/Micro? What would be your plan B in LSA if you don’t like econ? (happens to plenty of students!)
I suggest you do a deep dive in the econ requirements at Michigan to see if those classes appeal to you. Also depending on your career goals, they may be attainable with many different LSA majors, especially if combined with a Ross minor. Good luck!
All I really want is to end up with a high paying job and business/econ seems like a viable pathway that supports my interests. I guess my question is if the benefits of UMich’s resources outweighs the benefits of having a BA from Kelley. If I go to UMich, I know I’ll have to put in the extra work networking and recruiting for a business spot.
I get it. But please do look at econ course content. There are many business jobs that hire non-business and non-econ majors. All I am saying is to have a plan B if you go to Michigan and don’t like econ.
They are both great schools. Sounds like you would be paying much less for Michigan (assuming acceptance at both), no? You won’t get any need based aid at IU, could get some relatively small merit, but it’s competitive.
You will have to do much work at any school to find internships and a job.
OP- you need to look at the actual course content. It’s easy to say now that you’ll do either business or econ- but actually enjoying the courses you need to take is something else entirely.
You do not need to major in “business” if the goal is marketing, for example. Majoring in applied math (i.e. statistics) or psychology (with a strong statistical bent) is sometimes seen as a more rigorous path, depending on the company. In the companies I’ve worked for, marketing majors (or concentrations) are often seen as the “low rigor” version of a statistics major. High on content (which goes out of date every couple of years) and low on analytics (which go out of date in decades, not years).
Really interesting take and I hadn’t considered that before. Content is powerful and necessary (and ever changing!), but it ALWAYS comes back to the numbers.
And this is a perfectly respectful position. From my experience, those with a background in things “applied” (e.g., applied math) do very well for themselves as the can be useful in many aspects of business. From this perspective, if I were going to school again and wanted to accomplish your goal, I would look at finance.
Yes, I have looked at the LSA Econ courses and browsed reddit to find opinions about them! I’m currently doing AP Micro and enjoying the work so far. Although it wouldn’t be my absolute first choice in major, I do like the learning.
Also thank you for your second paragraph. I also like econ as an option because of its flexibility in job recruitment as well.
Is econ a viable degree to break into finance vs students studying in a finance concentration? I know finance is home to really well-paying jobs but it is also very competitive and the only metropolis I live by is Chicago which isn’t an ideal place to me (I’m not looking to move very far from home).
I will let others with more practical knowledge of this respond, but it is a great question.
First, I truly believe that you can get to where ever you want to go by majoring in pretty much anything; but some paths to the “where ever” are easier than others. Many people have very successful business careers with a degree in economics. My suggestion (and a deep regret I have for myself) though, is that if you are truly wanting to go into business, taking at least a few classes - even if it doesn’t amount to a concentration however that is defined - in finance or accounting will go a long ways to making you invaluable to a company. Or, even better, helping you to start your own company.
So I am reading this OP question differently. I am reading it as “Can I go into business and be successful without a business degree at Ross”. To that question a definite yes. Many econ students are applying to the same jobs /companies. You don’t need Ross to go into business at Michigan. Ross has some advantages and also some set backs.
Michigan graduates are very sought after by many companies yearly.
This is the first year that Ross is taking direct admission from freshman instead of applying to LSA, getting in, and THEN applying to Ross and getting in. If you get rejected from Ross, no UMich at all. I was very upset to hear this haha. However, you can still transfer into Ross, which is very competitive, but something I plan to attempt.
You are correct. But transferring into Ross later is very difficult also.
Many students go there and follow econ and do well later in business. . If you get accepted to both then you have a decision to make. I know many that are happy with their choices of not going Ross. There are threads and discussions on this also.
This is one school that you don’t need Ross. It sounds like you want to go to Michigan and would be happy if accepted if affordable.
Also getting into Michigan is a reach for just about anyone. If your current high school is a feeder school and your within their acceptance protocols, that helps.
So Ross and other schools at Michigan changed their protocols.
To answer your question. No. I wouldn’t chase the dream since I know if I do well and am an active participant on campus that the doors will open for me at Michigan. The opportunities for these kids, if they get involved and are active, are endless. My engineering son did more business things on campus then most Ross kids did in his 4 years. Many, many opportunities to shine on campus. There are definitely schools that I would say go to that business school. UI is also a fantastic school if this student gets in. The student has time to explore each campuses opportunities for business or the like and decide which fits them better. Michigan just happens to be one of those school’s that the econ kids do extremely well with internships and job offers early in the process. Geez the data analytic kids(school of information) are getting internships /jobs at Price Waterhouse Cooper. It’s just different there.
They take like 100 students in campus and 25 from outside transfers. It will be interesting if that number stays the same since they’re going to this new model. Good luck.
Hey so I’ve just been accepted into both Kelly direct admit and Mich for LSA (plan to do Econ). Any updates on what you’ve learned. Would prefer to go to Mich but if Kelly really provides a significantly better chance to get competitive finance jobs than I would highly consider going their instead.