What are the best majors for the following jobs/gradschools?

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<p>I’ve been thinking about what I want to do, and I’m just wondering which majors would be best-suited for my future. I enjoy doing everything, so what I want to do is very open, accesible, and undecided.</p>

<p>But for example, if I was planning to go for an MBA at Wharton or a similar business school, what would be the best undergrad major? Would something like Economics be good? Or can you do a LA/Humanities major like Polisci, IR, or maybe even English in a double major.</p>

<p>I don’t think getting a degree in Philosophy, Psycho, or History could really help in a prudent fashion considering you would be hard-pressed to get a job after getting the UG degree. But with Econ, Polisci, or IR, you might be able to get some jobs depending what opportunies arrive for you. </p>

<p>Also, if you were planning to go to med school and become a neurosurgeon, would having an undergrad degree which includes neuroscience help? Or should I go for a straight Biosciences major that fulfills the “pre-med track?”</p>

<p>Thanks for any opinions/comments.</p>

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<p>For graduate business school, especially one like Wharton: You can really major in anything you want as long as you develop your analytic, quantitative, and organizational skills. It would help to have some economics courses (e.g., Principles 1 & 2, Microeconomic Theory, Macroeconomic Theory) and some quantitative skills (calculus, statistics, econometrics, etc.). So, yes, economics would be one of the better majors. Actual business experience before going to business school would strengthen your application. Judging by the moral bankruptcy and business incompetence of the MBAs who were running major Wall St. firms, it would have been appropriate if they had broader backgrounds in liberal arts. Though business schools looked inward after the financial meltdown to see where they went wrong, it seems they’ve concluded that a greater focus on risk management is needed (in other words, how to cover your ass and stay out of jail), but not much in terms of business ethics (though I’m not sure that ethics, business or otherwise, can be taught). Just my two cents.</p>

<p>For medical school, you also can major in any liberal arts major as long as you completer the basic premed requirements (usually, general & organioc chem, calculus, general biology, and general physics). Some med schools recommend some additional biology courses such as comparative anatomy, biochemistry, etc, but there’s no consistency across schools about these additional requirements beyond the basic premed courses. If you search the various threads in these forums, postings by several med students also stress the importance of developing those personal qualities that will make one a good doctor.</p>

<p>As for neuroscience, it’s a good major for premed, but again, you will have plenty of life science courses in med school. So, as long as you meet the premed requirements, you can major in whatever you enjoy and do well in—as long as you do well in those premed courses, have a good GPA, do well on MCATS, and have good interviews/LORs, and essays.
Neuroscience won’t give you a particular advantage in med school admission over a regular biology major, and it won’t necessarily give you a significant advantage for a later residency in neurosurgery. You have lots of hoops to go though before you even get to a specialty and you may change your mind along the way. You can still take neuroscience courses if they interest you as part of a regular biology major without specializing in it.</p>