NationStates Jolt Archive

Hello Everybody

I've been trying to choose a degree plan and have narrowed it down to these two options. (This is undergrad by the way)

1. Double major in Business administration (General) and Finance

or

2. Major only in Business Administration with a concentration in one of the following (International Business, MIS, Marketing, Entrepeneurship)

or

3, Double major in BA(International Business) and Finance, but the downside to this is that I wont be able to pick a minor and it's highly unlike I'll be able to choose any electives.

Since most colleges require a person to choose a concentration, is it bad to just have a general business administration degree? Which of the 3 options would be the best in your opinion.

Thanks

they all sound the same.

if I were you, I'd broaden my horizons by taking some diverse courses in science and arts as well. you'll probably change your mind as to what you want your degreee to be in at least twice anyway.

Since most colleges require a person to choose a concentration, is it bad to just have a general business administration degree? Which of the 3 options would be the best in your opinion.

Thanks
no colleges that I know of require you to have a concentration untill junior year...and even then you can change it. I'd suggest going in undeclared and seeing what you like, considering all of those majors sound pretty much exactly the same.

Hello Everybody

I've been trying to choose a degree plan and have narrowed it down to these two options. (This is undergrad by the way)

1. Double major in Business administration (General) and Finance

or

2. Major only in Business Administration with a concentration in one of the following (International Business, MIS, Marketing, Entrepeneurship)

or

3, Double major in BA(International Business) and Finance, but the downside to this is that I wont be able to pick a minor and it's highly unlike I'll be able to choose any electives.

Since most colleges require a person to choose a concentration, is it bad to just have a general business administration degree? Which of the 3 options would be the best in your opinion.

Thanks
Killing yourself? Seriously, challenge yourself academically. You can always fall back on a Business degree if you flunk out of something else. :D

Killing yourself? Seriously, challenge yourself academically. You can always fall back on a Business degree if you flunk out of something else. :D
:D
he could always do what is now called the McDonalds Special:
quadruple major in English, philosophy, art history, and history.
With those four degrees, you may work at McDonalds or sell tires. or teach.;)

:D
he could always do what is now called the McDonalds Special:
quadruple major in English, philosophy, art history, and history.
With those four degrees, you may work at McDonalds or sell tires. or teach.;)
A friend of mine has a t-shirt that says "I have an MFA. Would you like fries with that?"

Killing yourself? Seriously, challenge yourself academically. You can always fall back on a Business degree if you flunk out of something else. :D

why do you say that? I've heard that business programs are harder than most other degrees.

A friend of mine has a t-shirt that says "I have an MFA. Would you like fries with that?"
I saw one for English majors like that. Almost bought it, but I don't know just how amused my professors would be.
I do have a "Boston University: Financially Unstable College Kids Entering Debt" (BU: FUCKED) shirt somewhere around here. And a future teachers of america beirut championship shirt. I wonder where those went....

why do you say that? I've heard that business programs are harder than most other degrees.
but not particularly versatile or useful on their own. They teach you how to deal with widgets and other hypothetical products, but teach no creative aspect, nor how to communicate well. they fail to mention that people have an emotional relationship with products, and life isn't just about synergy and "brands".

why do you say that? I've heard that business programs are harder than most other degrees.
You must have heard that from Business majors. Accounting is a legitimately tough degree, but more because of the crap you have to go through after college to get certified. My experience teaching in college (I teach English) has shown me that Business majors aren't generally the sharpest tools in the shed. The only group to wander beneath them on occasion has been--sorry Kat--education majors.

Before you enroll at any college add up how much you have to borrow to do so. Then figure out the interest you'll pay on that amount over the life of the loan.

Then look at the career opporunities you'll get from the whole thing and deduct the interest payments from your increased earnings.

If you do that, you'll find that it is probably a waste of your time. And after that, if you still want to go to college, you might as well just study something you thoughly enjoy. (Of course, they'll still make sure that you have to take useless classes in any case, so you should figure the wasted time in your calculation).

hmm... While we're talking about majors and the sort. During my college search, most of the colleges I've come across do not seem to offer a Political Science major. Most do offer a Politics major, however. Has there been a change in terminology recently?

You must have heard that from Business majors. Accounting is a legitimately tough degree, but more because of the crap you have to go through after college to get certified. My experience teaching in college (I teach English) has shown me that Business majors aren't generally the sharpest tools in the shed. The only group to wander beneath them on occasion has been--sorry Kat--education majors.
:mad:


psht...didn't even get the apology Kat did.
*kicks dirt and slinks away with tail between legs*

;)

Dual degree programmes are a good idea, but make sure you realy do like finance and you realy do want to be part of the business world through degrees. I do both law and business, and I use law and society as a rather welcome break from numbers and one-sided views of the world. Problem with finance and BA is that you narrow down your developement. Both majors have similar kind of people with similar goals, and that's just not that interesting

I am not to sure how things are where you are from, im guessing UK, but where I study I can do finance masters through my business degree. Maybe that's what you should do and than take electives in something interesting, or do a BA major and take finance electives.


Good luck though

p.s. International Business IS rather easy

:mad:


psht...didn't even get the apology Kat did.
*kicks dirt and slinks away with tail between legs*

;)
Sorry--I didn't know. There are of course many brilliant exceptions to my experience. :)

Sorry--I didn't know. There are of course many brilliant exceptions to my experience. :)
haha...I'm sure the English portion of my degree atleast somewhat redeems me?

nice save by the way. Who could stay mad at The Nazz anyway?:fluffle:

The reason I say it is harder is that the grade range from at least my schools business program is lower than that of arts and technology as well as social sciences.

Im not mainly looking for an answer into which major would be more interesting but which would be better suited for a job. Business majors would be better for a business job than an arts and technology major or a government major, is that correct?

no colleges that I know of require you to have a concentration untill junior year...and even then you can change it. I'd suggest going in undeclared and seeing what you like, considering all of those majors sound pretty much exactly the same.
What he said. Your school doesn't require you to declare before you start, does it?

Well, it all depends on what you want to do in the future. Decide on where you want to be in the coming decades, and pick the option that is most likely to get you there. If you see yourself working for a snazzy MNC, go for international business, if you prefer getting people to buy your company's product, try marketing. I would definitely go for something more specialised than the general degree. Double majors are also good.

I did an advanced major and two minors myself, and now I am doing an MA in International Affairs, specialising in International Trade. My BA was easy for the most part, I will admit, but the MA is a good challenge. I am very glad with the path I have taken however, and I am right on track to do what I have always dreamed of doing.

I am right on track to do what I have always dreamed of doing.
Out of curiosity, what would that be?

Hello Everybody

I've been trying to choose a degree plan and have narrowed it down to these two options. (This is undergrad by the way)

1. Double major in Business administration (General) and Finance

or

2. Major only in Business Administration with a concentration in one of the following (International Business, MIS, Marketing, Entrepeneurship)

or

3, Double major in BA(International Business) and Finance, but the downside to this is that I wont be able to pick a minor and it's highly unlike I'll be able to choose any electives.

Since most colleges require a person to choose a concentration, is it bad to just have a general business administration degree? Which of the 3 options would be the best in your opinion.

Thanks

I'd go for the straight Business Admin major... if you are able to choose Finance as the major within the major, do that -- Finance is an incredibly important aspect of business.

If Finance is not an option, try to take as many Finance-related electives as possible.

A double-major can be pretty tough (or so I'v heard).

Here are some main things you should get out of your BBA:

- Statistics
- Finance
- Financial & Managerial Accounting
- Marketing
- Operations Management
- Organizational Behavior
- Strategic Management
- International Business

I'd recommend at least one course in the following, if they're not core BBA courses:
- Price/Cost Management
- IT
- System Management (causal loop diagrams -- search for Russell Ackoff)

...and for fun in something that's somewhat related (part of Marketing), you might want to try an Advertising class.


All of the above classes should be offered within the BBA major.

To get a really broad education, you might want to try the following inter-major courses:

- A fun Lit class (THE class at UW-Madison is The African Storyteller)
- Chem
- Psych (try Abnormal Psych -- you'll be able to diagnose your friends)
- Philosophy
- Botany (in our class, the class project was to brew beer)
- Poli Sci (basic)
- Sociology (Basic populations class ; Criminology is cool too)

etc.

College is an exciting time, and I envy you as you enter into that time. You'll have a blast.

The school requires you to declare but undecided is an option

Thanks for the help so far, also from a job getting perspective is it better to take a lot of electives, or less electives but with an extra minor or concentration?

Also what does a minor do? Is it really good for anything?

business degrees are a dead end. Go with something promising, like communications or interdiscipline liberal arts.

The school requires you to declare but undecided is an option

Thanks for the help so far, also from a job getting perspective is it better to take a lot of electives, or less electives but with an extra minor or concentration?

Also what does a minor do? Is it really good for anything?
Okay... then why not declare "undecided" then see for yourself which of the options you described will work best for you, rather than decide based on the say-so of an internet forum full of strangers? :p

Getting a job when? After you graduate and have your degree? Or are you talking about working while you're in college?

As for minors, it really depends. Having a minor in a field like math or computer science can actually help a lot. I have a friend that was a history major, but also a math minor. The math minor worked out great for her, and she actually got several job offers from tech companies that she wouldn't otherwise have gotten.

[Business Programs] teach no creative aspect, nor how to communicate well. they fail to mention that people have an emotional relationship with products, and life isn't just about synergy and "brands".
Now, with all due respect, that is ridiculous.

I have done two courses already just about management communication and how to talk to people, and I'll do more.

And "brands" are nothing more but the manifestation of that emotional relationship. And besides, that sort of thing is primarily in marketing, which is only one of many areas one can specialise in.

That being said - engineering is always a good thing to combine with a business degree. And economics is a very useful set of methods to know and be able to use.

Well, I have heard that a general business degree isn't that good. You might want to specialize in something because you will be hired to fill a role(you will probably advance beyond that role if you want to) and in order to get hired you must be able to fill a role. Why would a company pick a generalist when they can have a specialist? Anyway, finance is a good thing to go into. You might also be interested in some math/science/tech thing on the side because it will help you get into a technology company if you are interested, and math/science/tech people usually make more starting off than business people so if you can have enough background to claim that you are part of that group it might help you.

Really it is your choice but any business degree will give you a good business background so I would suggest that you pick one that provides good pay and that is in demand.

The one thing im concerned about now is that most sucessful people dont major in business (they major in economics instead), so it leads me to question the major.

Again is it better to take more electives or take less and get an extra minor in there.. Im not very interested in engineering so right now im thinking business adm. with a government/politics minor

also which is better (for job seeking purposes)

A double major in general business administration and finance

or

A major in business administration with a specific concentration

Now, with all due respect, that is ridiculous.

I have done two courses already just about management communication and how to talk to people, and I'll do more.

And "brands" are nothing more but the manifestation of that emotional relationship. And besides, that sort of thing is primarily in marketing, which is only one of many areas one can specialise in.

That being said - engineering is always a good thing to combine with a business degree. And economics is a very useful set of methods to know and be able to use.
I can only speak for the program I am familiar with, which is one of the top ranked in the world...
There are things involving communication, but it really (really really really) does not teach you things like proper writing. I've edited many friends papers, and they are horrid. If I read a prospectus from one of them, I would chuck it. Yes, it teaches you some. But not nearly enough.

As for the brand thing, I can't go into insane detail here and now for several reasons, so I'll give the gist of my argument.
corporations lable things brands, which is accurate to an extent. The problem is that this removes the emotional attachment that customers have. Even as simple as "kleenex". When you say "kleenex" it means one thing. When you say "the kleenex brand" it is a whole other thing. Maybe I'll touch on this later when I have a better idea of certain things I may have to worry about...(mmm...hows that for cryptic?)

engineering is a great idea. As are any liberal arts. They teach you to look at the world from a new perspective rather than just business. Also, MBA's are becoming less attractive because of a series of follys in the 90's, so having some other program to back them up is always good.

why do you say that? I've heard that business programs are harder than most other degrees.

Maybe it's because I'm in engineering, but from what I've heard, a LOT of people who can't handle engineering turn to business as an easy degree.

So let me rephrase the basic jist of everyones opinions here.

Some believe that the degree is too specialized and not liberal arts enough. That its a dead end because you only gain knowledge in business and therefore would only be able to find business related jobs with not much career changing options whereas if you majored in communications a wider variety of jobs would be available to you.

The others believe that the degree is not specialized enough. They say the business degree would put you at an extreme disadvantage looking for a job in the technology industry and therefore more jobs oppurtunities would be availiable for one with more specialized degree such as Engineering, math, or sciences

Is that correct?

thanks again