Most MBA programs dont state that its manditory you have a Business BA right? Or does it matter?
I ask because I was thinking of getting my BA in Psyhology and then head off to school to get my MBA.
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Most business schools require prior experience before allowing you in. Notice that average age that business schools post.
Schools are looking for diversity. I know a guy that majored in Opera at a midwestern, non-ivy league school and was able to get into Harvard MBA straight out. I also have a family friend who majored in agricultural economics, worked as a corn seed manager a few years, and got into Harvard MBA. I wouldn't bet on being able to go straight in, since schools definitely prefer several years work experience.
gotcha. i understand they want experience first, no prob. I just didnt know if my degree would matter.
psychology has always interested me, but due to very very LOW income, Im thinking an MBA might fit me better (as well as career wise - i think big business would be more interesting).
ps: when I say low income, i dont know from personal experience - im still in school. just wanted to clarify.
degree doesn't matter, they want diversity. and it's an easy story to tell why you want an mba if you don't have a finance or acct background.
Hi Charles,
MBA programs do not require a BA in business, or economics or any specific major.
They do want the diversity but top MBA programs do have more common and less common types of candidates.
When people tell me they want to do, somthing, to be able to do something, to be able to do what they want I get worried. A lot can go wrong and if you want to do something why not just do it! Maybe consider behavioral economics (economics and psychology) is a more practical answer.
When applying for MBA, a quantitative degree puts any questions about your analytical ability to bed, assuming you did ok, but that is about it.
When I looked at MIT they had some higher requirements like you should have studied statistics, micro, macro, and something else before enrolling, but I am sure that can be dealt with then.
Cheers
having an math/physics/engineering degree really helps nowadays if you want to go into sales and trading
What kind of major for business school (Originally Posted: 01/20/2010)
I go to the University of Illinois, with a 3.9 and I was wondering do I have to major in Econ or something like that to go to B school? I'm not really interested in banking but maybe consulting, I actually am interested in working as a film studio executive after b school. I am undecided, but I am interested in history or psychology, but I'm concerned that I don't go to a target school, so I can't get into B school because I won't have the right work experience in banking or something. Or is there a right work experience?
For business school, your major doesn't really matter much - Engineering generally has a bit more slack in terms of GPA, but in general, you need a strong GPA - don't worry about majoring in Econ.
Regarding work experience, there is no "right" work experience - if your work experience is challenging, offers opportunity to step up, and you can point to an impact made on the company/group and personal growth, you are in good shape.
My major doesn't matter that much, but a communications majors doesn't carry the same weight as engineering does it? Or does it matter?
It's not like b-schools only give admission to ex-bankers or consultants only. Check out their class profile, they're from everywhere! BTW how'd you ended up here (WSO)?
I found this website through google. But basically to get to a top biz school w/o a finance or something related to that major you need to graduate from a top undergraduate school. And my school isn't that great, what should I do?
School brand helps, but isn't essential. As I said before, it is more about your GPA, GMAT and your professional experience than ugrad major and ugrad name. Focus on keeping your GPA up, and landing a FT position of quality (in terms of professional growth opportunity, leadership opportunity, and so forth). Additionally, if you have time, look into volunteering for a non-profit that holds meaning to you - all of this will help to boost your candidacy when it comes time to apply to B school.
thanks for the advice, everyone!
Needless to say, If you want to be a film studio exec, target UCLA / USC and network your way through all the studios.
Most Valued Major in Business School (Originally Posted: 05/27/2016)
Hi everyone.
I am currently entering my third year of b-school at a top 3 in my country, (Canada). Having too choose my option in the near future has stressed me out quite a lot, as I want to position myself for a summer internship next year. I have leveraged my corporate finance network quite well, talking too recent grads as well as I Banking professionals in the industry and have received mixed answers. Today I met with an MD at a boutique IB firm who advised me to stay far away from a finance major and stick with accounting. I don't want to go completely in depth to his reasoning but my original plan was to do a combined finance + international business specialization. I wanted to receive a collective opinion from people on this forum to help me get a better perspective.
Thanks.
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