Major and GPA trade off in recruitment

Hi everyone,

I am deciding what to major and I want to hear some advice on recruiting and major selection.

I am deciding between economics or business. My school has a harsher curve for business majors (easy stuff with a very high cut off for an A). Econ/math are not much easier but the cut off tends to be lower. However, my school has much stronger recruitment for business students (think of UT/USC/NYU/UVA). Doing a linkedin search will show 70% or more students in BB majored in business. But I also enjoyed studying econ more than courses such as business communication or leadership.

Should I switch to econ instead? As very few alums from arts/sciences in BB, will it hurt a lot in recruiting? I think I can get a 3.5 in business but I will probably get 3.7 with less effort if I do econ and taking some accounting/finance courses as well. Econ has fewer course requirements and I believe I could load up some interesting liberal arts courses to boost my GPA further as well.

Thanks in advance!

10 Comments
 
Best Response

I'm an econ/poli sci major at a public ivy or whatever the hell they're called. We have a top 15 public b-school, which I did not end up getting in to, and I ended up doing econ/poli sci instead. If you go the econ route, you will get asked why you chose econ instead of business/finance/accounting given your school's strength in the major. Personally I just answer some bs about how econ/poli sci is more well rounded since I get some technical skills in econ, though most of it is theoretical, and then have had a chance to improve upon my writing and communication skills through poli sci since there is so many papers/essays. I've had a lot of success with this response since so much of an analyst's job relies on strong writing/communication skills. It's all about how you frame it.

Also, IMO, econ is more difficult than finance/accounting, at least at my school. Don't major in econ and expect to breeze through it with a 4.0 without a lot of studying.

*Disclaimer: The bank I worked at this past summer was not a BB so take this advice with a grain of salt. Had more to do with my shitty GPA though than my major/school.

 

Yea some people in my school who double majored also says econ is harder I did econometric during my first year and I prefer majoring econ to business I don't want to take some bs business courses like communications or leadership where everyone gets a 85 (my bschool has a crappy policy where average score in class = B, which means I need 95 or sth for an A) while econ courses are harder that the average is only 60 and you get an A with 75.

 

In other words you are asking: "Is it OK if I slack off?" and are already writing off working harder. How about instead of weighing what level of effort you could float on and achieve X GPA, why not work your ass off and get the absolute highest GPA possible and don't measure/weigh how much effort you could get by with?

How much of a pussy are you? I got a +3.8 in CS (granted it has been more than awhile since I was in school) and I had very active social life so I don't buy into the "you'd have no life" argument. To put it another way, this is your game to lose and doors start closing once your GPA falls below a 4.0.

 

Even you are talking about absolute GPA, I bet I can get a 4 from econ (I have finished all core econ courses and several math courses coz I wanted to do an econ phd previously and I kept a 4.0 econ/math major). I said I can do better in econ/math with less effort coz it is something I am better at comparing with business.

Do you think you can get a 3.8 in physics even you put in the same effort? I am not saying I would have no life in business or I want to slack, do you think math econ courses are easier than business? I just want to do something that I am better at with a more "objective" curve

 

If recruiting is better for the other major, this should be a no brained in my mind. I don't think it's coincidence you are seeking confirmation for opting out of more opportunities in what amounts to a harder major requiring more effort.

p.s only an idiot gets a PhD. go work and get an MBA if you must. IMNSHO

 

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