Liberal arts college or Babson?

I am currently a freshman in a fairly prestigious liberal arts college in upstate New York majoring in economics. I'd like to enroll in an IB analyst program (hopefully in Houston, failing that Chicago) after college and then get a JD/MBA. I am considering transferring to Babson to increase my chances. What should I do?

19 Comments
 

I thought the only reason to do economics was if you went to a school like Harvard that didn't offer an undergraduate business/finance program.

 
"Haus"

I thought the only reason to do economics was if you went to a school like Harvard that didn't offer an undergraduate business/finance program.

...his small liberal arts school may not offer an undergraduate business/finance program...

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

Since its inception, by definition economics falls under liberal arts, which is why it's offered in liberal arts colleges, departments and universities...

"the academic course of instruction at a college intended to provide general knowledge and comprising the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences, as opposed to professional or technical subjects."

 

Just because it's a liberal arts school does not mean only liberal arts majors are provided. A liberal arts college is defined as an institution 'emphasize undergraduate education and award at least half of their degrees in the liberal arts fields of study', which means about half of majors are not liberal arts. Economics is not liberal arts.

 
Best Response
"marcos.imbillicieri"

Just because it's a liberal arts school does not mean only liberal arts majors are provided. A liberal arts college is defined as an institution 'emphasize undergraduate education and award at least half of their degrees in the liberal arts fields of study', which means about half of majors are not liberal arts. Economics is not liberal arts.

Defined by who? You both put things in quotation marks without giving attribution. The definition in his quotes supports his argument, the one in yours supports your point...... If you assume that half of majors at liberal arts colleges are not liberal arts, which I'm sure varies by program. I'd assume a lot of schools have a heavier contribution than that. And your quote still doesn't clarify whether YOUR school classifies those subjects as liberal arts......

Purdue apparently classifies Advertising as liberal arts, which I'd call BS. I don't think we're going to find a definitive list of what counts as liberal arts, much less on what economics should count as.

 

Economics is a liberal arts major, there's no room for interpretation in that. It's considered a social science (psychology is too), which is a liberal art. Those "hard" courses of study that you mentioned fall under "natural sciences" which ALSO makes them liberal arts degrees. You might as well be arguing that ice isn't frozen. If you want a professional degree that will help you work in finance... major in finance. If you want to major in a technical field, major in CS or another engineering discipline. Afterall, engineering is the useful application of knowledge. The point I was trying to bring to your attention, was whether or not a liberal arts degree from a 'non-target' had a worthwhile ROI. My guess would be, you could do better, but I don't KNOW.

 

And here I thought the distinction was a BA versus a BS. I know some economics programs, for instance, are more application based and give you a BS and some are more theory based and give you a BA.

That said, who cares?

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

Babson College is not the best feeder to Ibanking. However, every year BAML recruits few students from Babson and all the other aspiring i-bankers tend to focus on middle market boutiques (Rothschild, William Blair, Harris Williams, Piper Jeffray, etc.) But I have also seen couple students break into GS IB (SF) too. The opportunities are definitely there, but you really have to work hard at Babson (Grade deflation, limited on-campus recruitment).

 

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