Undergraduate Majors: Business Administration Vs. Economics, Which is better?
Hi everyone,
Here's my background information, I am an international student at a community college near San Francisco with a 4.0 GPA, summer internship experience in my home country (Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia and Indonesia Stock Exchange) and president of some clubs at college.
I am currently looking to transfer to University and I am conflicted between the major of Economics and Business Administration. I am interested to get into the field of finance and consulting but have been leaning more into consulting recently. I have been doing a lot of research online and have been getting mixed reviews. As experienced professionals, what do you think are the advantages of both majors (between taking an Economics major for my Bachelors VS. taking an undergraduate business major (Haas most likely))? What are the disadvantages?
Here is the information I have gathered so far:
(The information I have gathered is all from my target University, Berkeley)
Economics Major: More rigorous studying major, very quantitative, more possible options for jobs (still can get into accounting, finance, research, etc.) but, on the other hand, is disadvantaged when looking for internship opportunities as some firms are strictly looking for business majors, also, due to the amount of studying required, people rarely get to do activities besides studying (fewer clubs and less pressure to get an internship)
Undergraduate Business Major: According to information from Haas students, there is a lot more opportunities to get an internship experience, very competitive major, a lot of facilities provided from school (earlier registration date, separate classes, etc.) However are disadvantaged compared to Econ majors in terms of the analysis and critical thinking skills.
So, to Recap, What do you guys think, is this accurate information? Which major is better suited for consulting/finance?, What are the advantages and disadvantages of each major?
and finally, as an international student, I have to find companies who will sponsor me, most likely big firms so that I can work in the U.S. how does the school and major I choose take part into this consideration?
Thank you for reading!
I'd lean towards economics: at my school every job you can do as a business major can be done by an econ major, literally. This applies to inernships too, recruiters will care much more about your school brand than your major, and an econ major will look better anyway. Never seen a posting who said "business majors only". Never. Even consulting frims will prefere econ major. The only downside is that you'll have to study a bit more (it isn't particle physics btw, you won't be studying all the time at all, and you'll have plenty of time for your ECs). Not to mention that an econ major allows you to enter a wider amount of masters, especially data science masters (don't underestimate this, since it's always nice to have a good backup plan). In my opinion: go econ and you won't regret assuming you study enough to keep your gpa high.
thanks for your reply! your answer was very similar to what my Econs professor told me
BA
Thank you for answering, what is it that makes the BA Major superior to the Economics Majors? I can only think of (at least regarding Haas vs. Berkeley's Econ) 1. Brand Recognition 2. ALumni Bond and 3. Soft skills improvement; I am very excited to hear your response.
Exactly my friend, this is the core point. In addition to this the BA degree could give you a better perception of business world - corporate - accounting&finance fields. I would pick it hands down
at a school with a strong business program (mich, nyu, uva, berk, penn, etc), i'd go business, otherwise it doesn't matter
Thank you for your reply! I truly appreciate it but still have a few specific questions, what are the advantages of the business program that puts it above the economics major?? Also, do you think Haas is a good business program?
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