Another question concerning business school majors.

Hello all! I've been lurking here for a week or so and have been reading all of the different advice given to others who have similar situations.

I'm currently a student at UT-Austin, and am probably going to be admitted into McCombs School of Business. The problem I'm having is deciding what degree I should pursue. I'm currently an Economics and Actuarial Science double major, because I figured this would be the best route to go should I not get into business school. Now that it looks like I am going to get in, I've got my sights set on the typical dilemma-accounting or finance?

I will continue to major in Economics regardless of which route I choose because I have a profound interest for it (if only it was as applicable as a BBA from UT!). What bothers me is the stigma that Finance majors seem to get, especially since I come from a family of accountants. I hear the "finance degrees don't get hired as much as accountants do", "accountants can do most things a finance guy can do while the opposite doesn't happen", etc.

I know this topic has been beaten to death, but any advice is greatly appreciated.

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PWMallday

Baboon

IA

10y

Finance exposes you to a LOT more aspects of finance from the perspective of "what does it do/how is it structured/why is it done" than accounting does, in my experience. I knew an accounting major whose only opinion on derivatives was that she "didn't like them" due to how hard they were to conceptualize when accounting for them on the BS, meanwhile I thought they were the coolest thing in the world because I was more preoccupied with their purpose.

I don't know if that makes any sense, but basically it affects HOW you are thinking about things in your upper classes.

That said, what is your goal after college, IB? Do the one you find most interesting. Accountant/big 4 audit? Accounting. my 2cents.

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propayne7

Senior Chimp

AC

10y

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Alekz:

Finance exposes you to a LOT more aspects of finance from the perspective of "what does it do/how is it structured/why is it done" than accounting does, in my experience. I knew an accounting major whose only opinion on derivatives was that she "didn't like them" due to how hard they were to conceptualize when accounting for them on the BS, meanwhile I thought they were the coolest thing in the world because I was more preoccupied with their purpose.

I don't know if that makes any sense, but basically it affects HOW you are thinking about things in your upper classes.

That said, what is your goal after college, IB? Do the one you find most interesting. Accountant/big 4 audit? Accounting. my 2cents.

Alekz,

Thank you very much for your response. I really enjoy math and more quantitative/technical problem solving, and had getting into business school not became a reality, I would have double majored in Econ and Actuarial Science. I think the reason I am so reluctant to dive straight in to Finance is that accounting seems to be constant job security. Also, I currently work as a billings specialist and have been working with my company's tax accountant preparing for an audit, but I don't really have an intense drive to be a Tax Accountant.

I'm not sure whether or not I want to do IB, the 100 hour work weeks intimidate me. I'm definitely no stranger to long hours and hard work (I'm an Afghanistan veteran), just I've got a wife and kid that I would like to spend time with, and I fear that the big city IB life may not accommodate me with enough time to spend with my family. All of this is an inexperienced opinion of course, and any advice is greatly appreciated.