Opinion on Undergraduate Studies, Business or Non-Business!

Question

Good day!

I have been having a dispute of sorts and wanted to see what the people of GMAT club thought of it.

If you were to give advice to someone who is picking an undergraduate institution with aspirations in getting into consulting, high finance or I Banking internships or full time positions after undergrad, would one suggest this person to do an undergrad in business at University of Michigan Ann Arbor or pursue an undergrad in humanities with business electives at Northwestern since this university does not offer an undergraduate degree in business.

In my opinion, the alumni network from Kellogg, the strong brand in business and the companies that come and recruit leads me to believe that Northwestern is a clear choice.

Also how about other institutions without undergraduate business degrees like

Stanford
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Dartmouth
U Chicago
Columbia
Duke

I would say that i would pick all of the above over University of Michigan Ann Arbor for the same reasons i mentioned above.

Am i mistaken in my assumptions? Please give me your input.

Jerz · Answer

Yes.

Michigan has a very well respected undergrad business program (and graduate program for that matter but we're talking undergrads here). Not to knock Northwestern, but don't assume that the companies that come to recruit at Kellogg are also recruiting undergrads from NU. Likewise, the NU undergrads generally won't have access to the Kellogg alumni network. There are programs here that offer undergrads the opportunity to network with Kellogg students, but there isn't huge participation by the undergrads.

Also, I think your definition of a "business" degree is kind of limited. UChicago may not have an undergrad business program at Booth, but they certainly have undergrad economics majors. Off the top of my head, so do Harvard and Princeton. An economics degree from any of those three schools would be an excellent step to a banking or consulting job.

I can't speak for banks, but consulting firms are pretty open to people with diverse degrees, so long as they are smart and have the right personality for client service. As a partner in my old firm liked to say: "I can teach someone business, I can't teach them to be smart."

coaks · Answer

Also, the undergraduate business program is no guarantee at Michigan. You have to apply after your first year and after taking some feeder courses and its highly competitive. The individual may end up having to pursue a non-BBA degree anyway...

Unless the individual was offered preferred admission to the BBA program at Michigan. However, from my understanding of the type of individual offered preferred admission, those candidates offered preferred admission for a Ross BBA would easily stand out as non-business majors at any of the other top schools in your post.

Opinion on Undergraduate Studies, Business or Non-Business!

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