Business Major Specification Advice. (Poll Included)

Based on your OP, you have to first inform us what you're interested in? Marketing bares no relation to any of the above listed. Management is kind of lame as you can't really learn how to manage in college classrooms. Intl' Business is kind of lame unless you are genuinely interested in how businesses work globally but still all the other majors could still lead to a job in "international business". Finance, MIS and Accounting are quite specific and not made for everyone. Entrepreneurship, like magagement and intl' business is also kind of lame. You can't really learn to start a business in a college class room.

You're gut is right, your finace's major has no say in the matter.

PS - I selected MIS, Marketing, Finance and Accounting as they're the most specific. I like Intl' business on paper but I don't think it's all that helpful as I work in the field and didn't even study it.

MIS & Accounting make a solid pair. I was an MIS major (graduated June) so if you've got any questions, PM me.

For the record, I chose Finance, MIS, and Accounting as the options. Pairing any of those three together makes for a good combo.

From my experience, given proper grades and extracurriculars, these majors are practical enough to land you an internship fairly easily which then could lead to full time (which is what happened to me).

As far as happiness goes, are you talking about the curriculum or job wise? I've several friends who were accounting/finance majors. Some enjoy it and some hate it. It's a pretty generic question you've posed since there are so many paths you could take...

Salary wise, again it really depends on the route you take. Assuming you go the route of working for a big corporation, entry level salaries are pretty consistent between the professions associated with all three majors. However, if you go the banking sector in Finance, you're bound to make a lot more (while working alot more). Accounting folks from what I've heard from friends have higher salary potential as they advance. So basically, entry level salaries don't vary too much unless you're in banking or consulting.

Anyways, I could go on an on. I'm a recent MIS grad so if you've got any particular questions, PM me.

You could always to finance then a masters in accountancy (i say this since almost every state requires those who sit hold 150 hours of credit).

In this order:

MIS - good information to know
Finance - classes are fun
Accounting - practical if you want a secure job post-grad
Marketing - you really have to be dedicated

And I am a former finance major.

This topic will be very useful to me (and many others) as I start junior year soon.

I'm unofficially a Finance major, but I'm as confused and unsure of it as I was in freshman year.

Best site you will find for job stats:
http://www.bls.gov/
Put any concentration in the search and see what you can find.

I majored in Marketing. All of my marketing classes were easy for me and interesting. I was always good at the accounting/finance/econ stuff but reading about it and working on projects just seemed like a chore to do. I always looked forward to my marketing classes. Finding marketing internships was always easy in my area. The kind of jobs a marketing degree opens up to can be very broad in terms of creative and analytical work.

My few management classes I had were useless. Most of my teachers were the kind of aloof ivory tower academic assholes I try to stay away from. One old man was in his 70's, and the only management work he ever did in his whole life was "managing food and beverage" at a large resort for 6 months after he got his first degree as a young man. After that he returned to academia and has been there ever since. It was just a small sample of what management majors go through, but it seemed very impracticable to me.

I would suggest double-majoring definitely to differentiate yourself.

In this economy, I'd probably tell you to get an accounting degree. Do your best to land an internship at a Big 4, or in public accounting in general, and you'll have a job when you graduate. You will also likely take the finance classes that really matter (corp finance, fin. statement analysis, etc) while you're pursuing your accounting degree.

TBH, you can be a financial analyst anywhere so it is all relative in what you want e.g. retail/commercial or corporate

Accounting is a solid path if you like it.

Whatever you choose, I strongly recommend double-major or at least a minor. Too many business students nowadays IMO and it gets harder every year to "stand out".

Ok, I'll admit I was not a business major, so I won't specifically advise a particular major. Plenty of others here that I know can do it better.
However, I went to a solid enough business ugrad, and I've known many many business major peers/friends. I'll cherry pick a few things that seemed to work out for those who had a very productive (and fruitful) biz undergrad experience.

--First, I'll say the smart-fuckers with 3.8's 3.9's 4.0's are not all insufferable, boring nitwits (though I met plenty of them too) . Some of the most interesting and fun-loving people I knew in undergrad were kicking ass both in and out of class.

--If you do more people-oriented work than cubicle jockey, I'd imagine knowing a language could be quite helpful. Many Americans lack this key skill (admittedly, I'm working on it myself). I had a good friend learn both Chinese and Portugese by first taking classes in undergrad then using his summers to take a paid internship or study abroad in the respective countries to cement the language skill. This lead to near fluency after talking day-in and out with the people there. I believe this will be quite favorable as he goes into management consulting and who knows what career path later. All while maintaining 4.0. Don't let a language scare yourself off, many others have done it before you.

--Make damn good use of your internships and network connections. This is a large part of your lifeblood. Make every summer count in some form.

--Apply for scholarships to train/study abroad, see how high you can reach.

--It seems that regionally respected business school did alright regionally. However, I still noticed those I knew in private (higher tier) pulling more offers nationwide than just their region. I'm sure this isn't a secret anyhow.

--When you take your Gen-Eds take things that kill two birds with one stone. Meaning, take things that you'll appreciate later in life, not some snoozefest meaningless class you heard was easy.
Examples that are likely Gen-Ed and have tangible lifetime benefit..

Language(s) (see above).
Calculus, will carry over in life more than you immediately think sitting in class. I believe this is a business requisite anyhow.
Physics, nuff said. But, if you ignore all other sciences and just take first semester you'll be better for it. It makes you appreciate the small things of how they work in life, the concepts carry over to so many things.
Public Speaking, who couldn't use more practice? Too many people suck at this skill.
Classics, not only are the stories entertaining, you'll find the references carry over to many odd places in life.
Psychology, and/or Interpersonal Comm. Study, helps you understand little better dynamics of human interaction/ thought. Especially true if you have a great prof.

The rest of the credits choose to be your own or to work towards another major/minor. Perhaps, throw in some history courses if you find the time. If no,t it's not the end of the world.

-- Finally, get laid often and with a variety of wimminz. Don't get 'em pregnant like an idiot. Let alcohol enhance your weekends, but don't make it a crutch. You'll probably have better luck that way.