Liberal Arts vs. Business Degree

Owen.

Owen.

Active member
K so I'm an undergraduate in the US (originally from Canada) and I've seen a lot of people on these forums and elsewhere claim that a business degree (as an undergraduate) is way better and far more useful than a liberal arts degree..... i.e. majoring in economics or going through the schools business program rather than doing english or psychology or whatever. Sooo if anyone from either one would like to post their points of view I would be interested to see whatsup!
 
It all really depends on what you want to do. Make a huuuuge list of all the jobs you'd ever want to do or are interested in (keeping in mind to do some research on each of them so you know exactly what they are and aren't choosing them by their name/reputation etc.) then determine what kind of degree best suits those jobs.

You can't really say you're going into a specific job yet, but you can get an idea of what kind of jobs you'd like and what kind of person you are. Then if you do the degree that keeps most of your options open, that's the better choice no?

For me, some careers I'm interested in would be entrepreneurship, public policy, politics, government, international relations, trade, diplomacy, management etc. so a business degree suits me a TON better than a liberal arts degree does.
 
its all about what you want to do, and what you are passionate about. i had the same dilemma, ended up choosing business, best decision of my life. arts degree may be more versatile in some aspects, but dont do it just because of the opportunities it may offer you. follow your heart (too cheesy?)
 
how can you say a business degree suits you tons better for those careers? An economics degree would be much better for almost all of those.
 
i go to a liberal arts school so i may be somewhat biased on this but for undergraduate I think it is far more useful to get a liberal arts degree, and open your mind to a wide range of options. you have to choose your desired major at most schools as a sophmore so when you are 19 or 20, and it is a really big decision to dedicate your life to business that young. it is a good path to take liberal arts, major in something interesting like philosophy, neurology, classics... anything... and find what you really want to do with your life. you can always go to graduate business school if you decide you want to do business after you graduate college, when you are older and wiser about your prospects in life. besides most employers in the financial and business sectors would much rather you have an mba rather than an undergrad business degree.
 
My only advice is to figure out what you would be happy doing for the rest of your life and figure it out fast! If you don't know, take a year off and figure it out.
I thought anthropology was cool and wanted to be an archaeologist. So I went to a good school for it. I might do something with it some day.... but that is someday.
I did however figure out that I would be entirely content working in the ski/action sports industry for the rest of my life and I lucked out a bit in that the good archaeology program was in southern california. I ended up focusing most of my attention on the clubs I was involved with and my marketing job for the local resort more than my studies. But now looking at it, I would have been better off in this industry with a marketing or graphic design degree.
Had I taken a year off, I would have made way different decisions.
 
Anything healthcare related will give you a steady job. If you don't want to go to school forever look you can do med lab tech, pharmacy, nursing, or be a technician.
As for BA, plan on going to grad school.For BS, plan on going to grad schoolfor electrical/mechanical engineering you will have a job if your gpa is over 3.Civil engineering is easier and makes less money.Environmental engineering will not get you a job. (if you want to work in a sustainable way with the environment become a physicist or chemist)
for business, plan on getting your masters unless you're starting your own business.
 
I feel like any person coming straight out of highschool should be required to take 2 years of liberal arts courses before being allowed to declare a major.
 
I'm a political science major, senior in college, and I am applying for mostly business jobs. As long as you have a good gpa, don't worry about future careers and just focus on school for the time being.
 
I graduated with a political science and economics degree last spring and am going for my masters in political science. It interests me and I think I will be fine career wise. I think that as long as you are doing what interests you, you can make a decent living out of it and be successful.
 
Guys...aside from specialized tasks, your degree is simply a union card. I want to be a filmmaker when I grow up, but fuckall if I have to step foot inside a film program...

I happen to know of National Geographic filmers who make $50k+ a year with benefits without doing any filmmaking program. Liberal Arts degree ftw.
 
my dad is an executive head hunter for business real estate. he says that he finds candidates with a broad liberal arts education are a lot better at abstract and critical thinking than business students who think in a more linear and non creative way.
 
You would like Quebec's system then.

Out of high school, they force you through this CEGEP gig. There you figure your shit out before entering university...and have some fun along the way.

I chose business. It fits me better than anything else. What makes me nervous though, is when I go to a cocktail or recruitment event, and find thousands of people looking for exactly the same job/position as myself. Average doesn't cut it anymore, so be sure to work your ass off in school.
 
It just depends what you want to do. I have no desire to go into the business world, and major in biology. In pretty much every school the bio department is in the college of liberal arts and sciences. Even a business major has to take some gen eds to fill their liberal arts requirements. It doesn't really mean anything imo, it's just a hassle to take classes I don't care about.
 
Business is such a retarded meaningless term. The whole world is business. Art, science, all that requires money, purchasing, selling. You need business skills to succeed in life.
Business degrees seem to just be a gigantic magnet for people who don't know what they want to do but have some sort of dream of a house in the suburbs 2 kids and a german sedan.

 
This. Also, college is that much more of a bitch when you have no genuine interest in what you're studying, and waste it on a credential instead actually learn something interesting. You only go to college once; get smart! Not just qualified...
 
Are you suggesting that people who focus in finance, accounting, economics, MIS, etc., aren't capable of making better business decisions than someone who studied in science?

Every (large) company hires people with business backgrounds for a reason. They are certainly not throwing their money away.

 
Well it may not suit those careers for another person, but I feel like it suits me. I don't know, recommend me something.

The reason I'm thinking business, is because I like to be creative; I can and love to think outside the box, innovate, go the other way and challenge the norm. It's just what I do, and if you think I'm just listing off cliche attributes that's fine, I don't care.

I'm constantly thinking of business opportunities, ventures and ideas, and I've already proven myself in taking an idea to reality. I realized my school wasn't being sustainable, so I founded a student sustainability committee at my school. I'm now the lead director, in charge of an executive committee of 8 students and a committee with over 50 students. We're simultaneously working on 5 initiatives with everything from solar panels, community development, green roofs and LEED Certification, all with smaller projects as part of the initiative. I took my frustration with "environment clubs" and provided an alternate solution, to create drastic, measurable and realistic change without being a tea party, a group of hippies, or a band of tree huggers.

That's just an example, I have a lot morebut I think I've gone on long enough already. In short, I can't see myself really doing anything else but this kind of thing, where I decide when I work, how I do it and what I do. I just don't think I can work a "normal" job.

I mean by all means if you can see another path or program for me, I'm totally open to any suggestions - right now I'm just looking at business as my top option.

Sorry 'bout the length, kinda got into it.
 
Can't believe this is even a question. Of course a business degree is better, it will get you a lot farther in life. Or you could go for the liberal arts degree and live off the government for the rest of your life, plus you are eligible to drive a Prius.
 
It wasn't a question as to what I should do, just wondering what other peoples thoughts were on the subject. I'm getting a B.A. as an undergraduate and although I have the choice to major in Economics or something like that I probably won't.
My opinion: although there are definitely numerous advantages to getting a business degree or majoring in economics there are potentially more advantages to getting a liberal arts degree. I look at both of my parents as examples where their careers are now far from the path their degrees set them on. My dad got an engineering degree and now works for a consulting company, leading teams and working on deals with major banks and businesses (so basically none of his engineering background was necessary) and my mom, who is now in corporate banking, was originally a physiotherapist. I've had a ton of talks with both of them about this specific question - each one hires people for their respective companies - and they agree that having a liberal arts education is extremely useful, especially in todays economic climate. Regardless of what I major in, whether it be classics, psychology, english, German, whatever, it's not the actual facts that I benefit most from but the skills I develop over the four years of learning. That being said I'm planning on getting a graduate degree, and if it's an MBA that would automatically render any undergraduate business degree useless - how boring must someone be to do that???
Also... I have to admit that there comes a point where, as you descend in the quality of schooling, it would probably be more worth ones time to get a business degree... but I'm talking really sketch schools, probably none of the ones anyone on this site would go to
 
I think if you get either of those, you're taking a large risk at majoring in poverty. Notice I said risk so I don't get all of you shitstorming me for saying that; I don't care and it would waste bandwidth anyway.
 
you can't just make a claim like that and not present some reasons why.

chalking it up to 'not wanting to get into it' just tells me you really don't know what you're talking about.

so please, enlighten us.
 
My dad got a physical engineering degree, then he went back to school for an mba part time since he had a job. He told me that the students that had Bcom degrees were very lost since they had no experience in the business world.

You don't have to have a degree in business to be capable of making better decisions, all you need is a some experience working for a company.
 
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No matter what your degree is, make sure you can write well. Both of my parents are professionals and they say that is easily one of the most important things they look for in job applicants.
 
the economy sucks. i know tons of people with business degrees that can't find shit, and frankly can't do shit with it. all that means is they passed through and got a degree, they still can't do shit. arts? come on now. I also know kids who went to college to major in photography. they're horrible at photography, and last I checked, you're not making any money in that business. an art degree certifies you to do nothing basically.
 
i didn't say that a business degree isn't good for you, I just said that an economics degree would be more applicable to the list of jobs you mentioned. All of those jobs involving international trade, public policy, etc...
 
It doesn't matter what degree you get, it's what you do with it. I only consider education maybe a third of the things that determine how your career evolves and develops. The rest is people skills, ability to present yourself, writing, professionalism, wit, creativity, decisiveness, perseverance, all that. Tons of famous and successful people never graduated high school. I could write you an essay on why school kills creativity, it's true.

I find nowadays people tend to focus too much on just the schooling part and leave everything else behind, so they're screwed when it comes time to apply for jobs or something. When you blame your unsuccessful career on the economy, or the degree you get, you're not going to get where you want to go. Despite where the economy might be, there's always a need for something, and if you can figure out a way to fulfill that need you got yourself a job. Think about that before you go ranting about what degrees lead to jobs and what degrees don't.
 
I think often times the college and how well you do means a lot more to prospective colleges than the degree.
My father graduated with a major in a liberal art (Math) from what is arguably the best regarded school in america, and got a really good job just out of school working in business doing analytic work just because he was good with numbers and managed to really impress a recruiter. He later worked as CFO for several large telecom companies before retiring at age 45.
He has straight up told me that there is no way he'd be where he is if he had gone to a state school (which he strongly considered because he grew up very poor. )
 
Oh sorry, didn't read your post right. The program I want to do is at McGill and it's called Major in International Management, and I can minor or major in econ as well so I do have that option. I'm also thinking about Sustainable development then a global MBA program. Regardless I want to do an international exchange to France so I'll have a language as well.

Any advice?
 
Nailed it right on the head.

This is what separates this generation from the generation of our parents. Our parents were taught the people skills, perserverance, etc. In todays society we are told that if you go through schooling and do what your told you'll get out fine. And its turning out that it's not cutting it anymore. Someone with a "business" degree won't cut it.

If business is your route, then don't worry too much about the specific degree. By all means chose what interests you and uses your strengths the best. But what I'm saying is that a big percentage of people who have a degree in one area of business end up in another area as their career. Not saying this happens to everyone, but it happens a lot.
 
i agree.

i laugh at all these asians who come off the boat and study here. smart as hell but not a drop of social, people skills. they will be over qualified middle management for the rest of their lives. while the people that created a good education foundation, but didn't kill themselves with school and found time for hanging out and extra curricular activities will be the ones that move up.
 
I definitely agree with this. I see so many people who just go to university to take a degree they don't care about because they feel like they have to. It's not some get out of jail free card, if you don't have passion you're not going to get there.
That said, I know I want to get a job in the future studying animal behaviour in the field (ideally focusing on how they are adapting to increased human contact or something). So for me zoology/ecology and on a broader scale university makes sense. It's one thing if you change your mind partway through, but if you don't care at all you're not going to put the effort in to make it work.
 
i agree with that too. I have an asian TA for one of courses. she's probably really smart, but she really can't get a point across ever. If she goes back to china sh will probably have a lot better chance, but if she stays here, that ain't gonna go over to well.
 
Disclaimer - I haven't read anything that has been posted in this thread.
I'm pretty much a senior citizen in comparison to most of the people on this site. Having gone through undergrad, grad school, and professional certification in my field (not trying to claim - just merely pointing out that I'm not a 19 yr old kid) would lead me to toss this little tid bit of info out there for you to chew on.
It really depends on what you want to do for a living. If you want to work in academia or politics, then a liberal arts degree probably wouldn't do you much harm, but don't plan on stopping at undergrad. (If those fields don't interest you, a liberal arts degree is pretty much worthless from my experience.) If you want to make any real money with an LA, you need to go on to grad & post grad school. A baccalaureate in English or Psychology isn't really going to get you shit. You really need those advanced accreditations to make it very far. (Keep in mind that I'm making broad generalizations here.)
Realistically, even a baccalaureate in business doesn't really mean shit any more either - especially if it is a stroke off business degree like business management. Bachelor's degrees in our generation are plentiful - every fuck stick has one. They're like high school diplomas were for people growing up in the 50's. If you really want to set yourself apart, you're going to need to continue with more specialized grad/post grad education to climb the corporate ladder.
Before one can say that one degree is better than the other, you really need to figure out what you'd like to do for a career. It doesn't have to be specific, but at least have a general idea so you can get going on your major. As you go through some of the gen ed classes, you'll learn what you like and you don't like. Once you've got that figured out, then you can pick your degree. Once you've got your undergrad, head straight to grad school.
Just my 2 cents. Sorry if I bounced around there. Jumping back and forth between work (job) and fucking around on the internet.
Good luck with whatever decision you make.
 
liberal arts degrees are always worthless. business degrees are easy to get and in this economy wont do too much for you, get a grad degree if your undergrad is in business
 
I disagree with most of these posts not just the one I quoted.

How can you say an economics degree is worthless? You are lumping all of the "liberal arts" together. I know people with liberal arts degrees in biology who are going doing medical research, people with liberal arts degrees in political science who are going to law school or working on campaigns at the moment, etc... But then I also know people with liberal arts philosophy degrees or liberal arts psych degrees who are unemployed and need to go to grad school.

I think a "liberal arts" degree in economics is much more valuable than a run of the mill "business management" degree. Many jobs requiring analytical skills want people with math OR economics majors. Economics is one of the most widely applicable degrees out there. If you get a liberal arts degree you still have a specialized major, it just means you also had a core gen ed group of classes in all different subjects/areas.

The OP is also talking about a specialized business degree not just "business management"
 
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