College Major: Business Admin>Marketing?

[hl0m4n]

i think next semester im going to drop down from accounting major. i absolutely *hate* finance, can't stand it. was going to back down to finance but when my advisor told me it too requires about the same amount of credits/years of taking accounting i was like shit, if that is the case i might as well just stay with accounting.

but when i asked about marketing/business admin all my credits basically transfer over and no problem. so which is better? afaik business admin is like a general overview of the entire busines ciriculumn?

i donno , help appreciated. thanks guys.

[jaiman]

Marketing.

Really both are bullshit, where someone has tried to make a science out of an art, but everything in business is sales.

[bolinp78]

Originally Posted by jaiman

Marketing.

Really both are bullshit, where someone has tried to make a science out of an art, but everything in business is sales.

I agree with you here somewhat, but marketing is more about the numbers than advertising/public relations/sales are. Marketing definitely has a sales type element to it, though.

I actually majored in marketing, and I agree with you they are both bullshitt-ish.

[ac1208]

i would say marketing if you're going to just choose between the two, at least you will be concentrated in something rather than a general degree.
To succeed in marketing, you must be a people person.

[ejazbmw]

I'm an accounting major myself but i actually enjoy it lol

[bolinp78]

Originally Posted by ac1208

To succeed in marketing, you must be a people person.

This is not necessarily true; It depends on what kind of marketing you are doing.

[Hawkeye]

I would say don't be an idiot, suck it up and stay where you are at. You will get a job with an accounting degree 10 times easier than you will with one of those other degrees right now.

[Jet335i]

Originally Posted by bolinp78

This is not necessarily true; It depends on what kind of marketing you are doing.

as is true with most jobs, there are many types of personalities there. I know some "marketing guys" that are actually engineers, or sales people, or whatever.

It all depends what they're doing that falls underneath the umbrella of "marketing". It's not just hiring companies to do your advertising and coming up with collateral material.

[TMNT]

I'd go with marketing because it has a focus. I have a marketing degree and I'm doing quite well 3 years out of college

[golfinz]

Im an accounting major as well and I would say stick with it...anything worthwhile is hard. Study hard, it might seem like its boring and gay, but busting ass for 4-6 years out of your life will make the rest of it very enjoyable.

The wonderful thing about accounting is that once you have your CPA, you have a TON of flexibility.

edit: I highly advise you steer away from bus admin...its too basic and won't set you apart. pm me if you want to talk more as I just finished my masters in accounting/am close to your age

[TurboFan]

Engineering. As we used to say "You can always hire an engineer to do a business majors job, but you can't hire a business major to do an engineers job".

[TurboFan]

Originally Posted by golfinz

Im an accounting major as well and I would say stick with it...anything worthwhile is hard. Study hard, it might seem like its boring and gay, but busting ass for 4-6 years out of your life will make the rest of it very enjoyable.

The wonderful thing about accounting is that once you have your CPA, you have a TON of flexibility.

edit: I highly advise you steer away from bus admin...its too basic and won't set you apart. pm me if you want to talk more as I just finished my masters in accounting/am close to your age

Hell yes, amen, +1000000, whatever. Have a little fun in college, but work your ass off and set yourself up right with a valuable skill.

I worked my ass off to earn a degree in mechanical engineering, and almost a masters in electrical engineering (I just couldn't take it anymore after 6 years lol). So many guys I knew took the easy "fun" majors, whatever, without regard to long term viability. I on the otherhand have started my own business, and prior to that ran a branch of a large public company earning a healty 6 figure income working 32-40 hours /week. I party and play now in ways never dreamed in college. Btw I hated engineering by the end, but that degree allowe me to start high, advance quickly and run a multiple-million dollar business before I was 30, and I never used much of what I learned in class after the first year.

A degree like accounting, with a CPA, will allow you similar opportunity. Most accountants I know don't do accounting, but their ability to earn a CPA speaks volumes about them.

[Seminole]

Accounting in the real world is nothing like what you do in college. Stick with it.

[742]

Originally Posted by TurboFan

Engineering. As we used to say "You can always hire an engineer to do a business majors job, but you can't hire a business major to do an engineers job".

The BoD at Boeing needs to talk with you right now. However they may not realize it...

[ejazbmw]

Originally Posted by Seminole

Accounting in the real world is nothing like what you do in college. Stick with it.

how so? i mean i guess it depends what kinda job it is

[TurboFan]

Originally Posted by ejazbmw

how so? i mean i guess it depends what kinda job it is

Accounting will teach you how to break down a business, see what makes money, if divisions are unprofitable, books are cooked, new markets are viable, etc. I'm not talking puts and takes, that's for the auditors (hardcore accounting nerds) but high level business strategy and health.

[golfinz]

Originally Posted by ejazbmw

how so? i mean i guess it depends what kinda job it is

Its not just journal entries, adjusting JEs, etc...if you work for a public accounting firm, you will likely NOT be doing those, those are done by your clients...your job as an auditor is to make sure that they are correct by testing and sampling.

TurboFan hit it, accounting is one of the only fields, if not the only, that will allow you to thoroughly "see" the business and its inter workings. Its actually fun...lol

And hey TF...Im an auditor and Im not a hardcore acctg nerd...I dont think

[TurboFan]

Sorry bud, but in the accounting world, I'd say ur an accounting nerd I figured someone would be in audit.
But that doesn't mean you can't otherwise be a good and cool person!

In all seriousness though, I loved my internal accountant. She was a huge help to me in running our business, very handy when evaluating how new segments and ideas were performing. Outside of audit, I'd say the big challenge an accountant must overcome is gaining ops experience to REALLY see how the business makes money.

[golfinz]

Originally Posted by TurboFan

Hell yes, amen, +1000000, whatever. Have a little fun in college, but work your ass off and set yourself up right with a valuable skill.

I worked my ass off to earn a degree in mechanical engineering, and almost a masters in electrical engineering (I just couldn't take it anymore after 6 years lol). So many guys I knew took the easy "fun" majors, whatever, without regard to long term viability. I on the otherhand have started my own business, and prior to that ran a branch of a large public company earning a healty 6 figure income working 32-40 hours /week. I party and play now in ways never dreamed in college. Btw I hated engineering by the end, but that degree allowe me to start high, advance quickly and run a multiple-million dollar business before I was 30, and I never used much of what I learned in class after the first year.

A degree like accounting, with a CPA, will allow you similar opportunity. Most accountants I know don't do accounting, but their ability to earn a CPA speaks volumes about them.

+10000000000000000

There is some crazy stat like 80% of people don't work in the field that they majored in. Its all about getting your foot in the door, and its hard to get your foot in the door/stand out with a basic major like bus admin/marketing/mgmt because there are soooo many people that do that.

I laughed at the guys/girls that had the "easy" majors so they could party and none of them have jobs or are working sales making 25-35k a year.

As I tell my friends that are younger than I, Im 24, college really doesn't mean shit in the long run, I believe all it is is to prove to "the man" that you are willing to bust your ass and set yourself apart from the crowd, its to show "him" that you can do something that the next person can't, and that is what gets you in the door. From there on out, your degree doesn't mean shit...but you NEED a skillful degree/one that sets you apart to get into the door, from there its all you

[golfinz]

Originally Posted by TurboFan

Sorry bud, but in the accounting world, I'd say ur an accounting nerd
But that doesn't mean you can't otherwise be a good and cool person!

hehehe...it runs in my blood...my granddad is a cpa, my dad is a cpa, Im about to be one (passed 3 out of the 4 tests and taking number 4 on Wed) and my younger sister is studying for her cpa.

I guess the same lesson was passed from my gdad, to my dad, to us, pick a field/career that there will always be a need for

[TurboFan]

Good luck with the test. That's a helluvan accomplishment. I have a couple cpa's in the family. That exam is there with the bar and PE.

[golfinz]

Originally Posted by TurboFan

Sorry bud, but in the accounting world, I'd say ur an accounting nerd I figured someone would be in audit.
But that doesn't mean you can't otherwise be a good and cool person!

In all seriousness though, I loved my internal accountant. She was a huge help to me in running our business, very handy when evaluating how new segments and ideas were performing. Outside of audit, I'd say the big challenge an accountant must overcome is gaining ops experience to REALLY see how the business makes money.

I like your edit...very true!