What Should I Major In?

While I was at Texas Christian University I had the opportunity to mentor younger business students in a program called Neeley Mentors. The most frequent question I got asked was, "What concentration should I do?" Below is a summary of all the majors most undergraduate business programs offer.

Accounting- although this major is usually associated with a lot of math it really isn't. The most complicated form of math you have to do is add, subtract, multiply, and divide. The hard part is figuring out what rules apply to what. For instance an example might be: Do we include or exclude this cost into the financial statements. What is really interesting is many accounting majors go to law school since accounting and the law are pretty much based upon rules

Marketing- this major is usually for people that are pretty creative and enjoy working in teams to get ideas across. Even though I call marketing the tom-foolery of business they serve an important roll in educating consumers about products and their benefits. My only problem is that if a product is good won't it sell itself? Nevertheless, they do inform consumers about what they can offer.

Finance- Since I majored in this I can tell you all you need to know. Finance deals with not only understanding risk and corporations but the core idea of finance is the relationship between risk and reward. This is interesting because it can be applied to many different places. For example, if you are thinking about eating your favorite dessert shouldn't also think about the costs associated with that dessert? By costs I don't mean money prices I mean what you give up for eating your favorite dessert. Would you incur more calories possibly leading to weight gain? Could you get a stomach ache after you eat it? There is a risk/reward relationship that we encounter in our daily lives. In addition to this, finance can show people how to invest their own personal money (personal finance) or show individuals how to evaluate how financial stable a company is (important if you are looking for a job). Finance majors usually have to take a bunch of accounting courses so they can understand the difference between a: balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statements

E-business- this major is pretty interesting. When I was younger I was really into computer technology. These people are really good with information technology and can make sure a company's software program is running properly. A misconception is that these majors have to program computers. From my understanding there really isn't any programming. The nuts and bolts of the major is understanding how a business can use information technology to improve their website, fix information technology problems, and possibly benchmark their technology versus competitors.

Supply Chain- A lot of people have no clue what supply chain management is. Supply chain management is about understanding the most efficient way of delivering goods to their point of destination (think FedEx). Although, most of it seems like common sense (and it really is) there are a lot of programs and technology that these majors use to find the most efficient delivery path for products. Next time you get a package you can thank supply chain majors for making it possible!

Management- these majors are really good in bringing out the best in people. You especially want these people in any type of conflict situation. Getting along with people and being able to communicate is not only important in the business world but also important in live as well.