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Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 11:59 pm
by Sogui
Seriously I go to a business school (undergrad naturally) and was amazed when I saw this statistic from Columbia (which I've enrolled at):
Total: 398
Political Science/Government 101
Literature/English 40
History 46
Economics 57
Humanities 36
Science/Engineering/Mathematics 26
Philosophy 26
Social Sciences (other) 35
International Relations 24
Psychology 11
Finance/Accounting/Business 4
4? really?
I personally know myself (+1) and a b-school acquaintance who got the Hamilton who is attending (+1), and I heard that another person I know in our honors program is also attending (but that's 2nd hand information).
Am I the only one who finds this to be unbelievable?
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 12:10 am
by dextermorgan
There's this whole thing called business school. Maybe you've heard of it?
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 12:11 am
by CMDantes
You are really awesome.
edit: Damn! You edited your post before I could use the meme generator for my first time, BLAST!
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 12:15 am
by Sogui
CMDantes wrote:You are really awesome.
Finally, someone's able to confirm that for me. I've always suspected it, but never could quite put a finger on why I was better than everyone else.
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 12:17 am
by Fark-o-vision
Clearly we mortals couldn't match your accomplishments. Why are you so surprised?
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 12:18 am
by legalease9
Business majors don't show up in law school for two key reasons.
1. (as mentioned above) Business school (MBA) tends to eat them up. Less tuition, better job prospects, and its what Business majors tend to be interested in anyway.
2. Business Undergrad degrees tend to be somewhat lucrative in their own right. A lot of business majors will choose to jump into the work force rather than go to any graduate school.
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 12:20 am
by legalease9
CMDantes wrote:You are really awesome.
edit: Damn! You edited your post before I could use the meme generator for my first time, BLAST!
I'm interested to know what this is referencing

Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 12:21 am
by Sogui
Fark-o-vision wrote:Clearly we mortals couldn't match your accomplishments. Why are you so surprised?
You're right, I should have expected no more than 1% of the elite law population would be capable of surviving such a rigorous curriculum as BSCHOOL.
But seriously, 4... you're telling me that I know 75% of the business major 1Ls at CLS? I go to Texas, Stern is just down the street and they have a max of 1 representing them? Wharton too? I just don't buy it.
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 12:24 am
by Sogui
meme generators? Looks like we've got an advanced internet user on our hands here, looks like we need to bring this thread up to DEFCON 2 before someone posts LOLcats...
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 12:26 am
by Dany
I bet more than a few of those Economics majors are business students. It's a business major at my UG.
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 12:32 am
by Einv14
eskimo wrote:I bet more than a few of those Economics majors are business students. It's a business major at my UG.
One right here. And i see what ur saying sogui, u just sound like a giant douche the way your saying it. And i wouldn't knock on B-school so hard, its not as easy as i once thought after having a friend going through one program.
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 12:42 am
by Sogui
mikegt40 wrote:eskimo wrote:I bet more than a few of those Economics majors are business students. It's a business major at my UG.
One right here. And i see what ur saying sogui, u just sound like a giant douche the way your saying it. And i wouldn't knock on B-school so hard, its not as easy as i once thought after having a friend going through one program.
You guys are impossible. I started by expressing genuine interest in the possibility that b-school knowledge might be rarer than I thought and could give an advantage down the road in corporate law. But I got bashed in the first few posts for sounding like a business school tool. So I changed my tone to bitter sarcasm toward the rigor and merit of a b-school education and now people are getting offended again?
I'm pretty apathetic about this, I'm just curious as to why there are 11-fold more history majors than business majors in CLS, etc... are there really maybe 10-20 people at CLS who understand financial analysis? Would spending 4 years developing an understanding of the corporate world and its inner-mechanisms be extremely useful for an aspiring big-law lawyer that might end up serving big corporate and financial entities?
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 12:45 am
by Dany
Sogui wrote:mikegt40 wrote:eskimo wrote:I bet more than a few of those Economics majors are business students. It's a business major at my UG.
One right here. And i see what ur saying sogui, u just sound like a giant douche the way your saying it. And i wouldn't knock on B-school so hard, its not as easy as i once thought after having a friend going through one program.
You guys are impossible. I started by expressing genuine interest in the possibility that b-school knowledge might be rarer than I thought and could give an advantage down the road in corporate law. But I got bashed in the first few posts for sounding like a business school tool. So I changed my tone to bitter sarcasm toward the rigor and merit of a b-school education and now people are getting offended again?
I'm pretty apathetic about this, I'm just curious as to why there are 11-fold more history majors than business majors in CLS, etc... are there really maybe 10-20 people at CLS who understand financial analysis? Would spending 4 years developing an understanding of the corporate world and its inner-mechanisms be extremely useful for an aspiring big-law lawyer that might end up serving big corporate and financial entities?
I don't know why you're all up-in-arms if you're "pretty apathetic." I was just pointing out that the number might be higher when you include business-economics majors that may have been counted under economics instead. Nothing "impossible" there.
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 12:46 am
by Einv14
Sogui wrote:mikegt40 wrote:eskimo wrote:I bet more than a few of those Economics majors are business students. It's a business major at my UG.
One right here. And i see what ur saying sogui, u just sound like a giant douche the way your saying it. And i wouldn't knock on B-school so hard, its not as easy as i once thought after having a friend going through one program.
You guys are impossible. I started by expressing genuine interest in the possibility that b-school knowledge might be rarer than I thought and could give an advantage down the road in corporate law. But I got bashed in the first few posts for sounding like a business school tool. So I changed my tone to bitter sarcasm toward the rigor and merit of a b-school education and now people are getting offended again?
I'm pretty apathetic about this, I'm just curious as to why there are 11-fold more history majors than business majors in CLS, etc... are there really maybe 10-20 people at CLS who understand financial analysis? Would spending 4 years developing an understanding of the corporate world and its inner-mechanisms be extremely useful for an aspiring big-law lawyer that might end up serving big corporate and financial entities?
CLS is a good school. They simply have higher criteria for whom they admit, and since there are so many b majors, they may just be very selective. Srsly though, stop being a douche
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 12:55 am
by Sogui
mikegt40 wrote:Sogui wrote:mikegt40 wrote:eskimo wrote:I bet more than a few of those Economics majors are business students. It's a business major at my UG.
One right here. And i see what ur saying sogui, u just sound like a giant douche the way your saying it. And i wouldn't knock on B-school so hard, its not as easy as i once thought after having a friend going through one program.
You guys are impossible. I started by expressing genuine interest in the possibility that b-school knowledge might be rarer than I thought and could give an advantage down the road in corporate law. But I got bashed in the first few posts for sounding like a business school tool. So I changed my tone to bitter sarcasm toward the rigor and merit of a b-school education and now people are getting offended again?
I'm pretty apathetic about this, I'm just curious as to why there are 11-fold more history majors than business majors in CLS, etc... are there really maybe 10-20 people at CLS who understand financial analysis? Would spending 4 years developing an understanding of the corporate world and its inner-mechanisms be extremely useful for an aspiring big-law lawyer that might end up serving big corporate and financial entities?
CLS is a good school. They simply have higher criteria for whom they admit, and since there are so many b majors, they may just be very selective. Srsly though, stop being a douche
Your logic makes no sense, because there are plenty of b-school people they only select a tiny percentage of them, but the ULTRA-RARE poli-sci/government major is part of an elite corp. that CLS just can't get enough of?
eskimo wrote:
I don't know why you're all up-in-arms if you're "pretty apathetic." I was just pointing out that the number might be higher when you include business-economics majors that may have been counted under economics instead. Nothing "impossible" there.
Was responding more to the other more hostile comments. I believe that's a possibility but even if it's true I would still be baffled that there are only 4 "pure" business majors who focused solely on accounting/management/finance/marketing/supply chain/MIS. The fact that I know 2, probably 3 people who are non-economics business majors from just my school means this number look pretty fishy, but if it's true.. would be amazing.
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 1:05 am
by Einv14
I'd explain it but i dont think you'd understand. U do attend CLS afterall.
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 1:24 am
by Mickey Quicknumbers
I'm really surprised by that too. Maybe an anomaly?
finance/accounting undergrad makes sense as a pre-law undergrad because 1) corporate/finance law = big money jobs and 2) for most business schools, a good gpa is very attainable. The math and the concepts are pretty straightforward and not all too difficult.
I feel like a third of my b-school was going to law school.
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 1:37 am
by imchuckbass58
Sogui wrote:
4? really?
CLS draws heavily from ivies and top LACs. These schools do not have undergrad business majors, they have undergrad econ majors, which is why econ is represented so heavily and business so lightly.
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Brown, Stanford, Columbia, Amherst, Williams, Dartmouth and Berkeley all do not have undergrad business majors. These school account for at least 1/3 (probably more like 1/2) of the CLS class.
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 1:39 am
by DoubleChecks
lol i didnt get to read sogui's original post, so i cant comment on that, but just based off his edited one...i can see what he's saying. i mean, CLS posted 4 business students last cycle...this cycle sogui + friends is already 3 lol...and they are all from the same school.
i guess what he may be trying to imply (or at least what i inferred) is that those numbers may be shady/off because realistically, there would have to be more business majors.
however, the econ thing seems to be the reason...chuckbass' post right before mine (editing it as i type it lol) makes a lot of sense
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 11:50 am
by CMDantes
lol Sorry Sogui, I didn't mean to destroy your thread. Was just poking fun.
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 8:28 am
by SuperFreak
Sogui wrote:Seriously I go to a business school (undergrad naturally) and was amazed when I saw this statistic from Columbia (which I've enrolled at):
Total: 398
Political Science/Government 101
Literature/English 40
History 46
Economics 57
Humanities 36
Science/Engineering/Mathematics 26
Philosophy 26
Social Sciences (other) 35
International Relations 24
Psychology 11
Finance/Accounting/Business 4
4? really?
I personally know myself (+1) and a b-school acquaintance who got the Hamilton who is attending (+1), and I heard that another person I know in our honors program is also attending (but that's 2nd hand information).
Am I the only one who finds this to be unbelievable?
Why would anyone go into Law if they could get into business?
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 8:32 am
by lostjake
Business degree =/= ability to get into business
just as
Law degree =/= ability to get into law
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 8:32 am
by bostonlawchick
SuperFreak wrote:
Why would anyone go into Law if they could get into business?
Personally, as an accounting major, I just figured I'd trade one soul sucking 70 hour a week job for a different soul sucking 70 hour a week job that might pay me three times as much.
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 8:36 am
by SuperFreak
bostonlawchick wrote:SuperFreak wrote:
Why would anyone go into Law if they could get into business?
Personally, as an accounting major, I just figured I'd trade one soul sucking 70 hour a week job for a different soul sucking 70 hour a week job that might pay me three times as much.
Actually, this is pretty logical. Accounting must really suck. If you major in business and go to a crappy school, then you suck (because you made a bad career choice in the long run).
Re: Are business majors really that rare?
Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 8:41 am
by bostonlawchick
I go to an okay UG with a pretty good accounting program. Finance majors aren't so lucky. No one from my school goes to work on Wall Street thats for sure.
I was interviewing for Big 4 internships this past fall and hearing horror stories of how much work they do during busy season for like 45k a year, and then I realized I could do the same ridiculously detailed work and the same insane hours and make a ton more money.
That and the more accounting coursework I take the more I never want to hear the words "bond amortization" or "IFRS" ever again....