With class scheduling just about to start up again, many first and second yearsare scratching their heads trying to figure out whether to stay in the College or go to the Commerce School. As a first year with an interest in both economics and finance, this conundrum is one I have pondered for quite some time.
Fortunately, searching for a resolution has brought me into contact with a number of outspoken proponents on both sides, and after evaluating their arguments, I can reasonably say I have resolved the great debate. For me, and hopefully for a great deal of you, the answer lies not in prioritizing future goals, but rather, in a careful assessment of personal desires in the present.
Because, let's face it: an economics degree is just as likely to land you that sought-after Goldman Sachs analyst job as a degree from the McIntire School of Commerce.
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Both academic programs should impart the basic tools and knowledge necessary to participate in the markets; on top of that, most investment banking or consulting firms will teach you how to be an active and successful player. Commerce school graduates and economics majors alike must complete the intensive training programs their respective firms offer before they become official salary-earning employees.
However, from an educational standpoint, there is simply no substitute for those first few weeks of on-the-job experience, which help you gain footing with the company, learn the ropes of the office and experiment with the technology and information tools necessary to keeping the firm competitive. And, not even the best undergraduate business programs in the country, including the one to which we have access, can adequately provide that experience for you.
So, if there is no real strategic advantage to choosing an undergraduate business education, why would anyone in their right mind choose the Commerce School over a degree in the College of Arts and Sciences?
The only reason I can come up with is that after finishing two years in the college, you found nothing fascinating to study except for courses in finance and accounting, and you only want to pursue those ends. And, for the minority of you who truly feel this way, I'm sorry, but I guess the Commerce School is your best bet.
As for myself, and probably for the vast majority of you out there, there is so much more the college has to offer. I feel like I'd be wasting my time here and selling myself short by taking the Commerce School route to a career in finance or economics.
College is all about exploring yourself and the world around you, and you limit yourself when you restrict the courses you take in your first and second years, only to have more restrictions placed on class selection in your third and fourth.
As students at the University, the opportunity with which we are all blessed is quite remarkable. Whether you take a history course on an interesting time period, learn to play a new instrument or speak a third language, you must seize this opportunity. Sacrificing this unique chance to take courses we may never have time for again seems like an exorbitantly high opportunity cost, and it certainly isn't one that I'd be quick to bear.
Now, I don't necessarily want to beat the McIntire School to the ground. In fact, I do think it's a great asset to the University. It provides the school with a tremendous amount of funds through its alumni.
Moreover, its career placement endeavors expose not only commerce students, but also free-riding econ majors, to internships and interviews with some of the most renowned financial institutions on Wall Street.
But what ever happened to Mr. Jefferson's notion of a liberal arts education - the same notion upon which the first few bricks of the Rotunda and Old Cabell Hall were set? Programs like the McIntire School are completely antithetical to this educational ideal, and in the end, they do more to stifle those who come through than they do to help.
A curriculum like that of our undergraduate business school provides no future advantages - a major in economics will help you just as well to secure that fresh-out-of-school Wall Street job. In fact, limiting yourself while an undergraduate can only hurt, and the scenarios for this are endless.
Imagine you and the president of a company you are about to buy out are playing 18 holes at the local country club, trying to settle the deal. If and when he springs the small talk about one of his passions, say the history of Tudor England, or attempts to discuss one of his favorite authors, what happens if you can't respond?
Do me a favor: Tell him that in your four years of college you didn't read a single book. I'm sure he'll understand. And I'm sure you'll be kissing that deal goodbye.
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