Archive for September 2011
Best Undergraduate Business Schools
The best undergraduate business schools are mostly found in business schools that offer the top-rated graduate schools. They are mostly found here in the United States, although Ecole in France claims to be the first.
Enrolling yourself in an undergraduate business school does have some advantages compared to beginning at the graduate-level. You will have no trouble adjusting once you decide to take graduate courses. Most employers are looking for applicants who have already taken a business course and do not so much hire those who are simply poised to take it. You may also look at it as an investment, since most of the courses taught in graduate and the undergraduate levels are the same. Starting early in your career–even from your from high school if possible–can be an advantage, too.
To find the best undergraduate school, you have to consider the long-term course you will follow, since most business schools have their centers for excellence or focus on a specific field like Economics or Business Management. Check out their campus profiles; state colleges also offer good business courses.
The skills you learn at the undergraduate level are very tedious, and you might have to yourself prepare to get the hang of it. Your learning will be tested in what they call “Feasibility Studies” in which you will put to application the theories and concepts you have learned. Most of the rising entrepreneurs got their big breaks from these feasibility studies, and they have not yet graduated from college.
The best business schools in the country have tuition fees that can make you bankrupt, so you should be careful about deciding to begin early in your career. If financing is the least of your problems, try your luck at Wharton or Harvard. These two schools have a good reputation not only in the United States but all over the world. Multi-billion-dollar companies hunt for graduates of these schools to run their operations.
The important thing you learn in the undergraduate business school is focus. You don’t really need to enroll in the best school to learn that, but truth is, the school under your belt can spell your destiny.
Business School in a Box – 5 Alternatives to B-School
The allure of attending a top business school is powerful: it can be a powerful way to jumpstart a new career or revive the financial prospects of a mid-career businessperson. However, given the expense and two-year time commitment of business school, many people choose to bolster their business skills in other ways.
Here are 5 ways to bolster your business skills without attending business school.
1. Subscribe to a business book summary service: The benefits of attending business school can be distilled into two categories: prestige (i.e., letting others know you have an MBA) and knowledge (i.e., actually learning something useful). As a substitute for the latter category, consider subscribing to any of a number of business book summary services. These services allow you to download (in written or audio form) summaries of the top-selling business books: you get only the most useful information, and it costs only a fraction of buying the books themselves.
2. Join a national business association: There are a host of business associations in existence today. Try joining a local chapter near you and then volunteering for an extended role such as being an officer or part-time staff member. The network of contacts you stand to gain through this type of association can rival that of what you will gain in business school.
3. Enroll in company training program: If you work at a company, your boss will appreciate the initiative you show by enrolling in an internal training program or by petitioning to get reimbursed for an external program. This can be a great option for increasing your skill set because you can become more knowledgeable about a specific area that is directly relevant to what you do at work.
4. Consider an executive MBA course: If you want the prestige of an MBA but cannot afford to quit your job for two years in order to attend, consider applying for one of the many available executive MBA programs. These programs usually take three years to complete, but they offer you the advantage of only having to attend on certain evenings and weekends – thereby allowing you to keep your day job.
5. Subscribe to a business publication No business education is complete without staying up-to-date on the latest happenings in your industry: regionally and globally. A great way to do this is by subscribing to a first-rate business magazine or newspaper. A subscription like this is an investment in your skill set that will start yielding immediate returns.
Investing in yourself is one of the wisest ways to get ahead in business. For those who believe business school is not the right option at present, it can mean good dollars and sense to put the necessary money and effort into bettering yourself by bolstering your business skill set.
Business Schools – The Top 5 Business Administration Universities
Business Administration is a very popular major for undergraduate students and graduate students alike. Because of the various specializations that one can study within that major, the degree has many uses upon graduation, and opportunities are numerous. Business Administration degrees can be earned online and in a traditional classroom setting and can be found in all degree levels. If you have ever considered earning a BA degree you want to make sure you are getting a top-notch education from a fantastic school. Here are the top 5 schools that offer undergraduate BA degrees according to US News & World Report.
1. University of Pennsylvania
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3. University of California – Berkeley
4. University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
5. New York University & University of Virginia (tied for 5th)
If you are seeking a graduate Business Administration Degree, like a MBA or DBA, here are the top 5 schools for those programs:
1. Harvard University & Stanford University (tied for first)
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3. Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Business)
4. University of Chicago (Booth campus)
Many of these schools offer traditional on-campus degree programs for their masters degree programs however some of the top 5 undergraduate programs may offer online programs for their degrees.
A business degree can find you work in small and large companies and even prepare you for starting your own business. If you had a concentration in accounting or marketing, you can also find a career within those fields without that having been your actual major but more of a focus within the business administration. It’s because of the structure of the business administration degree program that shows how versatile the degree can be and why so many people choose to major in business administration.