Can I study anything during my undergrad and still go on to get my MBA, or do I have to study business as an undergraduate student?

Hi Kingsley, yes, it's possible! I received my undergrad degree in English and then went on to get my MBA. I found my degree in English helped me with writing, strategic thinking, and public speaking (among other skills). But I decided to start my MBA after 6 years in the workforce because I wanted to gain business skills and round out my competencies. I'm so glad I went to business school - I find that what I learned in business school helps me tremendously in my job now. If history is what you enjoy, then go ahead and study that in undergrad. I think it's fantastic that you're already thinking about grad school, and how both your undergrad degree and an MBA can help you down the road.

In my own personal experience, you do not have to have a undergrad degree in business in order to pursue an MBA. I earned a degree in Kinesiology at San Diego State before starting a career in the financial services industry. After a few years into my career, I wanted a stronger business and financial background that would allow me to further my career development so I decided to pursue my MBA. While having the business degree would have made the transition to the coursework in my MBA a little easier, I believe most MBA programs are looking for people with diverse backgrounds and real world experience. Good luck!

Yes, you definitely can and many MBA students did not study business as an undergrad. I have a B.A. in Economics. However, I do want to point out, that my friends who studied business as undergraduates, had an easier time finding a job after graduation and also were able to put off graduate school. Some have done fine without the MBA and some did not feel the need to pursue it for many years. Although, there is the opinion that a liberal arts education has a lot of benefits too!

Yes. In my experience, MBA programs welcome different background student. But it also depends on what you mean by "anything".

Hi Kingsley,

The biggest major in my MBA class was engineering. One classmate, who was a former opera singer, went on to sell securities for a very well-known investment bank. So your college major is not the decisive factor. It's probably more useful to choose a major where you can get to know your professors (they often are good sources of recommendations) and distinguish yourself. Leadership in extracurriculars is also good.

Many professionals in investment management are foregoing an MBA in favor of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, which is earned through successful completion of 3 rigorous exams. Clients often like to see that their investment managers have shown the commitment to going through such a demanding program. And you can continue to work while pursuing the charter.

Good luck.

Steve

Hi Kingsley! This is totally possible. I am a recent MBA graduate and I can tell you I've seen people from very different backgrounds in my class. What Business schools value is how you can add diversity to the class and having a history major will definitely contribute to the class in different ways!

However, you should know the MBA program is very intense in terms of quantitative and analytical skills. So even though a liberal arts major is totally welcome, you may want to consider taking some quant classes and achieving a strong GMAT score in the quant area, to show that you are capable of handling clases such as Accounting, Finance, Statistics, among others!
hope this helps!

It's great that you're considering an MBA! I have a BA in Economics and after 2 years in investment banking went on to get an MBA. There was a wide variety of professional and educational backgrounds in my MBA class as well as varied experience levels, I believe the average was around 5 years of experience but many were right out of undergrad as well. A good MBA program will definitely be seeking diverse candidates in order to enrich the student experience. An MBA is also great to get to help launch a career switch if you've been in a particular field for a few years and you're looking to change. Some programs have a built a reputation around certain focus areas e.g. Technology or Entrepreneurship, so definitely do a lot of research to see what programs will be a good fit for your skills and interests. Good luck!

You can certainly study another area in undergrad and then later go on to get your MBA. The MBA works differently than many other graduate degrees in that the vast majority of students do not start right after undergrad. Most MBA candidates have work experience between undergrad and the time they apply for the MBA, usually about 4-6 years I believe. The programs look to accept candidates with different backgrounds so they accept many that did not study business. I would suggest looking at the class profiles of some different MBA programs which would give you a sense of the students who enroll. This is an example:
http://www.stern.nyu.edu/programs-admissions/full-time-mba/students/class-profile