Need Help - College Degree Question

[ohio1960]

Really need some help. My daughter is currently at Duke. Went there with the desire to go pre-med and has now decided (Sophomore Year) she wants to get a degree in Business (Finance/Accounting). Problem is Duke does not offer a business undergrad program. She plans on also going to graduate school. Big question is does a degree from Duke (Sociology) carry more weight than a degree from University of Georgia's Terry College of Business? Everyone is telling me the Duke degree will carry more weight, regardless if it is not a business degree.

[blastus]

The best advice would be to see a career counselor from both institutions.

[Northsider]

My opinion is that a degree is a degree. It only matters that you have one. I majored in Soc in undergrad and then went on to something different. I guess if it's a particularly hard school to get into for business it may matter...in which case blastus is correct that a career advisor would be the best source

[kevdog]

You can go to business school with any type of degree. Likely she is going to work someplace for a while after graduating and then go to business school down the line (like 3-4 years). Both good grades, a respectable college institution, and recommendations from her employer will help. Heck I even know students who went to medical school and then later went to graduate school --- totally different fields.

On a personal note -- Duke rocks! I could fill you in on a little bit more details if you want.

[Sef]

If she stays at Duke, I would recommend that she takes some business classes. That will help her to get a job in the business world.

[Saint Angeles]

just go to music school and be a rockstar!

LIVE YOUR DREAMS! WOOT!

[mips]

Really need some help. My daughter is currently at Duke. Went there with the desire to go pre-med and has now decided (Sophomore Year) she wants to get a degree in Business (Finance/Accounting). Problem is Duke does not offer a business undergrad program. She plans on also going to graduate school. Big question is does a degree from Duke (Sociology) carry more weight than a degree from University of Georgia's Terry College of Business? Everyone is telling me the Duke degree will carry more weight, regardless if it is not a business degree.


Can someone please explain this to us non USA people.

What is graduate school and why do you go there after you get a degree?

I mean I hear people say they got a degree and then they went to law school?
What exactly is this degree?
How long does it take do do?
How long does law school take?

This is all very confusing to me and I'm trying to understand what's going on.

Over here you typically go to school for 12 years. After school you can go to university and get a degree in various fields.
BSc - 3yrs (Science degree)
B.Eng - 4yrs (Engineering degree)
LLB - 4yrs (Law degree)
BCom - 3yrs (Commerce/Finance degree)

After the above degrees you can obtain an Honours degree, Masters degree, Doctorate degree, in this order, if you want continue furhter studies. So in total those that go to university would have about 15-16 years of education or what we refer to as M+3 or M+4 where the M refers to your grade 12 school education + additional education, university.

[fballem]

Can someone please explain this to us non USA people.

What is graduate school and why do you go there after you get a degree?
See Below

I mean I hear people say they got a degree and then they went to law school? In North America, to get a Law Degree, you normally need an Undergraduate Degree (Bachelor degree) of some sort.
What exactly is this degree? Bachelor = BA, BSc, etc.
How long does it take do do? 3 - 4 years. Usually to go to Graduate school, the 4 year degree is required.
How long does law school take?Depends, but I think two years of Law School + 1 year of articling, in addition to the Undergraduate degree (see above). It varies from State-to-State (US) or Province-to-Province (Canada)

This is all very confusing to me and I'm trying to understand what's going on.

Over here you typically go to school for 12 years. After school you can go to university and get a degree in various fields.The University, as you describe it, sounds like an Undergraduate degree
BSc - 3yrs (Science degree)
B.Eng - 4yrs (Engineering degree)
LLB - 4yrs (Law degree)
BCom - 3yrs (Commerce/Finance degree)

After the above degrees you can obtain an Honours degree This is usually part of the Undergraduate degree and takes a year longer than an undergraduate degree without Honours, Masters degree, Doctorate degree, These are post-Graduate degrees, which is done through Post-Graduate school.in this order, if you want continue furhter studies. So in total those that go to university would have about 15-16 years of education or what we refer to as M+3 or M+4 where the M refers to your grade 12 school education + additional education, university.

Hope this helps

[skintythe1andonly]

As far as I understand it, getting a degree in the US is like getting an Bachelor of Arts in most of Europe. I'm Irish and the similarities between the US system and the arts course in my university is very similar in the way you have a choice of a lot of subjects but eventually you choose a major and a minor. In every other course you choose your subject first (I choose to study Physics), and you spend 4 years at it until you have your BSc degree.

You could argue that the US system gives you a more grounded base, meanwhile Ive also heard the argument that its also a waste of time if you already know if you want to do. Thats a different arguement though

[Crusty Juggler]

I did my undergrad degree in the US and did honours and am currently doing my PhD (Doctorate) in Australia, which follows the British education system.

In the US, school, including high school, is 12 years and then uni is 4 years. From there grad school is comprised of either a 3-4 year (I think) masters degree or an approximately 6 year PhD.

In Australia, which I assume is similar to SA, there is a generally 3 but sometimes 4 year uni degree followed by a 1 year honours and then varying levels of post grad work including grad certificate (approximately 1 semester), grad diploma (about 1 year), masters (2 years) and doctorate (3-4 years).

[mips]

Thanks, things are beginning to make more sense now.

Why is it that it takes so long to accomplish the same thing in the USA. It seems like you first do some general degree before specialising if I can put it that way. You can have a degree in say Soc etc and then go and study law even though the two fields are not really related. For someone like me that studied engineering I would be able to go and study law afterwards. Over here I can't jump from say an engineering degree to say a science or IT degree, you have to start at the bottom again as things a specialised from day one.

I still scratch my head at this a bit. More comment and enlightenment is appreciated ;)

[Northsider]

Why is it that it takes so long to accomplish the same thing in the USA. It seems like you first do some general degree before specialising if I can put it that way.

Yea, you could put it that way. The US is slightly twisted in this regard. You can also get an Associates degree from a 2-year college. I really don't know what the purpose of it is though, as it's practically as useless as a high school diploma. The norm is getting a 4-year degree. Some people go on afterward for further schooling (graduate school), usually 2-4 more years. This can include a Masters degree, Medical school, Law School, etc. After you get a Master's degree you go back again for 3-4 years to get a Doctorate (PhD). So you could very well spend 12 years in a university after high school.

[Paul41]

I would advise her to transfer to Carolina!

Sorry I know most of you won't get this but I'm from North Carolina and couldn't pass this one up.

[kevdog]

I would advise her to transfer to Carolina!

Sorry I know most of you won't get this but I'm from North Carolina and couldn't pass this one up.

Hmm a tarhole responding in this thread -- I thought they were not welcome!

[Paul41]

Hmm a tarhole responding in this thread -- I thought they were not welcome!

I see you are in Denver now...I don't blame you, I wouldn't stay in NC and admit to being a Dookie either.

On the subject of the original post, I wouldn't worry about it especially if she is planning on going to grad school. I have a friend that was a English major in undergrad and she is a doctor now. My degree is in biology and I work with computers now. In the end I think most employers look more just to see if you have a degree and not as much as to what it is in or where you got it from.

[S0VERE1GN]

I would reccommend the transfer. although Duke is a good school, going to grad for an MBA will be more difficult with a degree in sociology. as long as her grades are good it shouldn't matter what school just what her degree is in.

[mips]

Yea, you could put it that way. The US is slightly twisted in this regard. You can also get an Associates degree from a 2-year college. I really don't know what the purpose of it is though, as it's practically as useless as a high school diploma. The norm is getting a 4-year degree. Some people go on afterward for further schooling (graduate school), usually 2-4 more years. This can include a Masters degree, Medical school, Law School, etc. After you get a Master's degree you go back again for 3-4 years to get a Doctorate (PhD). So you could very well spend 12 years in a university after high school.

I think that if I lived in the USA and just finished school I would go overseas and get my degree there. It would be cheaper & it would be much quicker and it will be recognised (except maybe for the legal profession) back home.

[Paul41]

I think that if I lived in the USA and just finished school I would go overseas and get my degree there. It would be cheaper & it would be much quicker and it will be recognised (except maybe for the legal profession) back home.

I have no idea how schools work over there but would it really be cheaper? Duke is a little different because it is a private school and VERY expensive anyway, but with state supported schools here...if you are from one state and go to school in another state you pay out of state tuition which is a lot more than the regular tuition. Would it not be the same if someone from the USA came over there for school since we wouldn't have been paying the taxes to support the school?

[chucky chuckaluck]

if she wants to go to graduate school for an mba, why isn't she majoring in economics? to be blunt, it sounds like she isn't all that certain what she really wants to do. had she originally thought of going to school for something impractical, like music, or art?

[Pogeymanz]

I would advise you to certainly see a graduate adviser. Every area of study is different.

For Law School, it doesn't matter what your undergrad major was. Same for Med School. However, in Physics (my field) it would be VERY difficult to get into a graduate program without a B.S. in Physics (even a B.A. isn't enough).

So, while a degree from Duke may look more impressive by itself, if she doesn't have the right requirements for a graduate program, it wont matter.

EDIT:

By looking at UGA's business school's site and UF's site (my school), for comparison, it seems that if you want an MBA, it doesn't matter what your major was.

"
Applicants must have an acceptable four-year U.S. bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, or a four-year international equivalent. In reviewing the academic record, the Admissions Committee considers the caliber of the institution attended, rigor of the curriculum, performance in quantitative courses and record of scholastic achievement. Official scores within the last five years from the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) provide another important indicator of the candidate's ability to succeed academically. In recent years, admitted Traditional students have averaged around a 3.3 GPA and 655 GMAT. Applicants who are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) should aim for a score of 600 or better on the written version of the test or a score of 250 or better on the new electronic format. "

This is from Florida's site, but it seems about the same as Georgia's.

On the other hand, if you want to do a Masters of Accounting, it requires you to do accounting as an undergrad.

"Students without a undergraduate degree in accounting must have, at a minimum, completed the equivalent of ACG 3481, ACG 3482C, ACG4133C, and ACG4352C to be considered for admission. (if admitted, the student will still have to satisfy all unmet preparatory course requirements listed on page 47 prior to earning the M.Acc. degree)."

Again from UF's site. I'm only copying from them because it's easier to copy/paste nice paragraphs.

So, if your daughter wants an MBA, I would stay at Duke, but make sure that she knows to take at least up to Calculus 1 and Statistics (She probably already took one or both in highschool if she got into Duke). Both of these graduate schools look for your performance in quantitative courses.

Make sure she studies early for the GMAT too, so she can get an awesome score as that seems to be the main thing these schools look at.

[Bölvaður]

if in doubt, send her to oxford.

[mips]

I have no idea how schools work over there but would it really be cheaper? Duke is a little different because it is a private school and VERY expensive anyway, but with state supported schools here...if you are from one state and go to school in another state you pay out of state tuition which is a lot more than the regular tuition. Would it not be the same if someone from the USA came over there for school since we wouldn't have been paying the taxes to support the school?

I not sure about SA itself but I'm sure there are places where you would pay the same as locals, some places might even be free.
Also keep in mind the duration is shorter so the cost per year could be higher but in the long run you will gain.