Business Adminstration Degree or Marketing Degree?

[LOC4ME]

I have a friend who is beginning the process of completing her degree. She has no real business experience (she's a waitress). She does not know exactly what she wants to do with the degree, but does feel like she is interested in marketing.
Would it be better to get a business administration degree and maybe concentrate in markeitn or just get a marketing degree? Since she doesn't know exactly what she wants to do, would the marketing degree put her into a corner? Also, the school she is considering has much lower math requirements for the marketing degree than the BA degree. Which is great for her.
I hear people all the time say that the major doesn't really matter, just that you have a degree. Note that she does realize that she will probably not be the CEO of a fortune 500 company, but wants to get out of the restaurant business.
Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[ryoder]

I would recommend working toward a BSBA Gen Mgmt at TESC since she can test out of it. There are a few marketing courses she can take so she should take all of those as biz electives to keep her options open for the marketing concentration.
In the meantime, she should start learning marketing right away by getting an internship, building a website, starting a blog, or working as an entry level marketer.

[ShotoJuku]

Business Administration.

[MRHTOAD76]

+1 To the above two recommending Business Administration.

I'd agree that although she may not be cornered with a marketing degree it is a case of almost same effort and better outcomes. To me it is similar to the choice of getting a General Studies degree or any specialization. Any job that you could get with a gen degree will also take the specialization even if it isn't in that field. So you still possibly have more options one way than another. Case in point my wife is an English major, and has worked in IT and accounting fields the past 10 years. But I would agree any degree is better than none. My 2 cents ...more options with a Business Administration degree over a marketing degree.

[MN456]

Is it really the case that there are more options with a general management business degree over a marketing business degree? I always heard it was the other way around.

I'm actually in the same boat of deciding which to pursue, so I'm glad you made this thread LOC./

[Jonathan Whatley]

From a distance, Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing would seem ideal if it was available.

In a context closely related to marketing, she could sell the concentration in marketing (plus the major in business administration); in any other context, if she wanted to downplay marketing somehow, she could sell the major in business administration.

Now, a marketing major probably has a few more courses in marketing than a marketing concentration within BA. If she were strongly and specifically interested in marketing, if they gave marketable knowledge well beyond the concentration, work placement experience and contacts, etc., that's where you could find a case for the marketing major. Of course if she had elective space she might be able to take a BA with a marketing concentration and some extra marketing on top. Her school might allow a double major. If you convinced her to look at TESC for a second bachelor's, she could pick up their Undergraduate Certificate in Marketing on the way.

Now, you mentioned that the "much lower math requirements for the marketing degree than the BA degree" was an issue. Here's a thought: She might want to face that issue head-on, leave her choice of major open, and focus on taking a math course or two soon. It might not be that bad and it could fade entirely as a reason to prefer marketing! (If it actually were that bad, she could step back and go with marketing knowing she'd given it a try.) If she hasn't gotten up to precalculus and college statistics, she might want to try ALEKS for a low price per month, as a learning tool and a test-drive of the subjects even if she wasn't using its credit recommendations at her school.

[burbuja0512]

I agree with all of the above. Marketing is important, but Biz shows that you're a more serious student and more well-rounded. If she wants to pursue a marketing career, she can have a concentration (as mentioned) and/OR look for work in sales rather than a marketing internship. Sales is not as fun as Marketing, but the pay is a lot better and much easier to get hired into an entry level job. Once you've got a sales job at your dream company, you will work hand-in-hand with marketing and make valuable contacts. Not to mention really get to know the position. My guess is that if someone chooses the sales path first, they'll stay in sales if it suits their personalities because it generally pays more yet is still heavily involved in marketing.

Besides, being in sales myself, I would estimate that 80% of marketing people have no idea what actually happens in the sales process and don't hear nearly enough direct client feedback. A marketing exec with a sales background would have a huge advantage in making their marketing mix much more powerful and likely to increase results.