Best Undergraduate Business Schools
For Finance, Accounting, Investment Banking (Wall Street), Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Consulting
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Undergrad is a time to get an introduction to post-secondary advanced education in a broad field of study. Armed with the basics, it then allows you to venture into the finer specializations, thus focusing your interests while increasing your depth of knowledge.
In the pure academic fields, undergraduate study serves as a stepping stone towards higher knowledge through Master’s and Doctorate degrees. With professional fields like Business, Engineering, however, undergraduate degrees can also be the ticket to an entry into the professional world.
Which is why a lot of students interested in beginning their professional career, early, choose such professional degrees. It not only gives them rigorous training for their future job, in an academic environment, but also serves them up with the credentials for reliability.
It is this reliability, in their skills, that is predominantly associated with the institution that provides them with the training. Business & Management, and its related specializations also have a similar perception, among employers and beyond.
However, it is improper to assume that the best training in Business is only accessed by the students belonging to the famous brands such as Harvard and its other Ivy League brethren.
Many lesser known business schools often have equal, if not better, curriculum designed for training these future managers and business professionals. Read Best Business Schools in the world for Undergraduates
But business studies comprise many different specializations – Finance, Marketing, Consulting, Entrepreneurship, etc. While most schools, that excel in one, often excel in all the other specializations.
However, sometimes certain designs in curriculum or resources afforded to the students can put one specialization at an edge over the others.
In this article, we will list out the best business schools, or departments, that excel in the major specializations that fall under the broad business hat – namely, Finance, Accounting, Investment Banking, Marketing, Consulting, Entrepreneurship, etc. based on rankings from US News & World Report and other sources.
Best Undergraduate Business School in Finance
Surpassing the usual suspects like Harvard and Stanford, Pennsylvania’s Wharton tops the list for the best undergraduate program in Finance.
It covers a wide variety of Finance topics from Corporate Finance, Real Estate Finance, Investment Management, Financial Derivatives, and many more, addressing the need to have a wholesome training and being prepared for the ever changing financial field.
The content often covers advanced topics and students get to do an independent project with MBA faculty members, thus expanding their expertise. Indiana University’s Bachelor of Science in Business with a Finance major offers a wide variety of areas of study.
Its program partner is the CFA Institute which opens up the path to becoming a CFA charterholder while studying at Kelley.
Most of the programs listed focus on developing all round quantitative and analytical skills, for both business and academic pursuits.
| School | Rank – US News & World Report |
|---|---|
| University of Pennsylvania – Wharton | #1 |
| New York University – Stern | #2 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Sloan | #3 |
| University of Michigan, Ann Arbor – Ross | #4 |
| University of Texas Austin – McComb’s | #5 |
| University of California at Berkeley | #6 |
| Indiana University Bloomington – Kelley | #7 |
| Carnegie Mellon University – Tepper | #8 |
| Boston College – Carroll | #9 |
| University of Virginia | #10 |
Best Undergraduate Business School in Accounting
The schools, listed below, offer rigorous training in finance, with an emphasis in Accounting. For instance, UT Austin’s BBA with an Accounting concentration requires its students to take on additional credit hours of advanced accounting topics in Corporate or Financial Institutions tracks.
Topics include Financial Statement Analysis, Auditing and Control, Taxation, etc. Students can also avail the opportunity to get a Master in Professional Accounting (MPA) degree integrated with their BBA undergraduate degree.
Thus, the focus of these schools is to create well-trained accountants who can secure any entry-level job in a financial institution and grow in ranks within.
| School | Rank – US News & World Report |
|---|---|
| University of Texas Austin | #1 |
| Brigham Young University | #2 |
| University of Illinois Urbana Champaign | #2 |
| University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | #4 |
| University of Pennsylvania | #5 |
| Indiana University Bloomington | #6 |
| University of Notre Dame | #7 |
| University of Southern California | #7 |
| New York University | #9 |
| Ohio State University | #10 |
Best Undergraduate Business School for an Investment Banking Career
Investment Banks tend to prefer certain target schools to feed their employee requirements. Unlike popular assumption though, they don’t always turn to the Ivy Leagues for their “bestest”.
eFinancial Careers tabulated the following list by surveying the number of hires from various schools and positions they have been hired into, in Investment Banks.
Wall Street Oasis also compiled a report which listed out the top feeder schools for Bulge Bracket Investment Banks. Some of the common names include University of Pennsylvania, New York University, Harvard, Duke, etc.
The proximity of a lot of these schools to financial centres around the world is probably a factor in determining such a professional network. However, they also excel in other education resources that goes a long way in gaining recruiter faith.
| School | eFinancial Careers IB Target School Ranking |
Wall Street Oasis Report Top Ten Bulge Bracket Target Schools |
|---|---|---|
| London School of Economics | #1 | |
| Columbia University | #2 | #7 |
| University of Pennsylvania | #3 | #1 |
| New York University | #4 | #2 |
| University College London | #5 | |
| University of Chicago | #6 | #9 |
| University of Oxford | #7 | |
| University of California Berkeley | #8 | |
| Harvard University | #9 | #3 |
| University of Texas Austin | – | #6 |
| Yale University | #10 | |
| University of Cambridge | #11 | #4 |
| Cornell University | #12 | #5 |
| Imperial College London | #13 | |
| Stanford University | #14 | |
| Princeton University | #15 | |
| MIT | #16 | |
| University of Bristol | #17 | |
| Northwestern University | #18 | |
| Carnegie Mellon University | #19 | |
| University of Michigan | #20 | #9 |
| University of Warwick | #21 | |
| University of Virginia | #22 | |
| Duke University | #23 | #7 |
| University of Illinois Urbana Champaign | #24 | |
| Brown University | #25 |
Best Undergraduate Business School in Marketing
A good undergraduate business training in Marketing tends to encompass both the academic foundation of the subject which includes the economics of a market, the psychology of consumers, and the statistics of marketing trends, but also the practical end where students understand its ground reality.
Internships and real world projects, accompanied by corporate and global exposure, brings a wholesomeness to these “beginner’s” programs as so happens at UT Austin’s McComb’s.
These schools prepare students to understand the current and the ever changing environment that perpetually cloud the marketing world. US News & World Report brings us some of the best schools that take care of that marketing initiation.
| School | Rank – US News & World Report |
|---|---|
| University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | #1 |
| University of Pennsylvania | #2 |
| New York University | #3 |
| University of Texas Austin | #4 |
| University of North Carolina Chapel Hill | #5 |
| University of California at Berkeley | #6 |
| Indiana University Bloomington | #7 |
| University of Virginia | #8 |
| University of Wisconsin Madison | #9 |
| St. Joseph’s University | #10 |
Best Undergraduate Business School in Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship training needs three essential constituents – fundamental knowledge, right guidance, and connections, for startup success.
The schools below provide all of that backed by world class faculty with ample practical and research experience. A lot of these schools provide resources and specialized skills suited to establish and manage small businesses.
| School | Rank – US News & World Report |
|---|---|
| Babson College | #1 |
| MIT | #2 |
| Indiana University Bloomington | #3 |
| University of California at Berkeley | #4 |
| University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | #4 |
| University of North Carolina Chapel Hill | #4 |
| University of Pennsylvania | #7 |
| University of Texas Austin | #8 |
| University of Southern California | #9 |
| University of Arizona | #10 |
Best Undergraduate Business School in Consulting
Management Consulting programs prepare students with skills to understand and resolve problems related to any organization.
Good programs are able to equip students with such skills that they can use both within and outside a consultancy role.
For instance, NYU Stern’s Management Consulting Track helps students understand the best practices that can help resolve projects using their strategic, operational, industry and financial expertise.
| School | Rank – US News & World Report |
|---|---|
| University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | #1 |
| University of Pennsylvania | #2 |
| University of California at Berkeley | #3 |
| University of North Carolina Chapel Hill | #4 |
| University of Virginia | #5 |
| Indiana University Bloomington | #6 |
| MIT | #6 |
| New York University | #6 |
| University of Texas Austin | #9 |
| Arizona State University Tempe | #10 |
Research your options and choose what is best for you, where it is best for you. For college admissions consulting help, drop us a line at info[at]mbacrystalball[dot]com
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