According to “Business Insider,” corporate recruiters value the breadth of knowledge regarding strategy and long-term outcomes that MBAs bring to companies. Graduates of MBA programs tend to have stronger leadership and interpersonal skills and are big-picture thinkers. As The Chicago Tribune notes, the biggest value students receive from their MBAs is often their networks. Students who go to top-ranked schools tend to be better connected, which make both academic performance and leadership activities and experience more important than whether a student obtains a BBA, B.A. or B.S.
In the United States, a student can pursue either a B.S. in business administration or a B.A. in business administration. While both degrees typically require 120 to 180 credit hours to graduate, B.S. students are required to take at least 50 hours within their major, with 20 hours in advanced level courses, while B.A. students are required to take only 35 hours in their major and must take more general education courses, including foreign language or fine arts courses. The B.S. gives students more advanced knowledge of their major subject, but the B.A. gives students a greater breadth of knowledge and better accommodates a double major. Given the increasingly global nature of many corporations, the foreign language requirement is also an asset.
Canadians use the acronym “BBA” to refer to a Bachelor of Business Administration rather than a Business Bachelor of Arts. In Canada, a BBA actually requires fewer credit hours in general education than a B.S. degree, and the BBA is recommended for students who have already begun working and want to build on previous professional experience. BBA degrees provide a speedier transition to the MBA.
Students don’t need bachelor degrees in business to gain admission to top MBA programs, though it is common for MBAs to have degrees in the math-related specialties of business, such as finance, accounting and economics. Some MBA candidates have degrees in fine arts or the humanities, but all must have basic facility with calculus, economics and statistics. According to Peterson’s, the best schools -- with the best networks -- want to see students who have shown an ability to lead, excel and solve problems regardless of what field they studied. Exceptional extracurricular and professional experiences are essential. Still, since globalization and technology are the two forces driving the world economy currently, B.A. or B.S. degrees in foreign languages, computer science or engineering may bring added value to an MBA candidate.