Five Popular MBA Concentrations

If you’re interested in getting your Master of Business Administration (MBA) you’ll also need to pick a concentration for your studies. To help you along the path to B-school success, check out these five popular MBA concentrations.

1) Finance

According to Business Week, the top five best schools to study finance are the University of Chicago, Columbia University, Duke, Harvard, and the University of Michigan.

In a finance concentration you’ll learn about everything from stocks and bonds to venture capital, private equity and hedge funds. Learning the analytical and quantitative skills in a finance MBA can lead to careers in investment banking and corporate consulting.

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2) Management Consulting

During your management and consulting studies you’ll focus on classes like negotiations, operations management and leadership. Because organizations tend to value strong management, graduates can go many different places, from Fortune 500 companies to technology startups.

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3) Marketing

Interested in selling a product or highlighting a service?  By getting your concentration in marketing you can focus on strategy and market research in classes like accounting, statistics, product management, and promotion.

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4) Entrepreneurship

Thinking of starting your own business? Consider a concentration in entrepreneurship.

 During your entrepreneurship courses you could take classes like channel development and  new enterprises. You’ll also learn how to build prototypes and make business plans. With an MBA from a top school you could be a competitive candidate at a number  of companies, but your entrepreneur itch may lead you to start your own company and build it from the ground up.

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5) Business and Public Policy

Since the government regulates business, having a solid understanding of government regulations is extremely important to many companies; after all, mistakes at the national scale are costly.

As a business and public policy major you could focus on micro-finance, international development and later look for employment in nonprofits or public-sector companies.

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