What business courses have you taken?

[Yankees338]

Simple question. What courses have you taken? I don't care where they were -- high school, college, seminars, workshops.

What was the course about?

Did you find it useful?

Was it an interesting course?

What was your purpose for taking this course?

What were your feelings after taking this course?

Is this something you plan to outsource in the future?

What kind of learning was done (textbook, group work, projects, etc...)?
_______________________________________________________________

Post as much information as you'd like. I'm just interested in hearing about what kinds of courses are out there, and what people think of them.

So far, I've taken Intro to Business, Entrepreneurship, AP Economics, and, currently, Business Law. These were all high school courses.

Intro to Business was probably the most useful to the majority of the world and was something that I think every high school student should be required to take, but it really didn't provide much in the area of what would help you start a business.

Entrepreneurship provided a little more specific small business owner information, but it was still very basic. A lot of fun group work, though.

I took AP Economics last year. It was the first AP class I had ever taken (and my last), but I did pretty well in it. It was split up into micro- and macro-economics. I did much better during the macro half of the year, but that might've just been because I was more used to the class and its expectations at that point. Regardless, it was a very interesting class. I learned a very good amount from it, particularly on the macro side of things. It makes the news much more interesting because now I have a better understanding of what is going on. I'd recommend taking an economics course to anybody who hasn't done so.

Feel free to post even if it's been years since you took any type of course. It'd be interesting to see how courses have changed over the years.

 

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[20art]

are u done with high school?

 

[Andrew]

Business Law and Accounting are good classes to take and very appropriate for the classroom.

The other stuff you are better off figuring out for yourself.

 

[Yankees338]

are u done with high school?

I'm a senior in high school.

 

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[australianinvestor]

I've done most stuff from high school small business classes to postgraduate classes (MBA). Too much to list here. They provided me with the lots of in-depth knowledge about most areas of business. I'm qualified to be in middle and senior management roles in large companies.

Most of this was taken after I had a good deal of real-world business experience.

Most classes were interesting and gave me a great set of skills. Even if I never need the specific knowledge a certain class gave me, I know what I am talking about and can competently manage others who are doing that job (e.g.: outsourcing).

If anyone has questions, I'm happy to answer them.

 

[randallg99]

before switching my major in college, I spent a lot of time in economics (micro, macro, int'l), stats, finance, management, marketing, labor law and 3 semesters of Business Law.... and probably a few others I can't remember... it's been a while

if you're pursuing any business major, all of the econ classes are probably requisites.... and I have to tell you that I found Business Law very, very interesting. I don't use very many of the applications quite frankly but understanding how and why many of the laws were created actually helps me on a personal and intellectual level when faced with different challenges...

 

[djs13]

I'm currently taking economics which is a half year course and last year I took a full year course called "Business Ownership and Entrepreneurship." It was definitely more along the lines of starting a mom and pop type small business store. I didn't really enjoy it and I found it was mostly vocabulary.

I bet college is a different scenario, but as far as high school it's pretty much impossible to find a teacher who would know how to teach these types of things. In New York, teachers need to have a masters in education plus the other requirements needed to teach a specific subject. I doubt any successful entrepreneur would go back to school for four years to give back to the community where they could easily just sign up for a class or two at a local college.

I enjoy economics much more but it is also much more difficult.

 

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[cmartin371]

My degree is in Business Studies with a concentration in Accounting. I also have a minor in Finance. This allowed me to take a wide variety of business courses which is what i would recommend. But Accounting and Finance are key as you will learn to read the financial health of company through its numbers. And if you grasp the theory behind it, you can usually tell when something smells funny on the books.

Accounting was more focused on GAAP theory and the numbers. Finance I felt gave a much broader picture of what could and could not be done with the numbers produced. I enjoyed Finance much more.

Even if you don't work in "Accounting/Finance" you will run into it at some point. And it is the backbone of any business.


Chris

 

[PEERless]

With my BA in international business from Whitworth, I took more business classes than I can remember. The ones I remember liking particularly well were business law and entrepreneurial development.

Business law has helped me immensely and my cursory understanding of the legal system has kept me and my LLC out of trouble.

Entrepreneurial development helped me a lot with my mindset and specifically with crafting an effective business plan.

 

[Woody]

Nice lists there everyone.

My highschool does not have very many business classes. But i have taken Business Mgt. Business Law, and Web Development (not really centered around online business, but a good section consisted of this). Next semester i will be taking Economics 1010 and Accounting 1010. We get both highschool and college credit by taking this class.

I hope to go to byu and get a BA in business management, minoring in either computer technology or entrepreneur ship. And then go to Thunderbird for a masters in International Business. I know many feel that this is a waste of time, but my personal business will be running the entire time!

Thanks yankees, good thread.

Woody

 

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[fordd6]

I'm a sophomore in college. I've taken Introduction into Management, Business Law, and Accounting.

 

[aegis]

I'm currently pursuing a BS in Business Admin online from a state school. Very reasonable tuition and I was able to test out of several lower division credits by taking CLEP and DSST exams. I saved myself about $7k by doing this.

I plan to pursue a Master of Accountancy after graduating.

 

[hatterasguy]

IMHO acounting was the most valuable. International accounting with the IFRS book was pretty dry but interesting.

I always found business law clases to be the most interesting, more so as you get higher on and your fellow students are there because they have a brain and want to be. We had some good discussions.

 

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[White8]

As others have said, business law and accounting are both good. I've found that the classes that are worth the time and don't fill my mind with information that evaporates soon after the class is finished are the classes taught by real, no bs experts in their fields (not the "guru" type) In college I was fortunate to have a marketing professor with PHDs in marketing and psychology who worked with a group that started larger scale businesses such as the Figaro's Pizza franchise chain. Each term he would teach 1 class as a way to give back. All of his assignments were scenario based requiring creative thinking including such seemingly simple things as a business name.

 

[Yankees338]

I just signed up for my classes for my freshman year at the University of Maryland (I'll be starting in the fall), and my first two business classes that I'll be taking are Introduction to Business and Management and Business Statistics. The rest of my classes are to fulfill my core requirements at the university.

 

[hatterasguy]

Yeah thats true.

Some of the best professors I have had, do what they teach.
The Rand Corporation, poli sci. That was a good class.
I have had one professor who owns a consulting company, and did work for companies like JP Morgan before they got into trouble.
My real estate law professor, was a practicing RE attorney of 30 years.
My IFRS accounting professor was an accountant and self made millionare. He goes to almost all the IFRS confrences around the world.
My favorite did just about everything, he is a retired USAF Colonel.


The worst had degree lists a mile long but now real world experiance. They tried hard and new a lot, but lacked the experiance to make the book knowledge usefull.

 

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[Salinger]

BSBA, Small Business Management
MBA, Real Estate and Construction Management

My most valuable courses were:

• Real Estate Finance
• Business Law
• Negotiation (I'm not sure of the course title, but we explored a lot of negotiation techniques)
• Finance

Runners Up:

• Statistics
• Economics
• Accounting

The CCIM classes are also excellent if you are planning to get into commercial real estate investments. ccim

If I had it to do over, I'd add a JD (Law degree) and/or more technology/computer classes.

By the way, you can learn a lot of this on your own, through books, experience, etc. Classes are an efficient way to do it, but not necessarily better.

 

[hatterasguy]

One of these days when I finish paying off regular school I'll probably take some of those CCIM classes. They are pricey!