When applying to college, many universities ask applicants to answer one seemingly simple question: “What is your intended major?” With such a variety of subjects to choose from, this can seem rather daunting. Yet still, most applicants answer the same thing: business. Wake Forest sophomore, Kaveri Reddy, is no exception to this.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the number of students who received degrees in business increased by 39 percent from 2000 to 2011. Business seems to appeal overwhelmingly to college students everywhere, and Wake Forest students are no exception.
Farrell Hall is the grand home for the Wake Forest School of Business that attracts countless students to major in one of four concentrations: Business & Enterprise Management (BEM), Accountancy, Finance and Mathematical Business. Though the program has the reputation of being daunting due to the rigorous program requirements and expectations, it is one of the most popular majors at Wake.
Kaveri Reddy, 19, is just one of many bright students who await admission to the business school. Reddy is an intended Business & Enterprise Management major with a concentration in Marketing, hoping to double-minor in Entrepreneurship and Psychology.
Though Reddy has been studying for well-over a year the foundations of business, she says her decision to study business only began when applying to college. “All I knew before college is that I wanted to work with people, and business seemed like a good track to do that eventually.”
According to Reddy, the idea of business can seem rather dull, but to her it seemed to combine her interests of working with people and learning how people work.
“I have always liked learning how our minds work, and how people work in general. In business, particularly marketing, I will be working to figure out what consumers like and dislike to increase sales for a company. To me, it is a very personal and individualistic major.”
When asked why so many college students seem to be attracted to business programs, Reddy explains that it has to do with the fact that business programs are flexible and play on the strengths of so many different people.
“Business is more creative than people think. It is also different for everyone. Whether you are good at math, economics, writing or even if you are just a people-person, there is a place where you can shine in the business program.”
For the future, Reddy says she expects more challenges and rigorous work. And though her goal the long-run is to eventually run her own business, she says that “in the meantime, [she] is just excited about all the skills [she] has already learned.”