Major Mondays: Business Emphases
The Emphases in the Marshall School of Business are nine specializations that enhance a student’s approach and preparation for business professions. Through student feedback, Marshall introduced the nine Emphases in fall 2021 to allow students the chance to add a focus of academic study within their major. Through a student’s declared Emphasis, they will have the ability to participate in research, internships, and study abroad opportunities related to their specialization.
Declaring an Emphasis adds a unique value to a student’s academic studies, including how to grow their ideas into outcomes. The nine Emphases are:
Business Analytics: “…teaches students analytical and hands-on skills to aid data-driven decision making, execution, and evaluation.”
Communication: “…provides students with the skills deemed most desirable by employers across all industries and fields to drive individual success as an employee, colleague, and workplace leader.”
Entrepreneurship and Innovation: “…provides students the skills, tools, and mindset to create new products, new services, new ventures, and new worlds as they meet the needs of customers and help solve the thorny problems we face as an economy and a society.”
Finance: “…provides specialized skill sets for students wishing to work in the finance industry, preparing them for complex tasks involving finance, economics, and advanced computer modeling.”
International Relations: “…delivers business acumen with the perspective of diplomatic engagement.”
Leadership and Innovation: “…teaches students to lead and innovate, identify and solve critical problems, and build a sustainable competitive advantage.”
Marketing: “…provides students with creative and analytical skills for effective marketing strategy, execution, and evaluation across industries.”
Real Estate Finance: “…provides specialized skill sets for students wishing to work in real estate finance and development, preparing them for specific complexities of real estate finance, economics, and state-of-the-art computing modeling.”
Risk Management: “…enables students to manage the risks of an increasingly complex and interconnected business environment.”
For students who may not know which Emphases they want to declare, there are options to help guide them. Students are encouraged to join Marshall Recognized Student Organizations to help gain hands-on experience. Recommendations of which organizations align with each Emphases can be found on the Emphases links above. Also, students are welcome to talk with professors of specific courses to help them find an Emphasis that would be a good fit. Each Emphases has a list of courses, found on the Emphases links above. Lastly, students can set up an advising appointment with the Marshall Undergraduate Career Services Office to receive guidance toward internships and the Emphasis that may align with their career interests.
Before declaring an Emphasis, Marshall students need to reach sophomore standing (32 units completed), completed one semester in residence at USC, and completed the gateway course. Gateway courses are specific for each emphasis, for instance, if a student wanted to do an emphasis in Marketing, they would need to take the BAUD 307 Marketing Fundamentals course first before declaring their emphasis. Students will work with an advisor to complete specific gateway courses. Students need a minimum 2.0 overall cumulative GPA and 2.0 GPA in upper-division courses applied to their major to declare an Emphasis. Students will work with their advisors in Marshall to declare a single Emphasis. Students are not required to add an Emphasis and can work with their advisors if they decide to no longer pursue the declared Emphasis or if they want to change Emphases, which can be done all the way up to the second semester of their senior year.
Student Perspective:
In reflecting on his major choice, Lorenzo Aguirre (Class of 2024) says that “I chose my emphasis in Real Estate Finance my freshman year after joining the Marshall Real Estate Finance Association (MREFA). Going into USC, I thought I wanted to be a Finance major; however, through my involvement in MREFA I was exposed to commercial real estate (CRE) and its multiple career paths such as brokerage, acquisitions, and lending.
“I found this industry particularly interesting because I could combine my interest in finance with my goal of having an impactful career. Real estate allows me to invest in local economies and physically improve the built environment while also working through the same intellectual challenges faced in a typical finance-focused, investment role. Declaring an emphasis in Real Estate Finance allows me to take upper division classes such as real estate law, real estate capital markets, and real estate finance and investments.
“Classes like this help prepare you for the skills needed in your day-to-day role. You also take these classes with other like-minded peers aiming to break into the CRE industry which allows you to further build your network. Electing my emphasis in real estate finance enhanced my experience by identifying myself with a career path and differentiated myself from the general business administration major.”
Written by: Jennifer Price, Assistant Director – USC Office of Admission