If you’re considering majoring in business, management, accounting, marketing, finance, entrepreneurship, or some variation on these, start early. The latest surveys conducted by BusinessWeek show that employers are increasingly recruiting from top undergraduate B-schools at a rate similar to that at graduate B-schools. This means more employment opportunities with top-tier employers, and higher job offers. In fact, the employers such as Microsoft and Raytheon report increasing the number of recruiting visits to top undergrad B-schools, and as much as a 60% increase in the number of undergraduate hires. And, if that’s not enough, the average starting salary for an undergraduate business major is up 49% to nearly $44,000 (though grads from top schools are getting about $50,000).

This turn of events appears to be due to the intense competition for talent, a big increase in the number of undergraduate business programs that have cropped up to meet this need, and the significant improvement in the quality of undergraduate business schools. All of this is good news for those of you planning to set the business world on fire.

On the other hand, competition to get into undergraduate business programs is stiffer, and top schools are becoming more selective as we speak. In 2005, only 16% of the 4,200 who applied to top undergrad B-schools were accepted. Scarier than the tiny percentage is that fact that the average SAT score for these applicants was 1448 (The average score for all test-takers who intended to major in business was 1006).

This is not meant to discourage, only to prepare you. Like the senior statesman, the graduate MBA, the programs are more rigorous and more determined to get the country’s top high school graduates. So, if this is your dream, start working on it ASAP. These programs only stand to become more competitive as we all continue to jump on the millionaire-in-a-minute bandwagon.

Okay, without further ado…The Top 10 Undergraduate Business Schools.

1. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
2. University of Virginia (McIntyre)
3. Notre Dame (Mendoza)
4. MIT (Sloan)
5. Emory (Gorleta)
6. Michigan (Ross)
7. NYU (Stern)
8. Brigham Young (Marriott)
9. University of Texas (McCombs)
10. University of Indiana (Kelley)

Want more? Check out BusinessWeek’s 2006 list (PDF).

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