I'm a student at UMichigan Ross, and I was considering doing a dual-degree program to do both business and engineering. Are these majors together valuable? From a recruitment perspective, would a double major in Business and Engineering make me a more desirable applicant? Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Hi there,
I like that you are thinking about this early — but I’d be careful not to overestimate how much a dual degree by itself moves the needle in recruiting.
Having business + engineering is definitely a strong combo. It signals you’re quantitative and also understand the commercial side. That’s attractive for consulting, tech, product roles, etc. So yes, all else equal, it can make your profile a bit more interesting.
But in reality, recruiters don’t sit there and say:
“this person has two degrees, so hire.”
They care much more about things like:
- what you actually did (internships, projects)
- how you think and communicate
- whether you’ve shown leadership or impact
I’ve seen candidates with “perfect” academic profiles (including dual degrees) who struggled, and others with simpler backgrounds who did very well because their experience and story were stronger.
Where the dual degree does help is if you use it well.
If it just sits on your CV as: “BBA + Engineering”, it doesn’t add much.
But if you can say: “I’ve worked on problems at the intersection of tech and business — for example…” then it becomes much more powerful. That’s when it actually differentiates you.
Also worth thinking about the trade-off. A dual degree takes time and energy. If it comes at the expense of internships, networking, or leadership experience, it might not be the best trade.
So the way I’d think about it is: do it if you’re genuinely interested in that mix and want to build a profile around it — not just because you think it will boost recruiting chances.
If I had to summarize it simply: it’s a nice plus, but it won’t replace strong experience and a clear story.
Best,
Soheil
Hi Anonymous,
Echoing Soheil's great answer: the degree itself doesn’t move the needle; what matters is what you make of your education.
For what it's worth, I’ve sometimes noticed an inverted rule regarding "perfect" majors: many students over-optimize by choosing the track they believe offers a slight statistical advantage in placement. However, this often backfires by creating a bottleneck. When 100 students with similar interests follow the exact same "optimal" strategy, you end up competing against a massive pool of nearly identical profiles. Paradoxically, it might be easier to stand out as one of only five applicants from a less traditional path :)
Good luck for your career! And congrats for March Madness, if you are a UMich basketball fan
Best,
Tom
Both coaches nailed it so I won't repeat the "it depends on what you do with it" point. But one thing I'd add from the engineering side specifically, the biggest value isn't the signal it sends to recruiters. It's that engineering genuinely changes how you approach case interviews and consulting work. You get comfortable with ambiguity in quantitative problems, you learn to break systems down into components, and you develop intuition for when numbers feel wrong. That stuff is harder lo learn later on vs. business fundamentals.
The main thing to watch: a dual degree where your GPA tanks below 3.5 is worse than a single degree with a 3.9. The workload is real, so make sure you can keep your grades strong and do the internships, extracurriculars, etc.
