Friday’s Headlines: Surprises in College Business Programs

Incoming college freshmen who plan to major in business are in for a whole raft of surprises. According to Businessweek, while many parents are pretty savvy about checking out a college or university, their research is not as sophisticated when it comes to specific programs like business schools.

Here are a few of the surprises the magazine says you might encounter as a matriculating student:

1. You’re not guaranteed a seat. A lot of schools expect you to wait until your sophomore or junior year before applying for admission to business schools. At some state universities, admission to business school is more competitive than admission to the university.
2. Thou shall study abroad. Many programs place a huge emphasis on studying abroad. Ideally, says an assistant dean for undergraduate studies at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, students should have an academic plan that includes studying abroad as a freshman or early in their sophomore year.
3. Internships are not optional. For a growing number of companies, the magazine writes, summer internships serve as extended tryouts. If you do well, you get a job offer at graduation; if you don’t, you don’t.

Other News:

A day after Barclays agreed to pay $450 million to settle accusations that it tried to manipulate rates, top British officials called on the bank’s chief executive to provide a full account of what went wrong. [DealBook]

Robert H. Herz, a former chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, has been elected to the board of directors of Morgan Stanley. [DealBook]

A 28-page study released this week by the professional services firm Rothstein Kass, found that 77 percent of 293 private equity firms polled believed there would be more attractive investment opportunities this year than last. [DealBook]

Nasdaq may be forced by securities regulators to upgrade its trading systems in the wake of last month's glitch-ridden stock sale by Facebook Inc. [Wall Street Journal]

The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the health care overhaul could have a broad impact on wealthy investors’ wallets with a new 3.8 percent increase on investment income. [On Wall Street]

JPMorgan Chase could announce losses as high as $5 billion related to the London whale trading loss. [Financial Times]

Rachel Craft has been appointed vice president of business development and investor relations for Phoenix Investment Adviser, the New York-based hedge fund. [Hedge Fund Net]

Securities regulators have shut down an alleged $42 million Ponzi-like scheme that was run by a Silicon Valley mortgage investment firm. [Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal]

Spain’s Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria plans to sell its operations in Puerto Rico. [Birmingham Business Journal]

Critics of the SEC’s tentative plans to impose additional regulations on money market funds say the revisions are unnecessary and could threaten the very existence of the 40-year-old business and would limit access to a vital source of funding for state and local governments. [On Wall Street]