<p>How does the undergrad business program compare to that of schools like George Washington Univ. and Emory ? Thanks.</p>
<p>The University of Richmond's Robins School of Business is ranked as the #23 undergraduate business programs by BusinessWeek. George Washington ranks #53 & Emory ranks #4 in the same BusinessWeek rankings.</p>
<p>Thanks. All pretty good, it seems in view of the number of colleges nationwide. Happy holidays</p>
<p>I can't speak about the other schools, but my son who will be graduating in May 2008 got a great education at the Robin's school of business. He came to the University of Richmond (off the wait list) as a good student. They turned him into an outstanding student (academic scholarships the last two years). He is a double major in finance and accounting. He had multiple job offers in both fields. Will be working in Investment Banking after graduation. I asked him about his friends and he is pretty sure they all have job offerings lined up after graduation.</p>
<p>Hi Cobia. Really nice to hear about your S,... I always like it when kids work hard and see the fruits of their labor. My S is leaning towards Emory... I hope he has equal success there in their undergrad biz program.</p>
<p>Each of the 3 schools you mentioned
(Emory, GW & Richmond) are great
schools. </p>
<p>A kid that does well at any
one of the 3 or other peer
schools will be set for the
job market or a top MBA
school.</p>
<p>Please also understand that
rankings of undergrad Business
schools typically do not include
a number of the Ivies and other
elite schools that do not have
dedicated undergrad business
departments. </p>
<p>I would wager that more kids
are hired by a heavywight like
Goldman Sachs out of Harvard,
Dartmouth, Princeton, Brown, Yale,
Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, or
other elites which customarily do
not appear in undergrad Business
rankings than are hired from Emory
and GW.</p>
<p>Hi Otis. You are exactly correct. For example, Erin Burnett on CNBC....graduate of Williams College, majored in Political Economics. Hired by Goldman Sachs..7 years later, an anchor on CNBC..</p>
<p>As an FYI, our Associate Dean of the Business School recently told me that Goldman Sachs recruits straight out of undergrad at only 8 institutions in the country and that Richmond is one of that 8. I thought that was a pretty impressive point. One of the big-shots at Goldman is a UR alum, so that has opened our pipeline into the investment banking community very nicely. </p>
<p>Cheers!</p>
<p>UR Admissions</p>
<p>The UR connection that Admissions is referring to is the Vice-Chairman for Fixed Income. He's done a great job in helping his alma mater. UR has a good number of people at GS, and other banks on the street. One program UR has is the student managed investment fund. This group takes an annual trip to the street to visit UR alums at the various shops, which gives the students exposure. Given the fact that UR alums really weren't even on the street until 10-15 years ago, I would imagine that as some of them climb higher, we'll see more direct recruiting on campus like GS does.</p>
<p>While I've no doubt about UR's undergrad biz program being fine, while many may appreciate the Goldman tie, my own thought is that it speaks far more to the UR alum's placement and company clout than it does of the quality of UR undergrads. UNLESS ... there is some unique factor to the curriculum at UR that would make yours unduly attractive? </p>
<p>But generally these types of observations are not too important or meaningful in suggesting the type and quality of undergrad experience one might have.</p>
<p>Still, it's better having such good fortune and well placed, interested, and loyal alums than not. </p>
<p>To that point, and I'm not trying to be difficult or obstreperous in posing this ...</p>
<p>What is the logical explanation for UR's poor showing in alumni giving? I've my own speculative notion, but it's not informed. Can any lend some genuine, candid insight to this minor mystery?</p>
<p>Hi Whistle--</p>
<p>It's a fine point and I'm not hearing "obstreporousness" if that is a word. The student managed investment fund is a good program, but what I think is really important is that the Finance program is a "partner" with the Certified Financial Analyst Institute. I believe there are only about 11-12 institutions in the world that have achieved this distinction. You can read more at the following link. Finance</a> Department</p>
<p>Another feature is that our Career Development Center has been working closely with the Wall Street community to become more well known there and to more deliberately bring our students in contact with the powers that be there. </p>
<p>Yes, alumni connections count and I think it is fair to say that their success in placement is at least in some way connected to the quality of their education--of course there are successful people from many schools--no one has a corner on that market--but these things feed on each other. </p>
<p>As for our poor alumni giving rate in the last several years, some where down in one of the older threads our friend Spiders05 wrote very capably on this topic. Our former president, Bill Cooper, had alienated much of the alumni body through a range of decisions and the alumni were clear in communicating their dissatisfaction. He resigned and there was a year and a half long process of searching for his successor. Our new president, Dr. Ed Ayers, took office in July 2007. Thus far he's done a brilliant job of making himself accessible to students, faculty, staff and alumni and I really believe that we'll see alumni giving on a significant rebound this year with on-going improvements from there. We've already received several significant gifts in Dr. Ayers tenure--$6 Million for a major expansion to the business school included. There was also a $9 million gift for a new international center. So things are looking very good in the advancement area!</p>
<p>Have a good evening!</p>
<p>UR Admissions</p>
<p>Whistle, Admissions already touched on it, but Cooper's tenure was a rather rough one for most alums. Additionally, UR has always had very generous ultra wealthy alumni (the Robins Gift was the largest gift to any university at that point), and as such, UR has never really had to solicit donations from the $100 donors and quite frankly, the advancement office wasn't geared towards that. Over the last few years, this mindset has really changed and an emphasis has been placed on just giving, rather than the size of the gift. Additionally, the senior gift program has really taken off in the last few years, with roughly 70% of all seniors donating to this program. The class of '06 was really the measuring mark for the program, and in looking at this year's honor roll, their class continued a very high donation level this year, and had an impressive dollar amount for being young alums. </p>
<p>Also, I think it's important to note that the two large gifts that Ayers has secured since he joined the university were donated in a time in which we don't have a capital campaign in place and that the $9 million gift is larger than any single gift we received during the last campaign lead by Cooper. Also, UR currently doesn't have a VP for advancement to work full time to solicit the big donations. UR is scheduled to begin a new capital campaign in 5 years +/-. If Ayers is still around, I think you'll see a dramatically higher rate of donation, especially if the senior gift continues to result in high donation levels, as it seems to be carrying on once students become alumni.</p>
<p>Well, it was announced today that the Robins Foundation has donated $8 million to the University for the new football stadium on campus and for an expansion of the Westhampton College Deanery. This fantastic news just further illustrates the goodwill that Ayers has had on some of our largest benefactors. The Robins family has been hard to find around UR lately, so hopefully this is a sign of things to come for UR!
Robins</a> Foundation awards $8 million to University of Richmond for on-campus stadium and Westhampton Center</p>
<p>Below is a link to the obit for E. Claiborne Robins founder of the Robins Foundation and the man that helped to transform URichmond into a world class university.</p>
<p>LINK:
E</a>. Claiborne Robins, 84, Dies; Executive and Philanthropist - New York Times</p>