Hi, I’m a white male from CT and I’m deciding between UConn Honors and UVA for Finance. I could go to UConn and graduate with no debt, or go to UVA and take out $25k in student loans. I plan on getting a Masters degree later on; either an MS in Finance, an MBA or both; so not having that debt would be helpful. However, I can see myself in IBanking, in which case UVA (and McIntire’s) name carries MUCH more weight. Both schools feel about the same to me, so “fit” is about equal. What I’m really wondering is: Will I be significantly disadvantaged going into IBanking or another Finance-related field if I choose UConn over UVA? Another one of my concerns for UVA is I would have to apply to McIntire as a second year. If I don’t get in…I’m screwed.
Everything clearly points to UConn - especially the no debt part.
Where you go to undergrad may matter for your first job, but after 5-10 years, the jobs you get depend more on you (work ethic, etc).
Uconn is closer to NY, where you may be able to get a killer internship in banking which would really help. If your GPA is really good, you would have a shot at scholarship $ during grad school…
I won’t advocate one option instead of the other (UVa/McIntire has major academic and stature advantages, but UConn would clearly be more affordable, which may enable your postgraduate aspiration).
However, @1600mPenn, NOT ONE WORD of you original post addresses a (perhaps “the”) really vital decision-issue: at which university will you thrive, have the better “cultural fit,” have greater affinity and cohesion with classmates, staff and faculty, and so forth? Your initial post is entirely written as if you were an “academic automaton,” assimilating knowledge and solely focused on the future. You’re not, you are a GREAT deal more than that alone. Furthermore, these two universities differ considerably in MANY truly important attributes that extend far beyond the academic:
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The kids who attend will be quite different,
The overall – and pervasive – campus/community atmosphere will also be,
The faculty and the staff, too, are liable to be somewhat dissimilar in their attitudes and expectations, and
Certainly the two communities will be.
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Which do you find more appealing, which do you want to be a possibly major part of your life forever, and in which environment will your excel (and not just in the classroom)? These are CRITICAL decision parameters and, in my opinion, you’d be foolish not the evaluate them thoroughly and assiduously.
I suggest you spend several days on campus – not just participating in “canned” events and tours – because YOU are YOUR “cultural fit” are unique, no one else’s will be identical, and only you can make this enduringly crucial judgement.
@Nerdyparent and @ZBD5421, thank you. both of you articulated sort of what I was thinking.
@TopTier, I thank you for your response as well, but I fear you missed the point of my post. I’m looking for the objective, academic advantages of one school over the other. That alone is only a fraction of my decision, but it’s one I take seriously. All of the “cultural fit” aspects are altogether more significant parts of my decision, yet as you so eloquently articulated they’re subjective. This means it would be foolish for me to ask anyone else’s opinion on the matter, especially people online that I don’t know personally. It’s unfortunate you took my search for objectivity as me being an “academic automaton”, but that’s just not that case. There are many factors that will ultimately culminate in my decison, most of which can’t be “quantified”. I’m just trying to learn more about those that can be. Thank you.
Thank you, I now far better understand the underlying reasons for the limited scope of your inquiry (and that’s fine). Given your constraints, I’d opt for UVa in a heartbeat. It’s clearly the better – and more highly reputed – academic and professional alternative (obviously, for many individuals the differences may never be important, whereas for others they may prove significant, and you simply cannot know which group applies and potentially at what time(s) in your life).
Moreover, your post #4 does not indicate one financial or affordability selection metric (although your initial post alludes to debt and the likely desire for postgraduate education). $25K in undergraduate debt may (or may not) prove be excessive. To illustrate, if you really believe you’re destined for iBanking (etc.), it probably won’t mean very much; often, that’s not 10 percent of a journeyman’s annual bonus. However, were you to travel a different path – and that’s certainly possible – it could be a substantial, multiyear burden. Only you can assess the likelihood of these things.
To summarize:
a. I heartily agree with your understanding of the importance of the “cultural fit” issues (and, in this post I have limited my comments as you requested).
b. UVa’s stature and academics will clearly be superior to UConn’s, and that is a lifetime distinction (those who argue, that after a decade or two, performance is THE key advancement catalyst are correct . . . however, one has to affiliate with enterprises – and there are not a large number of them – that have a stellar reputations for that performance to be broadly meaningful, and many top iBanking, consulting, IT and other firms will interview at “a UVa,” but not at “a UConn”).
c. The financial ramifications of this decision may vary in significance from inconsequential to substantial, dependent upon future decisions and successes.
Is that $25K in debt total? If so, I would opt for UVa in a heartbeat. Being “closer to NYC” in rural CT at UConn won’t be much of an advantage; companies visit schools and it’s not as if UConn is close enough to NYC that you can visit for internships in your off-days. And the brand and network of a school would matter for stuff like internships.
@Nerdyparent: Not quite true; your network and friends you make may still be helpful even several jobs after graduation.
But if a person is an incompetent buffoon, I doubt the alumni network will take him/her very far regardless of how prestigious the school is.
If a person is capable, however, I do not argue that a prestigious school might offer a nice head start.
I guess my point is that prestige has its limits - at some point, your opportunities for advancement depend on YOU - not your school, your network, etc.
@TopTier, thank you so much for that confined response! I guess the real question for me is how committed I am to Ibanking, consulting, etc. and if that $25k (yes it is total, all 4 years) is worth it. If I do go that route, my feeling is the doors a UVA degree/network would open vs. a UConn degree/network are uncomparable in favor of UVA. I also agree with what both you and @PurpleTitan said in that even though UConn is geographically closer to NYC, recruiting wise UVA has a competitive advantage. One concern that I do have, which I originally mentioned, is the possibility of not getting into McIntire as a second year. In which case, I’ll have paid $25k extra for an economics degree when I really want to study finance. Given McIntire’s selectivity, do you guys think that’s a risk worth taking?
@TopTier McIntire’s acceptance rate is 57% (and decreasing). However, I’ve learned that figure doesn’t take into account the amount of students who go to UVA as a Pre-Commerce student yet don’t apply to McIntire because their GPA isn’t high enough. This claim makes sense because the average accepted GPA for them is 3.72.
@rjkofnovi, I like the way you put that. Well said!
Your chances of breaking into investment banking will be dramatically higher if you go to UVa. UVa is a target school for a number of investment banks. Those banks will recruit on campus, giving interested students a big leg up in the recruiting process. I don’t think UConn is a target school for any i-banks. Some of the advice provided upthread clearly comes from people that are unfamiliar with the recruiting processes of investment banks.
For just $25K over four years, I might choose UVa, particularly with an interest in consulting/finance/banking. UVa is a target school in those fields and the salary you could make in those fields would make repaying $25K easy - but $25K is also not so onerous that you couldn’t repay it even if you decided to do something less remunerative.
UConn is a great place too, though! You really can’t go wrong.
UVa places really well in the east coast. And 25K is certainly a reasonable amount to spend to go there. If you’re comfortable with the debt, I’d definitely go there.
25K debt over 4 years is manageable (the recommended limit /what an undergrad can be expected to pay back is 27k). In your case, I’d go with UVA. Even if you don’t make it into McIntire, if you major in statistics or another quantitative field, you’ll have better of breaking into your chosen professional field than if you attend UConn. The caliber of classmates will keep you on your toes and the atmosphere will make sure you’ll push yourself to achieve (which can be a good or a bad thing depending on how competitive you are.)
I agree however that you must make sure the “vibe” is what you want.
I have removed all the posts related to the term “Public Ivy” and who does or doesn’t belong in that category, and a few tangential to that discussion. They were way off topic. Just because the OP used the term in the title doesn’t make it the topic, especially since it is a long used and widely accepted term. A separate thread to hash out its appropriateness and who belongs there is fine, but this was a clear example of hijacking a thread.