I posted this earlier in the general forum on college selection but I didn’t get any responses from people familiar with UVA:
It’s almost time to pick a college to attend next year, and I still can’t decide where to enroll. Yay! I’d love the input of y’all on CC to evaluate the pros and cons of each place. I’m leaning more towards Tulane.
Anyways, I’ve narrowed down my college choices to two schools: Tulane or UVA. I plan to major in economics in their respective College of Arts and Science’s and potentially double major in something business related. For post-graduation plans, I’m likely to go to the most prestigious MBA program that accepts me. My career goals are a bit more ambiguous, but I’ll probably be doing something finance related.
I’ve visited both of the schools. However, I only visited UVA before the college admissions process in the summer of my junior, not the admitted students’ day. At the time, I didn’t even think I was going to apply. I did visit Tulane on their admitted students’ day. I’ve researched the school’s pretty extensively. Virginia is obviously a much larger school in terms of the student body and has less faculty members per student (student to faculty ratio). Therefore, I think I’ll receive less attention at Virginia in terms of advising and class sizes. However, most people agree that UVA is more prestigious. While I do know that it’s somewhat superficial to judge a school based on its reputation, a school’s prestige and real-world connections is still important for the job market if I do decide to not pursue the MBA. A lot of my friends regard Tulane as a “party school” i.e. more focused on partying and social life than academics. I sat in on a couple of the classes at Tulane and talked to a couple of the professors and they were quite good, so I know this notion is not true from an insider perspective. Still, this perception is not necessarily good for jobs in the finance industry.
As far as the cities go, I can’t really decide which town/city I like better. New Orleans is a thriving city and Charlottesville is a pretty cool town. New Orleans’s weather is simply too hot and humid for me. Plus it rains all the time. I like Cville’s weather better and the general feel of the town. However, I know that the nightlife in New Orleans will be significantly better if I go off campus. Jazz fest and Mardi Gras are also extremely interesting for me.
Extracurriculars wise, I plan to join a fraternity, run club cross country, and potentially join model un. I know that both of these places have those things. I like the atmospheres of both of the campuses in the student body aspect.
At Tulane, I was admitted into the Honors College and given a 32k merit scholarship. I don’t qualify for need-based aid. I’m OOS for Virginia so it’ll be full pay. Money isn’t a really an issue; I already talked to my father and I’ll be able to pay for both of the places without incurring debt or putting a financial hardship on my family. Nonetheless, UVA is still significantly more expensive than Tulane at around 25k extra per year. I’d like to know if UVA’s prestige and academics is worth the extra money. What is the justification for paying the extra money and going to UVA? I’m looking for specific programs that distinguish UVA in terms of business and econ.
I’d also like to know how McIntire’s admissions process works and whether you can easily double major with a business major and liberals major.