JMU College of Business

<p>I am going to attempt to start some conversation on the JMU board.</p>

<p>I am currently a student in Madison's College of Business. I guess that I am bias, but... I want to offer a couple of thoughts.</p>

<p>As many of you know, JMU has relatively recently been invaded by Northerners. I believe that the influx of northerners will only help JMU, especially the College of Business. It seems that having students with contacts and connections to Northeast cities, in particular New York City would help all students in the College. Contacts are being established at JMU. I know several students with internships at places such as Bear Stearns, S&P, PriceWaterhouse, etc.. That may be a normal thing in the Ivy League and similar stature schools, but...It was not too long ago that JMU was thought of as a small regional university and not very well known outside of Virginia. </p>

<p>The out-of-state students of course are not the only reason Madison's reputation has grown. The faculty is great and improves every year. The atmosphere throughout all of JMU is one of growth, but I want to throw that idea out there and see what people think. </p>

<p>What I'm saying is that JMU is a great place to be right now. How about being National I-AA Football Champions also...?</p>

<p>I hope some people will join the convo. Tell me I suck at life or something. It will be fun.</p>

<p>Thanks for the conversation starter. :)</p>

<p>I will be going to JMU this fall and had considered trying out the business field. It seems like you're happy with JMU's college of business, what year are you?</p>

<p>If you don't mind my asking, what else are you involved in at JMU? Did you go to high school in VA, too?</p>

<p>ltlblondie,
I'm from Mechanicsville, VA and went to Atlee High School. Mechanicsville is north of Richmond. </p>

<p>I'm a sophomore finance major, econ minor. I transferred into JMU this past Fall. I went to Middle Tennessee for a year. I had originally thought I wanted to go into the music industry, but when I changed my mind I came back to VA. </p>

<p>No problem, here is what I'm involved with at JMU:
I am on the Men's Water Polo Team, analyst in the Madison Investment Fund(#1 collegiate value fund in the nation), member of the Financial Management Association, and on the orientation team this Summer to assist new transfer students. </p>

<p>What majors are you considering in the COB?</p>

<p>If you have anymore questions I'd love to help you out. It's finals week, so it might take a little time, but I'll respond!</p>

<p>Toomuch, I am glad that you started this discussion. We are one of prospective northeners, from NJ. I have a son who is a junior and we just went to check out JMU. We took the tour and it was fun. Two seniors showed us around (this is their last week at JMU).</p>

<p>My concern is that there was little mentioned about internship opportunities or about career services (ie: specifically about job fairs and placement numbers). I am especially concerned about what kind of contacts there might be in the NY area for internships and first job. Do you know any New York, New Jersey students and their experiences with this, especially anybody who is in the business school, as business is what my son is interested in? </p>

<p>Good luck on your finals!</p>

<p>Northeastmom,
I will say that the list of contacts and alumni in the Northeast and NYC is growing at a rapid pace. The opportunities at JMU are great. I was recently recruited as an analyst in the Madison Investment Fund. The MIF acts as a money manager for part of JMU's endowment. It is run by students, similar to how a mutual fund would be run.<br>
I bring that up because, just this year we have students with internships and graduating seniors with jobs in NYC with firms such as Bear Stearns, Legg Mason, S&P, Merrill Lynch, PriceWaterhouse...
The people receiving those internships I believe are actually all from northern cities. Obviously, in order to get the offers, they are excellent students. That is just a small sampling, but of how the contacts in NYC are growing every year.
As far as companies coming on to campus to recruit, from what I have heard and read on the career services web page, a good number are from the DC area, which isn't a surprise given our proximity to the District.</p>

<p>Hope that helped a little. If not, I'll try to expand more.</p>

<p>What Major is your son thinking about?</p>

<p>Toomuch112, my son is thinking about majoring in accounting. He really is not going to know what he will major in, realistically, until he takes some business classes. </p>

<p>Have you noticed any recruiting in the NYC area on campus or on your school web page? I suspected that there would be more available jobs in the DC/Maryland area than further north. Thanks for your help.</p>

<p>i am just wondering what your freshman grades were like at middletennessee to transfer.. i didnt get into madison this year but im hoping to transfer in next year</p>

<p>Northeastmom,
I have seen financial firms and banks from NYC on the list of recruiters coming to JMU. Probably 2/3 of the companies that do recruit heavily here are from the DC area. To go along with what I was saying before, recruiting from major firms and businesses in the NYC area is picking up some speed. JMU's repuation is growing fast in the north. Because I haven't actually taken advantage of the on-campus interviewing process yet, I don't know of all the businesses that currently recruit at JMU, but the Career Services website might be very helpful.<br>
<a href="http://www.jmu.edu/aacd/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.jmu.edu/aacd/&lt;/a>
The list of interviews and internships is not quite as accurate right now as in the Fall, as many businesses, especially in finance and business recruit in the Fall.</p>

<p>I know on the website somewhere there is a page that has some e-mail addresses of student amabassadors, serparated by major. That site could be of some help. As soon as I find it I will post it here.</p>

<p>tron123,
I was accepted to JMU as a transfer with a 3.78 GPA. Just in case you haven't looked yet, the admissions website has recommended courses for prospective transfer student, according to major. That might be of some help.
Here are the links to the academic programs site as well as the transfer admissions site.
<a href="http://www.jmu.edu/jmuweb/academic_programs.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.jmu.edu/jmuweb/academic_programs.shtml&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.jmu.edu/admissions/transferguide/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.jmu.edu/admissions/transferguide/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>i plan on majoring in marketing or something else in business but i wasnt able to find anything about the recommended courses for it.. could you help me out?
thanks</p>

<p>tron123,
Here is a link to suggested transfer planning.
<a href="http://www.jmu.edu/admissions/transferguide/academicplanning.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.jmu.edu/admissions/transferguide/academicplanning.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>As far as how to plan for the COB...
For math, take either Business Statistics or Calculus. You will have to take both b/f admittance into the COB.
Take Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, or both.</p>

<p>So focus on the General Education requirements that the Transfer Guide lists as well as those four classes related to the COB (Macro fulfills a Gen Ed as well).</p>

<p>Here is a link to the General Education page so you can see how JMU has the process set up. Although, for class planning pay attention to the Transfer guide link I posted earlier.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.jmu.edu/gened/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.jmu.edu/gened/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Hope this helps. Let me know if you need more help.</p>

<p>I am going to be an Economics major at JMU. How is JMU's program in this area?</p>

<p>Sohrab,
I actually haven't talked to many economics majors about the program, but I'll tell you my experience with the program has been great so far.<br>
I have taken Macro and Microeconomics classes. My macro prof is by far the best prof I have so far at JMU. I promise I'm not just saying that.(when you take macro, look for William Wood). As far as the program as a whole, if it is as good as the rest of college then it should be great. I'll give you the link to the Econ website so you can check out the requirements for the major and course offerings.</p>

<p><a href="http://cob.jmu.edu/economics/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://cob.jmu.edu/economics/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>One more question, what is the difference between earning a BA, BS, or BBA?</p>

<p>B.S. = Bachelor of Science
B.A. = Bachelor of Arts
B.B.A. = Bachelor of Business Administration</p>

<p>How is the management concentration regarded by the business students and grad schools? I definitely want to major in business, and I eventually want to go to UVA for their joint law/MBA degree program. I know I want my MBA in Finance. However, someone told me that companies like to see a wide set of skills, and having a bachelor's and MBA in finance isn't as good as having different concentrations. So is management well-respected, or is it seen as the "concentration to just get the degree"?</p>

<p>umm.... a finance degree is HIGHLY regarded at JMU....if you would like to double major with management, then go ahead. I am not sure that the extra workload is neccesary.</p>

<p>Management is a cut and dry major....and you will probably learn most management skills in your first job. It certainly is not something that I would major in.</p>

<p>If you want to head to UVa for grad school, get a high GPA while in college. Coming from the College of Business at JMU, your major IS NOT that important. Just keep a high GPA (3.3+) and you should be ok.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that I am biased, but I would suggest the Finance and Quant. Finance majors at JMU. You will have a VERY marketable degree when you graduate. I work for a firm in NYC and am making very nice $$$$.... not to mention that I willl soon be moving to Miami once training is finished :-)</p>

<p>what exactly is finace? like what are the jobs that a person with a degree in finace is able to do.... will you manage a persons money so he has some later on in life what are the exact jobs you do</p>

<p>Finance, the way I see itt (correct me if I'm wrong) is sort of the more analytical side to accounting. While accountants compile massive spreadsheets, finance people more analyze data to come up with the best monetary solutions. I don't know the full range of jobs that you can use a finance major for, but I know I want to go into wall street, and finance is what you want to aim for for that.</p>

<p>Hey KOPPOUT. I was a finance major and I work at a boutique investment bank and if you want to work on wall street here are a few things to know.</p>

<ol>
<li> If you have your heart set on working on wall street at a bulge bracket firm (meaning JP Morgan, HSBC, Goldman sacs, etc) you should not go to jmu but to an ivy league or a northern school with a good reputation. I loved my time at jmu and would not change my decision. </li>
<li> If you go to JMU, major in finance, economics, accounting or if you can hack the math Quant Fin. I also recommend double majoring or picking up a minor (an English minor shows you have writing ability). A minor or double major shows you are able to handle a large work load (Ibankers work 90+ hours a week.) But make sure you keep a high GPA at least above a 3.2. A lot of firms will weed candidates out by your GPA and believe it or not your SAT score. I did not get an interview with an Ibank because I did not have over 1400 SATs</li>
<li> Apply for the Madison Investment Fund ( these are your fellow students who want to work on wall street as well) </li>
<li> Look for any special projects your professors might be offering, JMU has strong ties with Legg Mason</li>
<li> Start looking for internships in NYC ASAP</li>
<li> If you want to go back and get your MBA more power to you just obtain the highest GPA possible and if you can get in with a top firm you will have no problem, keep in mind Wall Street would rather you have a CFA.</li>
</ol>

<p>Other then that you have to prove you are more capable then some of the top graduates in the world to land a job on wall street. Jmu does have alums at top Ibanks, find them, see if they can get you an interview. If I banking falls through, you can look for work at hedge funds, trading desks, research or consulting. A lot of JMU grads go into consulting. Good Luck</p>

<p>PS if the Wall Street thing does not workout, look into banks not located in NYC, FBR, Wachovia securities, BOA are some of the best firms outside of NY. The pay is great and you don’t have to deal with the real arrogant condescending types. </p>

<p>Helpful websites
<a href="http://www.vault.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.vault.com&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.feetwet.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.feetwet.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>