<p>My situation is this: I was accepted to both schools, Virginia Tech and University of Maryland - College Park. However, for VT I was accepted straight into their business program and for UMaryland I applied early to their College of Letters & Sciences not knowing I wanted to do business initially. Not sure where to pick now. I really want to do finance/accounting. I will say that if I was in the UMaryland business program right away as a freshmen I would choose to go there. However, that is not the case right now.</p>
<p>I am in-state at Virginia Tech and would be paying about 20k less per year if I were to go to VT. VT tuition~20k while UMD~40k for OOS students. The thing that worries me if i choose UMD is that I am not going to be enrolled in the business program right away and I will have to go through the hassle to transfer into it after 2 years which is not guaranteed.</p>
<p>I know UMD has a better program than VT but is it worth the hassle and money to go there??? Oh, also, I was accepted directly to UMinnesota's business program (Carlson) which is ~30k per year for OOS students, but that seems too far away from home. Money is not that big of a problem I guess It's just I don't want my parents paying that much more for perhaps similar educations. I feel like being at the state flagship would be better for opportunities as opposed to VT which is ranked much after UVa (where I was waitlisted) in my state. </p>
<p>Please help and give me advice! I only have a couple days left to decide where to go!!!</p>
<p>I will have to pay
~20k total per year to go to VT (business program rank 51)
~25k total per year to go to UMN (business program rank 41)
~40k total per year to go to UMD (business program rank 35)</p>
<p>The differences in these rankings are minimal, when you remember that there are something like 4,000 colleges and universities in the US. Eliminate that issue right now.</p>
<p>What do your parents say about shelling out twice as much money each year just so you can cross the Potomac River? Sit down and talk this over with them. If your parents are fine with spending the money because they have a great big college fund just waiting to be spent on your education, then go to UM-CP and do your level best to transfer into the business program. If you’d rather save a bit of money (or if the truth is that it just isn’t there in the first place), then go to VT which as you well know, is a mighty fine educational institution. What you would save over the course of four years would cover a big chunk of a future MBA program.</p>
<p>I guess just a point of clarification is that my parents say money is not a problem as they already have 250k devoted in my education fund/graduate. However, we both feel that it might not be worth paying extra money just to go to UMD since the rankings aren’t that different. however a big selling point is I feel like I fit best in with the UMD campus community. still just not sure. just want to find where ill be happy and have the best opportunity for employment. i feel like being at a state flagship makes me feel better too</p>
<p>Don’t get all hung up on the fact that Virginia Tech is not the “state flagship.” It is very well respected with recruiters and all the big 4 accounting firms recruit there. I can’t imagine that the University of Maryland is worth twice the cost. If your family is extremely wealthy,however, that may be a different story as that always affords more options to just go where you want to go. My older son went to UVa,younger is at VT. Thought the younger one might have wanted to try to transfer to UVa but no,he has been very happy as a Hokie! There is alot of overlap in the companies that recruit at UVa and Virginia Tech.</p>
<p>If you know you want to study finance/accounting then have a direct acceptance into a b-school is a big deal. At some schools, making this internal transfer is very difficult while in other schools it is not a problem. I don’t know what the case is at UMD. I know a few kids who went to a university and then found they could not get into the program they wanted and it was a problem (either they took a major they didn’t want or transferred). </p>
<p>I’d call UMD now and see if you can switch into the b-school as a freshman. If you can, and your family can comfortably afford it, that is fine. If you can’t get in the b-school now, I’d go to VA Tech. BTW, a friend of mine had a daughter who studied accounting at VA Tech, loved it, and got a Big 4 job right out of school.</p>
<p>I absolutely would not recommend paying 80k more for UMDCP. Go to VT. You’ll love each and every minute of it, get an awesome education, and have no problem getting a job upon graduation.</p>
<p>@happy1 The UMDCP internal transfer rate after 2 years to their business program is 60% accept. </p>
<p>@sevmom I actually kind of have that mind set to as your younger son to try to transfer to UVa after a year or two at VT. Who knows though, maybe I might end up liking VT if I go there. Do you happen to know how hard it is to transfer from VT to UVa? </p>
<p>Another thing that scares me a bit about VT is that I don’t want to end up working in the area of Virginia where all there is is grasslands and cows. UMDCP has a close proximity to DC. </p>
<p>Which city did all of you guys that know people who studied business at VT end up working in?</p>
<p>VT is an institution with a solid national reputation. Pick up the phone, call the career center there, and ask about job and internship placement for your potential major. I am almost certain that they won’t answer “Gee, all of our grads in that major stay right here in cow country.”</p>
<p>If you just want to be close to DC, why didn’t you apply to George Mason? GMU has a decent business program, in-state costs, and is smack in the DC suburbs.</p>
<p>I don’t think you’re in any danger of being ‘stuck’ in rural Virginia after graduation. You need to look at the companies that recruit at VT, not where the school is located. The recent VT grads that I know are all living in major metropolitan areas on the east (DC, Richmond, Atlanta) and west coast (LA, San Fran., Seattle).</p>
<p>Regarding transfer from VT to UVa, I know several students who started out the year with the intention of doing just that (5-6). Of those only one decided to complete the transfer application and is still unsure if they really want to leave VT even if they are accepted. They all love VT.</p>
<p>Future,i really don’t know how hard it is to transfer from VT to UVa as son was happy at VT so never pursued transfer. UVa does get transfers every year though but I would imagine you have to do quite well in college to make yourself competitive for transfer. If you do go to VT, you may end up loving it and not even have any thoughts of transferring.
Virginia Tech grads are employed all over the place. Many kids do end up in the DC area and Richmond area.</p>