Please help - UVA vs. USC ???

Hey everyone,

So my best 2 options for college are either the University of Virginia, or the University of Southern California to major in economics. I am happy with both but want to make the best choice taking all things into account.

UVA would require an $5,000/year loan whereas USC is probably affordable without a loan as I got a merit scholarship and financial aid, but I’m pretty sure UVA is more respected in general.

For a long time I thought I wanted to go into investment banking, and I might still. In this case, UVA has much better links to Wall Street. Does anyone know about getting an analyst position from USC? I’m guessing just the geography alone makes it much harder. Then again, I’m not sure that this is what I want, and working in finance in Cali would definitely be a good lifestyle for me.

As for student life, I’m interested in going greek, so both schools are good. I think overall USC has the edge on student life; I’m really into sports and do like to go out a lot. But Virginia is still very strong in those departments.

Can anyone give me some help? I’m really confused. I kind of feel like it’s head (UVA) vs. heart (USC) but I keep changing my mind on which one I prefer. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

Would you mind expanding?

USC will be more respected on the west coast, while Virginia will be more respected on the east coast.

I’m a USC alum and don’t think of it as a place you’d go to if you want to do investment banking in New York.

In the 90s I spent a few years writing trading software on Wall Street. My desk was on a trading floor and I spent most of my time hanging out with traders, analysts, and programmers. I can only think of three people there who had degrees from west coast schools - me, an analyst from Stanford, and a trader from Golden Gate University. There was also a guy who went to school in Colorado. Everyone else seemed to have gone to school in the Northeast or Midwest. I don’t remember anyone from Virginia, but don’t read too much into that.

I’m not a finance guy so I don’t know what the job prospects for finance are out here in California. USC is supposed to have a pretty good finance program, though.

Go check out wallstreetoasis if you want more info when it comes to recruiting for IBD/FO roles.

If you’re dead set on finance though, I would without a doubt, go to UVA. Mcintire places extremely well and has alumni all over the street. However you arent pre admitted into the b school like at USC, and admission is competitive so you do need to keep your grades up freshman and sophmore year.

USC is a great school and I’m heading there this fall (unless I get off the waitlist at UVA). The analyst classes are much smaller in LA/SF/Menlo Park/Palo Alto and you will be competing with west coast target schools + ivy leagues grads who prefer the west coast (who can blame them?), so recruiting wise UVA has the upper hand.

Plus you don’t mind going greek which is a huge advantage (I don’t plan on rushing due to personal reasons), so do consider UVA.

Drop me a PM if you want more info as both these schools were my top choices.

@simba9 I have to admit that one of the main attractions of IB is the high salary. Would USC be good for getting me a non IB but high salary job, such as consulting, in Cali? I heard the Trojan network is very good.

@IntlApplicant If I was dead set on finance I would choose UVA and take the debt but I’ve heard some terrible things about IB at Bulge brackets. Hard hours, no free time, depression, drugs. But then I’ve heard from other sources that it’s intense but fun and good life in NY.

I also thought that IB was the only way to get into Private Equity eventually, which has better hours and even better pay.

@HD5151

Honestly the culture is very group/firm dependent and varies tremendously. Some of the top groups (think GS TMT, MS LevFin etc) will work you to the bone and will be extremely competitive and cut throat. The upside to these groups are that the analyst classes place very well into megafunds and are contacted by headhunters within the first 6 months of their IBD stints.

But regardless the hours on average are definitely 80+/week for the BBs. However finance doesn’t necessarily only mean IBD - there are many others gigs which pay well and have good exit opps (ER, AM, Corp Dev), and UVA also places pretty well for mgmt. consulting (I think MBB does on campus recruiting).

PE is extremely competitive but the hours are better and so is the pay. However there is a different kind of stress, and you still put in 60-65 hours/week at top funds. Also, don’t buy into the whole 2 years IBD - 2 years PE - 2 years M7 MBA; there are many other paths you can take.

UVA is better at recruiting for consulting/finance, but these 4 years are much more than that and honestly just go where you feel you will “fit” better. Don’t worry too much about the debt as if you do enter finance, your junior year internship can cover more than half of it and your FT sign on bonus will cover the rest.

Best of luck!

I can’t honestly say, “Going to USC will help you land a high salary job such as consulting in California.” (Never “Cali”.)

Business consulting doesn’t seem to be that big in California. All the well-known consultants have offices in SF and LA, but I never hear of anyone using them or people clamoring to work for them.

If you want to make money out here, you go into technology. And for technology, what you know is more important than where you went to school.

I’ve never used the Trojan Network to advance my career, so I can’t give direct experience as to how strong it is. I certainly can believe it’s strong. I’m not sure what it is, but just about everyone who graduated from USC is crazy about the school, and whenever you meet someone new and find out they went to USC, there’s an immediate, strong connection.