To Current Students and Alumni: Courseload and Career/Internship Opportunities

<p>Obviously Wash U offers one of the best undergraduate educations, but i was wondering if anyone could inform me about:</p>

<p>1) What is the average courseload (as far as hours studying per week) of an above-average student, especially one pursing a double major in buisness and/or the sciences?</p>

<p>2) Can anyone comment on Wash U's curriculum compared to that of an Ivy League? I've heard of Harvard's and MIT's notorious problem sets but haven't heard much regarding the kind of pressure Wash U's puts on their students. (again mostly concering math/biz/science)</p>

<p>3) How abundant are the internship and undergraduate research opprotunities? Another thread commented that big north-eastern financial firms hardly look at Wash U biz students, which if true is disheartening.</p>

<p>4) Any comments on the career advising program and career prospects? What about Wash U's relationship with companies outside St. Louis?</p>

<p>Thanks
-mike</p>

<p>anyone? this could benifit all those looking at Wash U.</p>

<p>Let me try to answer that as best as possible:</p>

<p>Talking to my friends in various Ivies, I know that the workload at HYP is basically the same as WashU. The professors are just as demanding, and the hours are the same. Expect to take 4-6 classes, usually about 15-18 hours of in-class time per week. Outside of class, it varies. ArtSci classes are usually based on individual work, so depending on how you work, it could be 1-5 hours a week. Bschool classes frequently rely on group projects, which again can vary widely based on the assignment, and how well your group works together. All in all, the workload is similiar, and above all, not hard to manage. It's been a while since I've taken any math classes in ArtSci, but again, it all depends on the professor and the TA's. Some don't assign weekly problem sets, some do (and grade them seriously), others assign them (and barely look at them). It's all luck of the draw, and knowing which professors to avoid.</p>

<p>I'm double major & minor in the bschool and artsci, so I can tell you first-hand that it is easy to do. Virtually all of my friends have multiple majors/minors, especially those of us in the bschool. Given that our core requirements include a certain number of artsci classes, it is easy to build those into an additional major/minor.</p>

<p>As far as recruiting, you need to be proactive at WashU. The career center has historically been one of the weak points of the bschool, and a reason we aren't ranked higher. However, they've been working hard over the last 2 years to really improve it. And yes, I do have friends who took internships and were offered full-time jobs by the major NE financial firms. Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns, Credit Suisse, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, all of them. That being said, these guys will always go to Wharton/Kellogg and the Ivies before us, just because they have the name recognition and great relationships, and we're WashU. Don't be surprised to tell and interviewer that you go to WashU, and they don't know where it is. The key is to be be proactive, and use as many personal contacts as you can find. I looked for my job outside of the career center due to my career goals. You will also find that finance/accounting are more common that marketing majors, so most recruiters to campus are interested in finance/accounting kids. If you're one of them, you need to find a way to make yourself stand out. You can't be just another finance/accounting double major w/ a 3.85...you need to have specific skills/work experience. Not every single college grad should expect to be an analyst on wall st. earning $65K right out of school. That being said, I have friend who are, I also have some friends who are still looking for jobs, and will most likely end up in St. Louis, Cincinnati or Minnesota. Where you go is dependent on how proactive you are in your internship/job search.</p>

<p>Hope this helps...</p>

<p>Thank you, that was very informative. IF anyone else can comment, especially on undergraduate research and intern opprotunities, it would be appreciated.</p>

<p>I was reading about MIT's freshman/alumni internship program and was wondering if WashU has anything similar, ie- a dedicated program for internships after one's freshman year.</p>

<p>personally i think it's pretty easy to get some sort of research/internship in the sciences at washu - just a matter of contacting faculty, and early enough before the summer starts. i really don't know much about the business stuff though...</p>

<p>and wow, 1-5 hours/week out of class seems like nothing... granted i was an engineer, but my artsci friends worked way more than that... i'd say a couple hours a day is more like it</p>

<p>Thank laurezer, and i think he meant 1-5 hours per class per week</p>

<p>oooh that makes sense, hahaa</p>

<p>Question: So if I were to spend four years in Bschool at WashU, and I did rather well (say a 3.8+ GPA), would I have an easy time getting into Wharton or Kellogg to get my MBA? I really know <em>nothing</em> about getting into graduate schools since it's so far off. If you could shine any light on that process, and how difficult it'd be to get into Wharton or Kellogg graduate as compared to undergraduate, I'd be appreciative.</p>

<p>Well, remember, average biz school age is about 28 with 4-5 years of experience needed for top schools. Although that experience is a huge factor, getting it means doing well in undergrad school</p>