I’m trying to better understand the pros/cons of Vermont’s Grossman School of Business. Their website is giving off an unprofessional vibe, unfortunately, and their curriculum seems different from other business schools.
For ex, there is only one major: business administration. My S23 wants to study Finance, which is one of Grossman’s 4 “concentrations” (along with accounting, marketing, and one other thing I’m forgetting). Is having finance as a concentration, rather than a major, going to make him less competitive?
I should note: I don’t think my son knows exactly what he wants to do in finance. I personally don’t know anything about finance, so I don’t know what I should be looking at in Finance course descriptions. If we wanted to compare UVM Grossman’s Finance curriculum to that of another school, what would we look for?
I’ve looked at career outcomes on the UVM website, but they don’t really mean much to me (their alums seem to get jobs at companies that seem impressive to me?)
Any other thoughts on the type of education students receive from UVM’s Grossman School of Business? S23 was accepted with generous aid, making it somewhat affordable, and he can see himself living there.
My son is at UVM in a different school but he considered Business when applying. I can’t speak to personal experience, but at the time, a close family member who worked at PWC for many years said that Grossman was very well respected. She also shared that she and other colleagues at PWC (Boston office) and people at other companies where she worked as a consultant had mentored numerous interns from Grossman and that they were always some of the best.
Most business programs have BBA or BSBA degrees - or something similar. Your degree is formally in Business Administration. Same with an MBA. Your concentration or focus - or whatever that school calls it - is in your area of study, like marketing, ops, finance, real estate, etc.
I wouldn’t sweat it too much. If you are expecting to work at a bank, consultant firm, or such, they are going to be looking for a Masters degree. Do well in undergrad and Stress over that choice more.
Was going to note what WindyTree said. But if you want to see the relative share, go to College Navigator - Business is less than 10% of bachelor degrees at UVM so that has its pros and cons relative to other schools where business has more prominence/share, especially for the concentrations.
Always check the “knowledge rate” when schools report outcomes - there is a note about 85% (although it’s under the internship table). 85% is above the NACE recommended 65%.
For finance, I’d inquire about the type of jobs - is it more financial services/advising or private equity/wealth management, etc. Heck, Fidelity will take non-finance/business majors if the graduate is smart/shows potential/can pass basic exams. In my experience more of the top firms are looking for internship experience either with them or a comparable peer.
Do they have a student run portfolio fund (real money) course for example? Can you get a jump on say CFA (which now requires coding so another question to ask is on the tech skills taught) or CFP credentials? Higher level finance is becoming more technical / automated; retail finance (for now) is still just can you sell yourself.
Grossman touts the social responsibility stuff (green/sustainability) so another point to consider, especially in a “small” school. Also, most of the first year is the catamount curriculum so there is time (especially after taking the general business intro course) to reflect and learn more without jeopardizing graduating in four years if a student changes their major.