I am trying to decide between these two schools with the intention of going to Wall Street (Investment banking) after college. I am an Echols Scholar at UVA which is given to the top 5% of admitted students and exempts me from the school’s distribution requirements and gives me priority registration for classes. At UVA I would apply to the business school (McIntire school of commerce) during my second year and at Vanderbilt I would major in Economics and minor in finance. Both schools seem very fun to me as I am excited for a big fraternity scene and a work hard, play hard culture, however I would love to hear the differences between the social scenes. I am struggling turning down Vanderbilt due to the overall prestige, but I know that the Echols students are very highly regarded. Price is basically even at both of the schools and is not a factor.
Hi, I’m an Echols Scholar at UVA currently. I personally love it and love UVA but I thought there was a few things you should know. It’s important to remember that Echols students are only within the College of Arts and Sciences and if you apply and get into the Comm School then you are officially under school record no longer an Echols Scholar. You are still invited to events and in the community regarded as an Echols student but you won’t receive priority registration or exemptions from requirements. However, once you are in the Comm School priority registration doesn’t matter a lot because you have your classes that you have to take and likely the seat is reserved for you or because your Comm School cohort will not be huge you won’t have to fight for a seat in a class. Also, I’m pretty sure the Comm School honors your exemptions of general education requirements of the College but you are still required to do the prerequisites of the Comm School (see the Comm School website for more details). The social scene at UVA is incredibly fun and the school culture is work hard, play hard so you will definitely find people that like to party just as much/not as much as you. Echols students are no exception to that; there are plenty of them who love to go out and plenty who don’t. Plus everyone at UVA is incredibly motivated and academics is a very important to all students at UVA so know you’re among people who love to balance working hard and playing harder. I know Vanderbilt has a lot of prestige but so does McIntire so I don’t know if choosing a school based on prestige matters a ton in your situation. Of course, I am biased towards UVA but I have loved my experience there and Echols does come in handy in your first two years for priority registration for the Comm School prerequisites that everyone wants to get into.
If you can get into McIntire, UVa is more of a Wall Street target than Vanderbilt. Don’t take my word for it here are Wall Street’s opinions
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/stern-vs-vanderbilt-vs-rice-vs-uva
@user_565959 Thank you for your insight on the Echols program. I hear that even if I do not get the benefits of Echols while in McIntire, I am still distinguished as an Echols scholar when I graduate. Can you speak to your experience with Echols housing at all? I am not sure if I should opt in or out of honors housing in order to mix with other groups.
We can tell you plenty about UVA, but only a handful of people here have experience at other schools.
You might want to check the UVA forum on reddit. There’s a fantastic thread pinned at the top of the page that created by a current student just for incoming students. Lots of current students are answering questions in there, too.
As Dean J said, I can only speak to the experience at UVA so keep that in mind. I did live in the scholars housing with Echols, Rodman, and Jefferson scholars. I personally loved it and had an amazing time there. By opting out, you definitely won’t go wrong but I have found that students in the Echols housing tend to be very close to the people living around them. Compared to my friends of other dorms, I am definitely more close with my hall; in fact, my best friends came from my hall and I was very fortunate to have such great friends at my start at a new school. I found absolutely no issues making friends outside the Echols community too because you can get involved in other groups around grounds and you’ll definitely make friends there too. Also, you’ll find that the Echols students living around you are interested in so many different groups around grounds so you’ll have friends to try new things out with because they definitely want to do those things too. Of course, this is likely very true for other housing at UVA but I can’t speak to that. The experience of living in Echols housing is so much fun and the people around you are so incredible that you’re motivated to do so much. I highly recommend staying in the scholars housing, it was a great experience.