I’m a veteran, trying to decide between Uconn and Baruch, and extremely unsure. I’m transferring with around 60 credits. A big factor in my decision will be which school will be taking more credits (I will find this info out at orientation for both schools). However, obviously another huge part in this decision is which school is a better fit for me. Here’s the breakdown:
I’m a NY resident, so if I decide (or need) to take summer classes between, I won’t be using my GI Bill, so Baruch will be much more affordable when I don’t use my GI Bill. I’m torn between majoring in finance and management. I would not be attending the main campus if I decide to go to Uconn, which limits my choices of majors (I’d be attending the Stamford campus). I can’t really find any information about Uconn and Baruch comparisons when it comes to individual business majors. I’ve heard that for finance, you should go to Baruch, but for management and other business majors, you should go to Uconn. I’m just feeling a bit lost and I would like to see what other people thought, especially if you have experience at either school. Any advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Will you be getting MHA adjusted for the cost of living in NYC? Are you excited about living in New York City? If so, I’d choose Baruch over UConn Stamford. I think you’ll find that the School of Business will offer motivated undergraduates far more opportunities than UConn Stamford.
I live close to the city now, but it’s actually an easier commute to Uconn Stamford. And yes, the BAH is calculated according to the location of the school. The BAH for the city is obviously much higher than Stamford, and would be a great perk, but the money isn’t a deciding factor for me. I would rather get less money if it meant getting a better education and better intern/employment opportunities. My original thoughts were that if I got into UConn, I would just go there because the school is better known (not including NYC), and is also higher ranked. As far as rankings go, I really don’t understand how much of an impact Thaler have when it comes down to getting a job.
I just keep flip-flopping between the two schools. I guess I’ll just have to wait to see which school will take more of my transfer credits.
I’m assuming that because I’m coming from a SUNY school that Baruch might take more credits because it’s at least the same state.
Anyways, thank you so much for your input. I appreciate you taking the time to answer.
Another vote for Baruch. I think you will find more underclassmen at Stamford (there are more students intending to transfer to Storrs) so more of a HS atmosphere, but maybe as a commuter it won’t matter to you. Something to consider.
That was something that I noticed when I visited. It seemed like most of the students were younger kids at Stamford. The atmosphere at Baruch is definitely better, but at the end of the day, I’m probably older than the majority of the undergrad students at both schools. At first I was pretty much set on going to UConn, but durring the last couple of months I’ve been starting to lean the other way. 3,800 bucks a month doesn’t sound bad either.
One big question is how do they compare academically? I’ve seen comparisons and rankings, but they are very general and I’m not sure how accurate the comparisons are.
If you have an idea of the kind of job you’d like to get once you finish your degree, contact the career centers on each campus, and ask where their students find internships and jobs. Both places should be able to give you a list of companies that recruit there and a notion of how many students are hired annually by each place.
Since you are a veteran, take advantage of any special veteran’s offices these universities have. You might get more accurate information for your specific situation from that office.
I’ve tried to get that information, but I feel like they wouldn’t tell me “not a lot of grads are getting hired.” I could be wrong. Both schools have basically told me that lots of people are finding jobs pretty easily.
The major downside at Baruch is how commuter it is, which for a teenager can be tough.
As a veteran, this doesn’t matter.
Baruch is top-notch for everything business-related. Their finance and accounting majors get excellent offers, and the Starr career center is very good. As a junior, you could get a sort of one-day-a week internship at a major bank Spring semester, for instance. You can major in finance and minor in real estate (big deal in NYC), or in statistics (also big deal).
Just be sure to check RateMyProfessor before you choose any class since the gen ed instructors are REALLY hit or miss. Try to get into Provost’s, the Honors program for transfers (there’s another one for transfers but I forgot its name - check them out, they’re worth it - better networking opportunities and priority registration.)
UConn main campus may or may not be better for management - Id say outcomes are better for Baruch, but quality of life, general atmosphere, the whole “college experience” is definitely better at UConn Storrs… but UCStamford doesn’t compare in terms of career opportunities.
Thanks for your advice. I could be mistaken, but I thought that as a business major, you couldn’t do a business minor (unless you did two minors). I’ll look into that to see if you’re right, because if you are, I would definitely want to minor in something like real estate. I’m transferring in with a 3.9 GPA, so I’m curious about the transfer honors program. I’ll probably hear more about that at orientation. Thankfully (or hopefully), I don’t have many more Gen Ed classes left. I’m really hoping they take most, if not all, of my 60ish credits.
Again, thanks to everybody who has given me their input. It’s truly appreciated. Keep it comin’!
You can do a business major and are required to do a liberal arts minor(3 courses), then you can add another business minor (3 courses). Because a Baruch “minor” is so few classes, it’s easy to do two of them.
Yeah that’s true. Hopefully they will take my credits so if I do decide
To take on a second minor, I can still stay on track to graduate on time. Any other opinions or suggestions from anybody?
@zbrechtel: Have you been accepted by Baruch this time around or are you waiting to for an acceptance? I would say Baruch is your best option, especially if you want to work in NYC. They have a large alumni base in NYC, which would come in handy when it comes time to apply for internship and jobs after graduation. Baruch has a sizeable part-time student population and a good group to network with (internship/shops), if the opportunities present themselves. Does UConn Stamford have a wide array of undergraduate business courses and does the degree differentiate from that of a degree from UConn Storrs? I’m curious, why you are not using your GI Bill for College?
I’ve been accepted to both schools. I am using my GI Bill. As for UConn Stamford, yes, it seems like there majors and business curriculum as a whole are more limited than Baruch, as well as the alumni connections, but as far as the actual degree being different from the main UConn campus, I was assured that they are the same. There aren’t as many degree choices as Storrs though, which to me, could be an issue. I’m guessing I would have to travel to the main campus to take advantage of anything alumni related. However, they are relatively close to the city, so I don’t know how that would impact internship opportunities. Another big issue that I think I will face is math placement. I took calculus a few semesters ago and got an A, but on my Baruch placement, apparently I didn’t do as well as planned, so they told me I would be placed below calculus. However they’re telling me that after they review my transcripts, they could over ride the placement test and I wouldn’t have I retake calculus.
Placement exam? Never heard of placement exam for transfer students. I’m curious how one could gain acceptance to a college and transcript review comes after the fact. I would think the transcript review would be part of the admission process. Did you do a lot of these courses online (@ a CC)?
Baruchs policy is that any incoming student, freshman or transfer, must take the math placement exam. It says that if you’ve gotten a C or better with a math course that it will replace the placement, but it’s just making me nervous. If I’m not mistaken, the CUNY system takes the transcripts and decides if you can go to one of their schools, and then the school itself decides exactly which credits they will take. Doesn’t really make sense to me, but that’s how they do it. And no, 95% of my classes were on campus. That’s why I’m really hoping that my classes transfer in. I really busted my butt getting and maintaining a 3.9, so I would hate to see all of that time and effort go to waste, not to mention the months of my GI Bill that I used on the classes.
Ps. If some of my classes fail to transfer, how likely is it that I could persuade the evaluators that my classes are similar enough to replace one of their classes? Thanks again everybody. You’re all being really helpful.
That’s the way it is at Baruch: all transfers have to take a test during orientation. The transcript review to determine credit is done by another office than CUNY Admissions and can take up to two months. Typically, most credits transfer, but it takes a while for them to match the classes with Baruch’s Pathways reqs.
