Transfering from UVA to an elite
Currently I'm a freshman at the University of Virginia. Ultimately I'd like to work in finance, hopefully Wall Street, when I graduate. I came in with enough credits from HS were I'll be able to graduate in three years with a degree in finance from the UVA's McIntire School and Commerce as well as a second major in math. My issue is that with some hard work this semester I should be competitive from transfering into a more elite school. Currently I'm considering Wharton, Yale, Dartmouth, Stanford, Columbia, UChicago and MIT. Besides believing that I would be happier at any of theses schools, future job prospects is some thing that is worth considering.
While UVA is certainly a decent school in its own right, with the market the market in such turmoil and with no promises of getting better any advantage is worth considering. Obviously my job prosepct improve considerably coming from Wharton assuming I maintain a solid GPA, but what about the other schools. I think its safe to say that all the schools listed above are more prestigous than UVA, but does that increased prestige translate into better job placement on Wall Street? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
i would stay. uva definitely has better looking girls.
I second that
UVa is the best combination of ACC Athletics/Social Life and Academics. Unless money is an issue, spend all four years at that great institution. By that time things will more than likely be on the upswing and hiring will be back to normal. UVa is pretty well represented on the street so making contacts should not be an issue.
i 3rd the uva hotter girls.
I'm gonna respectfully disagree with the rest of the folks here. I agree that UVA is an excellent school with hot women, but if you want to get onto Wall Street going to Harvard or Wharton will obviously be better. With that said, I'd take away some UChicago & MIT. These schools are both grade deflated and its not worth transfering here, if you can, and get a shitty GPA. You also have to understand that Columbia, Stanford, Wharton particularly the last two rediculously low acceptance rates. I know that Stanford's is 1% and same thing with Yale. I'd add Cornell and Duke and keep Dartmouth; they all have plausible transfer rates Cornell is 30% they even take CC transfers. These three schools are all excellent placers on Wall Street and you can do well their academically well to. Overall, if I were you this should be your list:
Cornell Duke Dartmouth Wharton Stanford/Yale
Hey,
I am a fourth year at UVa now and can say that UVa is a target school and is awesome in every other sense of the word. I chose UVa over other more "elite" schools if you want to use that word, Harvard, Northwestern, Penn....but you have to realize that those schools tend to be lame, cold, and generally have girls of the busted variety.
I, like you, matriculated with 44 credits, more than enough to graduate in 3 years. Ive spent four years here, have an offer accepted at a great boutique, and wish i could stay forever. The placement on Wall Street is great and the network is HUGE...not to mention all the great nights of partying with great people and loving life.
As a freshman, I would give some more thought to your happiness. Give UVa a chance you have only been here a few weeks and not be shortsighted by a desire to seek the biggest wall street network at the expense of personal development, academically, socially, and in every other way.
UVA is a target. Summer internships and fulltimes into everywhere from the bulge brackets to BX/Lazard/Greenhill.
Speaking from experience, if you bring a 3.9 and a 1500+ SAT at UVA, you are going to be speaking to the big boys.
Not sure what you want beyond an interview.
There is a vast difference between the elite colleges you mentioned and public schools.
Let me give you an example, Bridgewater Hedge Fund, $250K starting salary (including bonus) as a first year graduate (07 numbers). I have not met anyone there from a public or state school.
Regular IBD first year in this market - 100-150K including bonus.
An education is priceless, girls can wait. Transfer.
Dude you are only 3 weeks into your freshman semester at UVA and your already thinking of transfering.
First of all give it some time, it took me some time to transition into college, its not a big deal.
Second going to a prestigious state school like UVA, UT, Cal, or U Mich is so much better than going to one of those Ivy's. You get a great mix of academics, girls, partying, and athletics.
In ten years when your on Wall Street looking back at your college experience your not going to care about how many nobel prizes your proffesor's had, but how many hot girls you conquered and the crazy partys after football games and great memories you make as an undergrad
And if you keep your gpa high and land into IBD, you can always go back and get a "prestigious" MBA
As a Hokie, even I have to say that you should give UVa a chance. Yeah, their football is a complete and utter joke, they're known for their racism, and most of the guys there are gay (jk--just rippin' on a rival), but UVa places well and the financial situation will likely be massively different come May 2012 than it is in September 2008. Besides, UVa is dirt cheap compared to the others on the list. You're blessed--realize it, do your best and enjoy your 4 years of school.
marginal benefit of transferring to one of those "elite" schools from uva is small. The above poster who said "girls can wait" obviously didnt get any and probably still doesnt. With that in mind stay at UVA.
If you didn't get into the schools you listed when applying what makes you think you can distinguish yourself if/when you get there? Something to think about.
evaluate your personality. The difference between top-tier at UVA and top-tier at Wharton is not in banking. By that I mean that if your goal is just in banking, then it doesn't matter as long as your GPA at UVA is high.
The difference is if your goal is beyond banking right after undergrad. If you want to do Bain Capital PE, Audax, Oaktree, etc. right out of undergrad, then your best shot at that is coming with a 3.9-type GPA and appropriate internship from Wharton.
As people have mentioned earleir, clearly Wharton has a significant advantage over UVA in terms of job placement. What about the other school I mentioned though? Which out of say Yale, Dartmouth, Stanford, Columbia, Cornell, and Duke have aprreciably better job placement opportunites than UVA?
If you get a good GPA, are an interesting person, and show that you are interested in finance, you can get a job in finance at ANY school.
Coming from a non-target state school myself (Penn State) it was obviously an uphill battle getting to where I wanted to be, but in the end I wouldn't trade my time there for anything in the world. Go to football games, drink and all the other shit talked about above and graduate knowing you had an amazing college experience THAT WAS AS MUCH ABOUT ENJOYING THE PRESENT AS IT WAS ABOUT ENJOYING THE FUTURE!
Geez, UVa's a target anyway, only leave if you're unhappy with the school and to that point give it more than a few weeks to decide.
everything has been said, but stay.
uva places very strongly on wall st. mcintire is an extraordinary business school. perhaps you should also be thinking about what you want out of your college experience when making this decision. i personally don't feel the benefit of transferring is marginally much better. also, you're a freshman....try giving the place a shot.
apply, see where you get in, and start making a decision then. no use in mulling a transfer to wharton if you don't get in.
I've transferred and in the end it didn't help me much..or at all...
In your case UVA is already a top20 school with PLENTY of wall street alumni. If you're good enough to transfer to some of the schools you mentioned you would have (1) top record at UVA and (2) a lot of luck. But if you have a top record at UVA you can already get a wall street job and wouldn't even need anywhere near as much luck.
to put it simply, top student at UVA >>>> average student at schools you mentioned (everyone there also wants wall street jobs)
UVA is a great school (I'm a graduate myself), and can get you into IB. That being said, the Ivy network is extremely strong (esp. when it comes to recruiting), so apply to transfer and see where you get in. You can always stay put @ UVA, so it's all upside.
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