Clarifications about UVA

Hey y'all, rising senior interested in buyside finance here. I'm in the process of finalizing my college list which has a mix of business and non-business schools in the US. As a school policy, I am strictly limited to 10 applications, and am hence having to be much more picky and scrutinizing in my list than I would have liked to be.

A school that I'm trying to understand more about is UVA. I know that it provides an amazing network and McIntire places very well into finance in general, as well as having a pretty balanced and fun culture. However, as an asian male (international student), I have seen comments suggesting that UVA culture isn't great (you're socially excluded) if you didn't attend a "mainly-white prep school" with an already strong network at the college. Can anyone speak to this - whether international/non-white students will have a much harder time carving out networks at a school like UVA? 

Additionally, some suggested that this exclusive culture is all the more prevalent within business clubs and fraternities. Is this true, or would it still be possible for someone with my background to break into these? And if they are indeed that exclusive, how interlinked are such clubs with recruiting from McIntire in general? Is McIntire recruiting mainly propped up by clubs, or is it still quite feasible to land opportunities even if you're not part of these? 

Given the limited number of apps I can send out, I just want to make sure my 4 years at college aren't depressing, and that I can still access industry networks. If UVA doesn't seem to be the best fit from this standpoint, I might apply to UNC, or someplace with marginally weaker industry presence but a better quality of life for me. 

Tl;DR: "You can't make the most of UVA social scene or networks if you're an Asian international". True or False? 

Thanks in advance! 

1 Comments
 

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