Is UVa Comm schoop better than Baruch Zicklinn?

I got into both Zicklin School At Baruch and McIntire School at UVa as a transfer from a community college in New York. I am a resident of NY and at Baruch, the cost is $8k a year whereas at UVa the cost of attendance is $21k (both after aid) . Both the BS in Comm program & Baruch is a two-year program. UVa gave me a scholarship of $64k out of its $85k out-of-state cost of attendance. Is UVa worth it over Baruch? Which is a good deal between this two?

I want to work in IB or big companies like Google, Facebook, or Uber.

Thank you!

 
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I'm so confused by your UVA aid numbers. Is cost 21k after factoring in the scholarship? 

I went to Baruch so I can give advice about that school, but I don't know much about UVA and whether or not it justifies the 42k expense (please do your research). 

Baruch:

  • You'll be coming into baruch as a third year, which I think is a disadvantage. The requisite classes for finance are tough, especially accounting. Finance exams have 80 questions and you have 1hr 30min to complete them... Classes are also graded on a curve and competition is brutal. Your classmates will be kids that went to a specialized high school and turned down a better school to save money on tuition.
  • The curriculum is not practical, and teachers are arrogant and teach because they don't have any other career options. Baruch is a lower semi-target, so you'll have to get a high gpa, as well as network your ass off to get employed. To give you an idea about how challenging it is, I've seen kids at Baruch with 3.9 gpas that were never selected for interviews at ops roles at a BB. I remember seeing a former coworker's ivy league career fair, and it was frustrating to see all the opportunities he had available to him compared to what I had. Career fairs are depressing and filled with mostly ops roles. If you're interested in accounting or financial engineering, you're at the right school Big4 love Baruch, but classes are really tough. The school also has a strong reputation for its mathematics in finance degree. 
  • There aren't enough business classes for its students, so you'll be scrambling to get any finance classes, and it'll most likely be with a bad professor, at an inconvenient time. I had to take classes on Saturdays thanks to shitty scheduling, and commuting on a Saturday morning is a fucking nightmare if you're outside the city. Most finance and accounting professors are awful, be prepared to learn how to study on your own.
  • Mathematics in Finance is very well respected in this school, and you'll learn from quality professors. Warning, math classes are not for the faint of heart. However, if you get through that program you will have an extremely good skillset. Every person I know that majored in math at Baruch is doing really well.
  • I know I am coming off negatively about the school, but I formed special bonds with the people I met there, and Baruch is one of those places that if you know how the system works, your position compared to other candidates in the recruitment process, know what you want and are willing to work hard to get it, you can do well. Get at least a 3.7 gpa, join a business frat, network on LinkedIn, try to get some internship under your belt. Doing these things will increase your chances of landing a banking role.
  • FYI social life isn't the greatest. Many people balance jobs, school and don't have time. Business frats will at least help with the social life aspect.
 

I will try to clear your confusion about UVa aid. I am a resident of NY so UVa charged me out-of-state tuition which in total is $85k per annum including tuition and fees room and board. UVa offered me an institutional scholarship/grant of $64k per year meaning I have to pay $21k yearly tuition fees and other costs like room and board etc ($85k-$64k=$21k). I am settled in Brooklyn NY so I will commute to Baruch just like I commuted to BMCC. I took all the Zicklin pre-req classes at BMCC so I will only take major classes and electives at Baruch, my major is finance. I hope this clears any confusion

 

Dude this is not even a question. UVA Comm blows Baruch out of the water. Please do not choose Baruch. 40k in debt is not that much and totally sustainable to pay off. Baruch is a no name cuny school while UVA is arguably one of the best public schools in America.

 

McIntire student here. I can't speak to Baruch, but there are an insane amount of opportunities here and fun to be had. MM/BB/EB IB all recruit here, MBB + T2 recruits here if you're interests change as well. I cannot say enough good things about the social scene here, tons of things to do every weekend whether it be frats, bars, house parties, or any other of  the variety of things to do around Charlottesville. I absolutely love it here and i'm sure you will too. TBH I think it would be foolish to go to Baruch given this opportunity. 

 

UVA Alum. I think I have a unique perspective as I transferred to UVA from Baruch. I am begging you man please transfer to UVA. Baruch does not have anywhere near the resources UVA has. There is no OCR at Baruch, the alumni network is extremely limited, and the quality of classes is erratic due to bad professors and low funding. UVA was a much better experience for me socially, academically and greatly helped me secure my banking offer. I would ignore the monetary difference and choose uva.

 

Hi, thank you for the informtaion. Would you mind sharing how the BS in Commerce program is in there in terms of rigor and is it easy to maintain a 4.0 GPA at Comm school?

 

easier to maintain a 4.0 at UVA than at Baruch. Baruch has 0 resources or outside help. The classes at Baruch, particularly the upper-level finance and accounting, have brutal curves and terrible professors. I found getting good grades at UVA much easier because the quality of the faculty was better.

 

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