UVA McIntire vs. College

McIntire grad, ignore the title I have 4+YOE in a variety of sell-side and buy-side roles. I'm in finance, so I don't know the consulting timelines and I am answering as if IB was your goal.

Given the always accelerating recruiting process timelines and the fact that banks are more willing than ever to look at "non traditional" or "interesting" profiles, you do not really need McIntire and I think the value of the Comm School has weakened over the years. The UVA network and name alone is plenty strong on Wall St, and I would argue that if IB and financial careers are your ultimate goal, the strongest network isn't McIntire but actually the investment clubs at the school like MII, AIF, SWS, and the business fraternity AKPsi. The only exception to this is for those who had the pleasure of getting into John Griffin's class once they got into Comm school, but getting into that course (if still even offered) is exponentially more difficult than getting a banking job so I would not count on that outcome.

These networks have proven pipelines and great placement across all of Wall St and Consulting. I am too lazy to run the math and do a LinkedIn search on my peers, but I would bet my 2021 bonus that the placement rates within these clubs to top tier firms are higher than the broader McIntire pool, even within the finance concentration. These clubs give you access to a self-selected network of highly type A finance/consulting alum and will force you to actually get good at finance and interviews literally months before you actually take a single corp finance lecture in comm school. Another poster said McIntire preps you better for the actual job. This is true, but you actually don't start that prep until months after the internship recruiting cycle has FINISHED. Cannot stress enough that you absolutely cannot rely on McIntire to GET your job. The timeline doesn't work since you only start Comm school in your 3rd year. Yes, you will learn some by taking the per-requisite accounting courses during your first and second years, but these 101 accounting concepts are fairly easy to learn and master online or through the clubs/fraternity mentioned above. McIntire really only preps you for the job AFTER you had to self-study a ton to actually get the job.

All that to say, McIntire does offer one massive benefit that a stats major does not; fairly easy classes/GPA boosting. Do not overlook how important it is to have a good-great GPA when recruiting. This is true for your internship to break into IB/Consulting, and even more true if you want to move into a buy-side role. One of the biggest benefits of McIntire that I think I actually carry into the real world is the better GPA than if I didn't get in and had done something else "quantitative" but hard like econ, physics, math, and stats.

Ultimately up to you and how confident you are in your ability to do well in the STEM majors. I would have failed miserably with a real STEM major, but you will obviously be that much smarter and dangerous on the job than other schmucks like me who are smart-enough with good-enough EQ to recruit.