Is transferring to the University of Virginia worth $100,000?
I completed two years at a community college nearby with the intent to transfer to a target or semi-target as a rising third-year. The only school I was accepted into was UVa as an Economics major but they only transferring roughly 40 of my credits which means I would need to do an extra semester which would give me a better shot at SA recruiting with how pushed back it is.
However, I got my financial aid package back and got roughly $7k in grants for the year, and $15,000 in loans from the governement which means I would need around another $30,000 in private loans for the 19-20 year -- in total I would run up upwards of $100,000 in debt. My other option is to just attend a small liberal arts college in my city that's ranked around 200 but has suprsingly sends 5-10 students a year into finance positions due to an established finance club they have.
I'm just getting cold feet because I didn't realize I would need to take out this much in loans for UVA so I need some help weighing the risk vs reward in terms of how well it can help getting my a job in IB. If it helps, I've also done two internships at boutique private equity firms so since my freshman year of community I had an idea of how networking would help and all that. Most of the time when I applied to bigger name internships my resume was trashed instantly because I didn't have a real school name but the smaller banks gave me interviews.
You've left out a key detail which is how much debt you'll take on to attend the small liberal arts college? The $100k for UVA is steep and you're right not to rush into it, but on the other hand and econ degree there will open a lot of doors.
One thing to consider: You don't want to compromise your grades, but you might think about whether you can squeeze those extra credits in in four semesters (or this summer) or something. Can also look into work study, or working part time at S&P Global (in Charlottesville) during the school year, or some other creative way to keep the cost down.
Zero! I will say in my city there are literally only two things going on -- there's an investment bank and asset management/hedge fund. There is a club at this liberal arts college which seems to do an amazing jobs of sending almost all their students to intern at one or the other. The firm I'm interning for attended a meeting there, and the interns there were all from that same college. Aside from that, it's going to take an insane amount of luck + networking to land something outside of it.
I don't mind working during school -- it just becomes a matter of juggling social life, academics, networking, etc
UVA has pretty good alum network so if it gets you a finance job you want, the debt is a good investment.
If you have to take extra classes, repeat classes from community college. Easy to earn good grades without doing too much work while leaving you time to network and rehearse for interviews.
Yeah from what I've collected from other UVa students is that a ton of banks do resume drops/OCR..
I don't normally advise people going into debt for college. However, UVA is one of the few public universities worth going into that amount of debt for in my opinion (alongside Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan, Georgia Tech)
Your on-campus and off-campus recruiting prospects are nearly unlimited. All of the consulting firms (MBB on down), all of the banks, all of the Fortune 500. Just really kick ass on your grades and make college and recruiting a full time job so that you make it worth the money.
this guy fucks
can confirm :)
Even if I end up graduating as class of 2021? I've been trying to get on the campuses' recruiting app but even then I don't have a GPA. Not sure if recruiting is even a thing post third year summer.
bump
I would say generally UVA places better than UCLA, especially for New York, due to having an undergrad Business School and a larger alumni base in Banking. However, UCLA has far fewer people aiming to do Banking and places well on the West Coast, so the difference probably isn't that large. If you're a top student getting relevant internships (i.e. boutique ib sophomore summer) then you'll be in a good spot from either.
For the record, I'm a UCLA student going to an EB. PM me if you want to know more about recruiting at UCLA.
There is a member on this form who followed a similar path, won't tag him but I'm sure he'll see this. UVa econ is no joke - just a heads up. You'll be spending a lot of time studying.
Go to UVA. As more and more people go to college, the value of having a degree will continue to decline until the only differentiating factor is the name of the school. I'm sure you will have a lot of fun at UVA as well. I think that UVA meets full-need or so they say on their website, so call the financial aid office and see if they can do anything for you. You can't bank on a random club at a random school lol, its a club for christ's sake - every school in the school in the country has a finance club.
If you need any motivation to study Econ at UVA I give you the following video. Sir Paul Tudor Jones is an alumnus of that program. This is a good watch.
Watched it a thousand times! I love that documentary, the funny part is he tried buying all the tapes in circulation to get that video off the internet.
In all seriousness, I'm going to have to do some more research on how to get the remaining money in loans (most likely private) without reaming myself. I honestly will regret passing up on not going to UVa, and I know it.
I was at a complete non target for undergrad - like outside of top 250 schools in US. Couldn't get a job out of undergrad and bit the bullet, took out loans, and got an MSF from a semi target. It worked out and I got an analyst position an asset management firm with about that figure in student loans. I still consider it worth it. Just me two cents.
Avoid the debt as much as possible.
Can you get in-state tuition? I went to a public U and the difference between in-state and out of state tuition was nearly $30k/year so I became a resident. The requirements weren't too bad. 1-2 classes/semester to keep out of the "full-time student" threshold, worked 2 jobs (20+ hrs/week was the minimum requirement), registered my vehicle, and built a track record of paying rent in the state. I know a lot of other students did this too.
Took me 5 years to graduate but saved me a good $50-75k in total.
Well it was at a community college those grades don't really matter after I transfer. I'd like to believe I'm open to most jobs from a non-target, however it just doesn't seem like the case with how competitive recruiting is. Seems like most BB banks and whatnot get all the pull they need from just dropping resumes on campus.
So i assume you don't live in Virginia as it would not be $100k for 2 years in-state tuition? If not, what state do you live in?
I don't live in VA. I don't want to say which state I live in but I will say the schools here are generally not worth going to for finance.
From reading the thread and your comments, it seems to me that you've already hinted you don't want to take on the debt to UVA, which is totally cool!
Just keep in mind if your end goal is high-finance, this will make your recruiting process that much harder, BUT it can be done!
I went from CC to a state school to now a BB, so if you're feeling in your gut (which it looks like), skip UVA + the debt and network your ass off, go to any "campus events" for all banks and start applying to SA 2020 roles NOW.
That's awesome! Did you leave CC off your resume? I found it served as a small talking point in some of my interviews but I can see how it can do more harm than good with companies with extremely talented applicants.
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