USC-Marshall, UT-Austin-McCombs, UVA-McIntire
As an international transfer student, I just got into USC-Marshall and UT-Austin-McCombs and was waitlisted by UVA-McIntire.
I'm like 90% sure that I can get into McIntire since they mostly look at spring grades for those on the waitlist and my GPA is still 4.0 for the spring term. The decisions will probably be released in early June.
Now assume I'm accepted by McIntire. Which one should I choose, between McIntire and McCombs? I've already turned down Marshall and paid deposit for McCombs (Due 25th).
Cost: Almost the same for me as an international student.
Program (Finance major with an econ minor, I probably can't do a minor at UVA):
I feel McCombs's finance program is slightly better than UVA's and FAP will be my goal if I decide to attend Austin. But I have to compete with students from BHP in McCombs to get job offers and into FAP. Especially for FAP application, the fact that I wasn't in McCombs for the first two years might put me at a disadvantage. However, McIntire's is a two-year program, which means all entering students are basically the same (I mean there is no difference between honors and non-honors). And I also like their ICE program. So it can be a non-BHP, non-FAP McCombs graduate v.s. McIntire grad.
I think ICE is more general while a finance major in McCombs (they have different tracks and I prefer to do quantitative finance track) will give me a deeper and better understanding of a specific area of finance. Overall, I feel I will gain more knowledge from the finance program in McCombs while I will have more opportunities to work in teams and develop more soft skills in McIntire.
Career Service: Both undergraduate programs provide great career services but since the graduate programs at McCombs are much better than those at McIntire, I feel McCombs may have a better career service.
Size: McIntire is wayyyyyy smaller than McCombs, so is UVA to UT.
University: Personally, I love UVA more than UT-Austin. But UT-Austin is better-known around the world and also in my country.
Thanks in advance for your help.
where do you want to work? USC places fine in LA/SF even
Stick with McCombs mayne
Austin!
McIntire > Marshall > McCombs but your only waitlisted for UVA so don't get your hopes up
There are 239 applicants* (both Americans and international students) competing for around 40 spots in McIntire while there are around 300 international applicants competing for 15-20 spots in McCombs. Also, past stats show that it's relatively harder to get into McCombs as a transfer.
http://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/BBA/Prospective/Admission/External-Transf…
http://www.commerce.virginia.edu/admissions/undergraduate/Pages/transfe…
I think the reason for being waitlisted by McIntire is that I had one pre-course in progress and I'm an international student :(.
*From UVA's transfer blog
really depends on where you wanna work, but UVA = McCombs BHP > McCombs (non-BHP) = Marshall
That is the precise formula
Cali taxes the hell out of you, has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, and is going through a budget crisis. Not to mention USC competes with Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford, and Claremont. Texas has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation with 12 of the nation's top cities to work in terms of job growth (small/mid/large categories), low taxes, and UT mostly just competes with Rice and A&M (who we all know is not near the other 2). Considering these facts, I would not pass up McCombs for Marshall, maybe not even McIntire (but that would be more of a debate).
Just some FAP info for you from McCombs. The numbers for last years new class (apply in fall, start in spring of junior year) were more non-BHP students vs BHP. This is due to the fact that BHP is full of all business majors and Texas is a big accounting school with the best MPA program in the country. This fact alone attracts a huge number of BHP students to the MPA program. Many BHP students are also pre-law, pre-med, engineering, plan II (another honors degree), etc...
If you are overly worried about getting into FAP as an international student, don't be. The director of the program, Dr. Kamm, is all about taking the best talent, period. You have a 4.0 so that will impress plenty. A 4.0 has become a rare thing at Texas with the new +/- system they are using. If you choose McCombs, do so knowing that the finance department is great and that there are many tracks within McCombs for a finance major to find a job in high finance.
Plus, its hard to beat Austin, Texas.
I didn't choose USC mainly because of the safety issues.
@Conan Sobroen, thanks! I have confidence in getting into FAP and I can't agree more that the finance department in McCombs is great.
McIntire attracts me a lot mainly because 1. it's a two-year program and I'm a junior transfer 2. It's at UVA 3. their ICE program seems great. McCombs: 1. Finance has various tracks and I really want to do quantitative finance 2. FAP
UVA places great into NYC. UT is the #1 feeder for Houston, and a good number make it to SF and NY as well every year.
UVA McIntire=UT McCombs BHP>UT McCombs=USC Marshall
Actually I feel McCombs's finance is much better than Marshall's, right?
All of these schools are basically the same. If you didn't get a good job at School X you wouldn't have at School Y or Z.
I agree. But if I get a good job at School X, will I get a better job at Y or Z?
Unlikely. These schools have a massive overlap in recruitment. It really depends on where you want to work. If it's Texas, McCombs is the place to be as it has the least competition. UVA probably has the most competition since it's competing with Duke/Ivies/MIT/Amherst/KF. USC is in an odd position. Though it competes with UCLA/Cal/Stanford for jobs, somehow (from what I've seen), they don't eat into each other as much as you might think (at least according to their job placement stats).
Since you are transferring, McCombs isn't really better than Marshall. I was recently accepted into Marshall as a transfer student and neglected to apply to McCombs because McCombs excluding BHP isn't really as good as people on here make it out to be.
I have a few friends who transferred to McCombs who have 3.7+ GPAs and pretty good job experience/extracurriculars yet can't get top offers. They tell me most of the top gigs go to the BHP kids. I'm skeptical of the accuracy of these anecdotes, but I do know that they're not lying about their GPAs (as I've seen their transcripts). To go to McCombs, get a 3.7+ GPA, have a 4.0 from a 4-year university (before transferring) and still end up at a back office place is pathetic.
Go to UVA. Start on an even ground. You're going to put yourself at a disadvantage at McCombs. Despite everything I say, you could still come out with an awesome gig at McCombs (like I stated earlier), but it's silly to make things harder for yourself. If you were an employer, would you take the 3.7+ BHP kid (and yes, it will be a 3.5+ easily. BHP classes are heavily grade inflated) or the 3.7+ McCombs transfer student?
My personal ranking of these schools is:
McIntire > McCombs BHP > Marshall >= McCombs
But really man, it doesn't matter where you go. If you go to McCombs and don't get a job, it won't be because the BHP kids took your jobs. Likewise with McIntire and Marshall.
This list looks pretty solid, especially if you plan to live on the East Coast after graduation. USC isn't even on the map, and the UVA name beats out Texas' silly honors program.
UVA > BHP > McCombs > USC
"Start on an even ground". That's what I'm thinking.
Don't kid yourself, USC Marshall is 9th for UG. you'll be a fool to turn them down
Sunt quasi dolore ipsa dolorem natus magnam. Est asperiores delectus sunt tempore molestias consequatur.
Quibusdam earum recusandae veritatis quia odio dolorem nulla maiores. Totam et porro id iure alias omnis.
Ut aut ab adipisci dolorem saepe minima deserunt. Debitis sed dolor qui magni.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...