Purdue's Daniel's School of Business vs. VT Pamplin

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Major - At Purdue is would be Quantitative Business Economics, VT is Management Consulting and Analytics

We are OOS for both so VT ends up being about $15K more expensive for total CoA. Not a huge factor, but a consideration. DS likes vibe at both schools and could see himself at either or. We are from the NYC area so travel to either isn’t much of a factor since there are many flight options.

Questions - how is the rigor at both business schools? Is one harder than the other? Are there weed out classes that are very difficult? How much help do either provide in terms of job placement for internships and full-time positions. I don’t think my DS has a preference in terms of Chicago vs VA area so that’s not a factor. He’s a good student, but I worry about the weed out classes and rigor of academics and want him to pick a school where he will do well and succeed (obviously, he needs to put in the effort).

Thanks for any insights!

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Meant Pamplin

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I have a recent Purdue engineering grad who took a number of her elective classes in the the business school but no experience with VT, so I can’t do a first hand compare/contrast. I’ll put my Purdue thoughts below!

Purdue’s culture is very collaborative (even in engineering) and even more so in the business school. The only class that could be somewhat considered a weed out would be Calc because of the way they are graded. If your child has AP calc credit and feels confident with the Purdue final exams that are posted on line, my advice would be to use the AP credit and not retake. If there is no AP credit, just make sure that he goes to the help room, study sessions, review sessions, etc… He can also elect to take it with an extra recitation for deeper review. There are lots and lots of supports, students just need to reach out and use them.

My daughter found her business school econ classes to be very straight forward (but again she was an engineering major with a much heavier math background and I think rigor is sometimes in the eye of the beholder).

Our experience with Purdue is that they have a very high retention rate because they do their pre-screen in advance upon accepting students. If your student was accepted, it’s because he can successfully do the work. Again, he should be prepared to go to study sessions, office hours and join a study/project group from day 1 (don’t wait until something is hard or he starts struggling). It’s a great way to meet professors and develop some one on one relationships too.

Purdue has one of the largest career fairs in the country, is very career readiness focused, and their Office of Professional Practice and Career Center are excellent. IMO, this is one of Purdue’s biggest strengths. A job won’t be handed to your son though but there is a lot of support if it’s sought out.

The advice my D received was to come with an interview suit from day one, and go to the Career Center during freshman orientation to polish the resume and develop an elevator pitch. They also will help with practice interviews. The first career fair happens one month into the school year. Go to that career fair and talk to the companies that don’t have lines of students to practice, build confidence, and have some conversations. There is a business specific career fair in February. Go freshman year too. There won’t be that many companies hiring but it only takes one and again, it’s good practice!

I’m a big fan of co-ops. Those are typically easier for freshmen to obtain earlier on and it’s a 3 semester commitment to the same company. That does leave at least two other summers to work at different companies to gain other experiences. I’m not sure how popular co-ops are at Daniels so I’d ask that question (internships and coops are listed but again, not sure how many participate).

Lastly, your son won’t necessarily be relegated to working in Chicago. My D’s coop rotations took her GA, OH, and CO and internships in IN and PA. Her first job rotation was in the Chicagoland area but she knew it would be temporary and she lives in NC now. Her Purdue friends are all over the country.

I hope someone with a current Daniels student will chime in as well as someone with VT experience!

Congrats to your son on two wonderful options! IMO, he doesn’t have a wrong choice. Best of luck to him on the decision!

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Thank you so much for the detailed reply! Quick question on the co-op that your D had. You mentioned it’s 3 semesters - did she take time off of school for her co-op and then come back to finish classes? What semester did she start her co-op?

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Just looking at data from 2923 majors, Va Tech shows 69% employed. 40% not. Not enough job info.

I don’t see that major in the Purdue job board.

My first thought on reading the message was Purdue - but only because a major called Management Consulting doesn’t meet the norm. And companies seek specific majors.

Both are very nice. Both will pose a challenge getting to. See if there are non stops from home to Roanoke. There will be to Indy.

Both will place nationwide if that’s what the student wants.

Best of luck. Two outstanding choices.

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The co-op timing can vary depending on length and major. My D’s 3 term co-op started the summer after her sophomore year. She then alternated a semester at school with a semester at work. So 8 semesters of classes but spread out over 5 years. Depending on the major, some students are able to still graduate in 4 years even with the co-op but it depends on the course sequencing.

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QBE (they call it Cube) is a net new promising major at Purdue and is very Math/Stats heavy.
The best part about Purdue business school is the ease at which one could switch their major (except to IBE), if one finds their original major not interesting anymore. And most students meet graduation requirements in 3-3.5 years, and many end up double majoring/ masters degree.

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