I know how important this decision is for our kids, so I wanted to let you know that I actually went on LinkedIn and did searches for UMD and VA Tech business school graduates and UVA Econ and McIntire graduates. You may want to do so also. It was very insightful.
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What did you find outâŠ
I mostly looked at the type of industries and line of work people fell into over the span of their careers. I donât want to generalize without hardcore facts. Its one of those things that has been helpful as a resource in a subjective way. It might be helpful in the decision making process.
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My oldest is pursuing an accounting major and that is one of the reasons he did not apply to UVA. In fact, Iâve heard a few (not recent) McIntire graduates say they would not send their kid to UVA to pursue accounting. Not because it isnât great, but because itâs a 50/50 shot.
As a parent who is fairly naĂŻve to the world of business majors (Stem grad) I am finding that accounting is one those majors that is great because they depend on interns and the internship pathway is pretty clear. Furthermore, you donât need the UVA label to find good internships in accounting, like you do for IB or Private Equity or Consulting. Iâve got an accounting major at a lower tier school who has had two part-time internships during their Spring Sophomore and Spring junior years; summer internship as a rising junior and will intern for a Big 4 this coming summer. Lots of opportunities for a motivated accounting student. Iâve got another student at UVA, who will likely pursue Econ, who wasnât interested in accounting. Their path to internships will likely be more uphill.
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Thank you! I really needed to hear this from someone who already took a similar path that weâre about to take. I did notice a lot of UMD/VT grads in the accounting-related fields. Also, thereâs a whole STEM side to accounting now that you might be able to guide your children through given your background. Iâm eventually going to research that a bit more too given that my D was torn between a business major and doing a science instead.
Just want to share a resource that might be helpful for those interested. The UVA Outcomes Report lets you see career information, including industries and employers, for recent grads. You can limit the returns to a specific school/college and major at the top. The industries and list of employers who hired students from the College and McIntire are similar. Thereâs grad school info there as well.
If you havenât used Tableau to manipulate data before, itâll take a bit to get used to the menus.
Other reports that might be of interest:
Summer Plans Report
Employer Engagement Report
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Shouldnât be difficult to get a great internship from EconâŠjust contact career office in Econ department. Theyâll help with simulated interviews and resume as well as suggestions for internships. Mine had no problem landing multiple offers for internships and ultimately jobs.
Regarding career placement, one should also assess the type of position in addition to the name of employer. I attended a regional university a few decades ago, back when financial aid was relatively new, where admission to a better ivy was competitive with a 1400 SAT. Adding a varsity sport made one golden.
With the exception of accounting at my regional school, all other business majors went into sales for the most part. Since there were many, many more banks and S&Ls back then, some finance majors secured positions in credit analyst training programs. Accounting was the main business major to avoid falling into sales. With the advent of Visi-calc, then Lotus 1-2-3, and then Excel, other business majors have become more quantitative and some/many offer higher income potential than accounting today. Accounting was the path to COO and then CEO but is now more a support level occupation. There are pluses and negatives to this but it boils down to what one likes.
I urge people to check placement to see if their degree and major are strong enough to get them into a training program and avoid going into sales. I tell my children to pick something thatâs the cross section of their interests, personality, and ability. With the exception of some high risk arts occupations, thereâs a higher chance in using this method that theyâll pick something where they will excel. The career and money will follow.
Did your accepted letter actually state specifically that they got accepted to Engineering. My DSâs acceptance letter, just said congratulations on acceptance. He applied to Engineering. His other acceptance letters state the school specifically/major he got accepted into. Just trying to figure out the letter.
Heâs a man of few words, and I think what he said amounted to a text like âaccepted UVA engineering.â But I will ask him later 
S24s acceptance letter didnât specify a school. All of his prospective majors (applied math, Econ and physics) are in school of arts and sciences, though.
UVA only does direct admit to a couple of programs - I think kinesiology and nursing, maybe some others. Otherwise you can choose any major as long as you meet the requirements.
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Each studentâs choice of school/college is at the top of the portal (just under the picture). They are admitted to their school of choice.
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Thanks!
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Experienced families, what wisdom can you share about housing? I see from the CDS that 99% of 1st year students live on campus, but that only 38% of undergrads do otherwise.
So starting sophomore year is it a mad scramble and a nightmare to actually find off-campus housing? Or is there a ton of stuff available and itâs just a matter of going through the process?
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I am not an âexpert familyâ but I think the mad scramble is a lot sooner than that. A friend recently complained of the difficulty of signing a housing contract by October of freshman year, when you have barely (if at all) sorted out who your friends are.
I an a HUGE fan of schools that require on campus housing for 2 years!
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I had seen these statistics, and when we visited I asked about this (since housing availability and pricing is an important issue). I had assumed that the 38% figure implied limited on-campus housing availability. To my great surprise, the guides said that you could stay in on-campus housing for up to all four years if you choose, i.e. if you are in on-campus housing one year, you are entitled to stay for the next (but if you go off-campus, you arenât guaranteed to be able to get back on). Presumably this only works because many choose to go off-campus, so there is enough for those who want to stay. I donât really know though (RD app here, so donât have results and so havenât looked deeply). There are FAQs here
https://housing.virginia.edu/first-year-faq
https://housing.virginia.edu/upperclass-faq
I donât think this is an accurate statement unless youâre considering the roles of CFO, CAO, Partners, and VPs as support functions. CEO and COO are more operational functions to begin with. Itâs really a matter of what path the person chooses to take in their career with an accounting degree. The way you state it makes accounting sound more like a limitation, and that is not the case. Also, I think the average person has a very narrow view of what accounting is. Itâs not invoices, bookkeeping, and tax preparation. Thereâs a whole regulatory, technical, and system side to accounting that CPAs work with. When I tell people what I do, most of the time, it goes right over their head.
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This is perpetuated by landlords/management companies and students who feel they must live in a few of the off-grounds apartment complexes that are super popular. The popular complexes change over time. Student Council has tried to get people not to sign in October in the past, but there are always some who believe the hype.
Youâll see buildings advertising vacancies well into the summer. The enticements increase and prices often go down if you wait. You may hear about people in the same complex paying different rents due to when they signed their leases.
Btw, search for âmove in nowâ buildings on the off-grounds housing search and youâll see plenty of places are still trying to rent units (obv there are sublets as well on there).
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Or even better, guarantee it for all four years. At least as an option
In the end of course I wouldnât choose a school or not based on this. More of a âthing I definitely want to have my eyes wide open aboutâ before committing.
This also works for me, thanks!
I shouldnât be surprised, but am glad to see a site like this. Michigan has one too as it turns out.