VCU vs JMU vs VT for Business

[Anonymous]

Kid in at VCU and just got offered a full tuition scholarship. Still waiting to hear from VT and JMU. Here is my question:

If he is accepted at all 3 schools is VT or JMU substantially better for an undergraduate international business degree? We can do full pay at all 3 but going to VCU would allow us to also help pay for graduate school….

[Anonymous]

VT is a much better school but not sure how big of a difference it will make in terms of employment. VCU has a huge alumni network as well. JMU no better than VCU.

What kind of school is your kid looking for?

[Anonymous]

Everyone is in at VCU. But good school. A city feel. VT has such a following - I don’t get it. But folks seem to like it. JMU is NOVA high school continued. If your kid liked high school, then he/she will like JMU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone is in at VCU. But good school. A city feel. VT has such a following - I don’t get it. But folks seem to like it. JMU is NOVA high school continued. If your kid liked high school, then he/she will like JMU.

VT has a "following" because it is an excellent school. What don't you get about that?

[Anonymous]

Side note…don’t have your kid major in international business. They should major in finance or accounting or something akin to that and they can take some electives related to international taxation or transfer pricing.

International Business as a major is fairly useless.

[Anonymous]

VT is probably better but it ain’t Wharton. VCU is just fine for business compared to VT, especially when it’s free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Side note…don’t have your kid major in international business. They should major in finance or accounting or something akin to that and they can take some electives related to international taxation or transfer pricing.

International Business as a major is fairly useless.

International anything is useless you are in a very small handful of schools that place graduates in that particular field

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:VT is a much better school but not sure how big of a difference it will make in terms of employment. VCU has a huge alumni network as well. JMU no better than VCU.

What kind of school is your kid looking for?

JMU seems to have a larger alumni network in Nova than VCU

[Anonymous]

Focus only on how well these schools do with arranging good internships and full time jobs. The “quality” of the curricula doesn’t matter…and the career placement is its own market judgement on how well students are prepared.

[Anonymous]

I would rank jmu overall as slightly ahead of Vcu but they are all great schools.

Where does your kid want to go? I would value that over almost everything else because they are gonna be the ones that have to adjust to college.

I think all three would come up with a good return for business. Virginia Tech is a decent business school but again it’s not HBS.

[Anonymous]

My kid is in the same boat. Probable business major, looking at all three (plus GMU.) But she doesn't really take the school's academic rank into account. She's just picking the school she felt most at home at during her visits.

I've seen both VT and JMU place well in ranking for undergrad business.i haven't seen VCU mentioned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Focus only on how well these schools do with arranging good internships and full time jobs. The “quality” of the curricula doesn’t matter…and the career placement is its own market judgement on how well students are prepared.

+1

One plus IMO for VCU is the city location makes it more likely you can intern during the school year vs. VT/JMU college towns. OTOH, VT does have a lot of interesting on-campus opportunities to build your resume beyond academics. My son there participated in a program where he worked with a few different professors on data analytics projects. And a couple of his friends had on-campus internships related to their majors.

[Anonymous]

Do your own research. Ask you kid. Visit the schools.

[Anonymous]

VCU feels drastically different than JMU and VT. Some kids love the urban, mixed-in-with-the-city feel. But my own kids would hate it. If it doesn't matter to your son, then a free education seems pretty cool.

[Anonymous]

JMU's business school is better than the other two. In fact, quite a few professors teach at both JMU and UVA. JMU also has an option for a semester abroad specifically for. business majors. Their students are well prepared when they graduate.