Anonymous wrote:I'm re-posting this from another thread discussing VA undergrad business programs, because I'm afraid people might have missed this information.


1) Starting with the freshman 2024 class (so current high school seniors who are applying), McIntire School of Commerce (UVA's undergrad Business School) will be a three-year program -- students will apply their freshman year, not their sophomore year. This has been publicly announced.

(2) Although I'm not sure it has it has been publicly announced, UVA also plans to start offering a Business/Commerce minor.

These are significant and much-needed changes in my opinion. When considering schools, students still need to consider that even if they clear the challenging UVA admittance hurdle, they still might not be able to "major in Business", i.e., gain admission into McIntire (admission rate has been @60%), but now students will know at the end of their freshman year and if they are not admitted and still interested in business, they have the option of a Business Minor. It's also important in light of the fact that many undergrad business programs are four-year programs.

As an aside, although referred to as the "Commerce School", McIntire is UVA's undergrad "Business School" and it directly competes with/and is considered one of the best business programs among every other undergraduate business program no matter what they are called.

Anonymous wrote:UVA just does this to fill their liberal arts majors with high stat students. If they had direct admit, they would fill their business majors with high stat kids, and the rejected high stat kids would go to other business schools. Then the school would be stuck with filling their liberal arts majors with kids that actually want to do liberal arts or lower stat kids. It seems like a great strategy to boost the GPA of overall school and help with rankings. Their liberal art degree outcomes don't fare that much better from other flagship state schools. You have outliers that do really well, but those usually have paired their liberal art major with a tech/math-heavy degree or are the best of the best and snagged a great internship with some luck.

Anonymous wrote:So now it is a three-year vs two-year program. The school of commerce at UVA is $10K more per year, does this mean they will start charging it a year earlier?

Anonymous wrote:If UVA intended to offer undergraduate business programs, they would have housed them within Darden. McIntire is not officially designated as a business school by UVA. So, why are you referring to it as such?

Anonymous wrote:UVA obviously thought about doing direct admits as part of whatever process led to this change. It still thinks telling kids enrolled that they can’t major in business is a totally fine thing to do. Other schools do it. Frankly, it sucks and if my kid wanted to major in business I would advise against UVA and W&M for this reason. Lots of things can happen freshman year. College is a huge adjustment. Having the pressure of applying to get into their major a year after the stress of applying to get into college — no, thank you. I’d rather my kid go to a lower ranked school but have a better shot at good mental health.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Attending UVA remains a gamble; however, the difference lies in learning your fate in the first year instead of the second, unlike schools such as VT or Kelley, which offer direct admission.

I agree with this. We know so many kids who had to change their major after not getting in. Kids with high GPAs at UVA who would have easily gotten in in the past.

UVA is being smart about this. Studies have shown that between 60 and 80 percent of all students change their major at least once (mine included!) so direct admit programs result in too many kids transferring out

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Attending UVA remains a gamble; however, the difference lies in learning your fate in the first year instead of the second, unlike schools such as VT or Kelley, which offer direct admission.

I agree with this. We know so many kids who had to change their major after not getting in. Kids with high GPAs at UVA who would have easily gotten in in the past.

Anonymous wrote:Attending UVA remains a gamble; however, the difference lies in learning your fate in the first year instead of the second, unlike schools such as VT or Kelley, which offer direct admission.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: OP -I had read last week that this was not starting until 2028 (it was buried in the fine print of the article). Have I got that wrong

I was told by UVA personnel that they planned to roll it out next year, but I was surprised it was not announced when they announced the change in the McIntire program. I've only seen the website and Cavalier Daily announcements and have not seen the article that references 2028 -- that is quite a delay from what UVA apparently was planning.