Notable programs
McIntire School of Commerce (BS Commerce)
Top three undergraduate business program nationally per Bloomberg and Poets and Quants. Internal admission after second year of college, 350 students per cohort, two-year program with concentrations in finance, marketing, accounting, IT, and management. Direct recruiting pipelines into Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, McKinsey, BCG, Bain, and Big Four consulting at starting compensation of 95,000 to 120,000 dollars.
BA Economics
One of UVA's largest and most respected majors, consistently ranked top 25 nationally. Strong placement into investment banking, consulting, federal economic agencies, and top economics PhD programs. Faculty maintain visible presence in DC policy circles and the Federal Reserve system.
BA Foreign Affairs (Government)
Among the densest public-university pipelines into Capitol Hill, federal agencies, and DC think tanks (Brookings, AEI, CSIS). Larry Sabato's Center for Politics anchors political science visibility. The 90-minute Washington proximity makes internships during the academic year genuinely feasible.
School of Engineering and Applied Science
A respectable mid-tier engineering school within a top public university — strong in systems engineering, biomedical engineering, and computer science, but not at the depth of MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, or Michigan. Recently strengthened by the School of Data Science adjacency.
School of Data Science
Launched as a full school in 2019 and substantially scaled in 2024, offering undergraduate, MS, and PhD pathways. UVA's most credible recent investment in computational disciplines, with growing industry partnerships and a curriculum that integrates statistics, computer science, and domain applications.
BA English (Department of English)
Historically one of UVA's strongest departments, anchored by the Jeffersonian humanistic inheritance and producing distinguished alumni from Edgar Allan Poe forward. Faculty include nationally recognized scholars across American literature, modernism, and rare book studies. The Rare Book School at UVA is a global destination for bibliographic scholarship.
School of Architecture
One of the oldest and most distinctive architecture programs in the United States, shaped by Jefferson's design of The Lawn itself. The studio environment leverages the UNESCO-listed campus as a teaching tool. Strong placement into top architecture firms and graduate programs at Yale, Harvard GSD, and Princeton.