Quick Start to Business

When receiving my acceptance from Tech, I knew that I wanted to come here to study in the Pamplin College of Business. However, I had no real idea of what major I wanted to pursue. I originally wanted to enroll in Hospitality and Tourism Management but ended up selecting Business Information Technology as my major. So I decided to take a closer look at my top two choices and see which major is the right choice for me; because the decisions you make now can affect your future.

The first major I researched was Hospitality and Tourism Management. This major prepares students for management jobs in fields such as hotels, restaurant corporations, resorts and other tourism corporations. Here at Virginia Tech most of the classes are hospitality management specialized. They also have a good business base and several helpful general university studies prerequisites (Hospitality). I also compared Virginia Tech’s program with Purdue. Purdue’s H&T Management major was ranked number one in 2002 and is still ranked as one of the top H&T management schools today. They look for students who are experiential, theoretical, and analytical in there studies. Both schools branch out into different focuses on H&T Management, these include, but are not limited to: food management, club and resort management, hospitality management, event management, and global tourism management. Both schools set out to have students come out with a set of skills that will lead them to a successful career in the H&T Field. Coming out of college with a H&T Management degree one will be able to manage in several areas of industry. They will also be able to define, identify, and evaluate several business practices of the Hospitality and Tourism field (Purdue).

The second major I researched was Business Information Technology. I looked into Virginia Tech’s program as well as the University of Maryland’s. I’ve also had a lot of experience with Information Technology. In high school I held two internships in different IT departments, one with my high school and the other at a local community college. Virginia Tech’s program focuses on computer systems and measurable modeling techniques (BIT). Maryland has a bit of a altered focus, they look at communications, networking, and computer engineering (University). But both of these degrees focus on business problem solving related to computers and technology. Jobs that could branch from these degrees include: business architect, data scientist, social media architect, mobile technology expert, enterprise mobile developer, IT specialist (Strohmeyer). BIT majors at Virginia Tech are also rated among the top