Can you ever be equal? Outlook not so good.

Every school seems to have their specific program that they look down upon. For engineers, its mechanical; Business, its marketing, and Arts, its communications. Bless the nurses for not being so conceited. However the Art students seem to have it the worst because they get the brunt of the three other schools. But is it rightfully so? Business students brag that they are the #11 business school in the country, engineers are #10 respectively, and the nursing program is even more competitive to get into due to its small class sizes. Even more, the said programs can brag of 21st century buildings such as Bartley, CEER and Driscoll, while the Arts students have White, John Barry and the dreaded Tolentine Hall.

So when I’m asked if Arts students can really be considered equal, the answer is a pretty blatant “No”. However, in my personal opinion, “Who really cares?” Every one of us goes to Villanova University. While we may receive different degrees, we all have one of the most respectable Catholic Universities on our resume. And that name, Villanova, is what will inevitably separate us from the pact and not only make us successful in our respective professions, but as future husbands, wives, and parents as well.

For the most part, I think the Villanova students understand this. Those students that complain that they don’t receive the same attention as Business students are either just seeking attention, or are upset that they are still undecided. I’ve never heard a Business student complain that Engineers get credit for being the smartest kids in the school. One, because it’s true. Engineers have higher average SATs just like Business has higher average SATs than arts students. Two, because business students live for business and have no desire to be an engineer, and visa versa. Arts students, have to be less concerned with rankings, and more concerned with their GPAs. I’ve heard time and time again of Arts students receiving offers from JP Morgan and UBS, so in the end, job offers come down to your grades and your character, not your school.

I’ve had the distinct pleasure of living with a Poly Sci major for the last three years. He’ll be the first to tell you, he gave up defending the Arts program years ago. We now live on West with two other business students and he’ll often ask us “why you guys all dressed up” and we’ll respond “uhh, we are in the business school”. But, he never seems to mind. Why? Because he enjoys Poly Sci and he has no desire to be in the business school. He has also participated in Blue Key, SPO, Day of Service and ROTC. That’s what he enjoys doing and he’s very good at it. I’m in Fixed Income Society, Equity Society, the Investment Banking Club and am in a fraternity. That’s what I enjoy doing.

We are very different and on very different career paths. However, we’ve survived three years together by understanding each other’s goals not getting caught up in the competitive nature that is college.

I think everyone should try our theory as well. Until the walls of Tolentine have fallen to the ground, the Arts students will never receive “equal” recognition as business students. And until Wall St. has been built back up, well, just be happy you are an Arts student.

——————–

Andrew Esposito is a junior finance major from Port Washington, N.Y. He can be reached at [email protected].