From Economics to AIS: Finding the Right Direction for Me at SCU Leavey

Hi everyone! I’m Sandy, an honors student at the SCU Leavey School of Business, currently finishing my sophomore year and preparing to enter my junior year.

During my freshman year, I studied Economics at a university in another U.S. state. Later, after reconsidering my academic interests and future direction, I decided to transfer to Santa Clara University and join the Leavey School of Business, where I now major in Accounting & Information Systems (AIS) and minor in Music.

After coming to SCU, I gradually realized that this university not only aligns more closely with my career goals, but also offers a learning and campus experience that feels much better suited to me.

01 | Silicon Valley Location and Industry Connections

I’m sure many people have heard of Silicon Valley. You may have seen it mentioned in the news, or heard the name in movies and TV shows. But if you ask me why I chose SCU, I would probably start with those two words.

What makes Silicon Valley unique is not simply the fact that so many major companies are based here. More importantly, the entire region has developed an environment known as “knowledge spillover.”

Simply put, talent, ideas, and technology are constantly moving between companies, and the pace of change here is much faster than in many other places.

For SCU, which is located in the heart of Silicon Valley, this geographic advantage directly influences the university’s academic environment and resources. Because the school is so close to industry, it can better understand the skills and talent companies actually need. Students also have more direct exposure to the latest industry trends, technological developments, and changes in the business world.

This is one of the main reasons I chose SCU.

As a relatively small but highly focused university, SCU may not be huge in size, but its connection with industry is very strong. The university regularly hosts:

• Career Fairs

• Networking Events

• Industry Talks, where professionals working in the field come directly into the classroom to share their experiences

Part of this comes from SCU’s strong alumni network. Many graduates go on to work at major technology companies and well-known businesses across Silicon Valley. The alumni community is closely connected, and many alumni are genuinely willing to support students from their alma mater.

At the same time, SCU itself maintains close geographic and professional ties with Silicon Valley companies. Many companies not only participate in university recruiting events, but also work with the business school through initiatives such as industry advisory boards, giving students direct exposure to current and practical industry experience.

I really enjoy this kind of learning environment that feels “close to the real world.”

Compared with a more theory-focused style of education, I want to connect business and technology with what is actually happening in the world around me.

I’m interested not only in business itself, but also in understanding what companies need today, how industries are changing, and how the knowledge we learn can create a genuine real-world impact.

In Silicon Valley, that sense of reality becomes very tangible. You begin to realize that the companies, projects, and opportunities driving major changes across industries may be only a short drive away from campus.

The first time I truly realized this was after a Career Fair. As I walked back to my dorm after the event, it suddenly occurred to me that the companies I had previously only seen in the news were actually right here, incredibly close to me.

Where else would I have so many opportunities to meet representatives from major companies face-to-face?

You start to realize that “real impact” is not some distant concept. It is something you may genuinely have the chance to participate in yourself.

That is one of the things that attracts me most to SCU.

02 | A Learning Style Closer to the Real Business World

Beyond its location in Silicon Valley, another aspect of the SCU Leavey School of Business that really appeals to me is its strong emphasis on practical learning.

Class sizes at SCU are generally quite small. Most of my courses have around 25 to 28 students, although the exact number varies depending on the class.

This small-class environment means there is much more room for classroom discussion, interaction with professors, and active participation in projects.

One thing that has impressed me most is that almost every business course includes some form of group project.

Compared with purely theoretical learning, these projects feel much more like simulations of collaboration and decision-making in a real business environment. Many of them can even be included on a résumé, but more importantly, they genuinely allow students to gain practical experience.

For example, take our ACTG 12 course.

In ACTG 12, my teammates and I worked on a major project that lasted several weeks.

We imagined ourselves as the founding team of a start-up and developed a complete business plan for a food truck called “Rolling Veggie.”

We had to forecast the company’s operations over the next 14 months, including monthly costs, revenue, profitability, and when the company would eventually reach its break-even point.

This was the first time I truly realized that business numbers are not simply abstract theories. They are built on extensive market research, data analysis, and real-world logic.

Throughout the project, we constantly had to think about questions such as:

• Can the company operate sustainably?

• How should we adjust the cost structure?

• How can we improve profitability?

• Which decisions could affect the company’s long-term development?

These are exactly the kinds of questions a real start-up needs to think seriously about before it even launches.

When you actually start working through them, you suddenly realize that starting a company is much more complicated than simply “having a good idea.”

I still remember the last few days of the project. My teammates and I kept revising our Excel file in the group chat, discussing one cost figure late into the night, and finally rushing to submit everything right before the deadline.

When I looked at the break-even curve, I suddenly thought: these numbers from our textbook can actually help predict whether a company will survive.

In addition to the financial analysis, we also had to prepare a presentation and create a promotional video.

The video component was more marketing-oriented. We had to think about how to attract the audience’s attention and make them interested in our project within a limited amount of time.

The presentation, meanwhile, felt more like a real business pitch. We needed to use the most effective information and data to clearly communicate the value of our project.

It didn’t feel like we were simply “finishing an assignment.”

It felt like I was actually experiencing what business is like.

At the same time, these group projects gradually taught me how to collaborate more efficiently with others, including task allocation, document integration, time management, and communicating with people who have different personalities and ways of thinking.

Small class sizes also make the relationship between students and professors much closer.

Professors are often able to genuinely remember each student and are usually willing to spend time discussing not only academic questions, but also career paths and future plans.

Compared with a huge lecture hall, I personally prefer this kind of learning environment where you can build real connections.

Even outside official office hours, students can often reach out and schedule a time to speak with professors.

This kind of personalized learning experience is something I really value at SCU.

03 | Why I Chose AIS

When it came to choosing a major, I spent a lot of time thinking about what direction would suit me best.

Eventually, I chose Accounting & Information Systems (AIS).

You might wonder: why AIS rather than a more common business major such as Finance or Marketing?

First, as an international student, I pay close attention to the long-term development potential of a major and the career opportunities it may offer.

One particularly attractive feature of the SCU Leavey School of Business is that it offers STEM-designated business programs.

Many business schools do not offer STEM-designated undergraduate business majors, but at SCU, programs such as AIS and Business Analytics (BA) are STEM-designated.

For international students, this means the possibility of a longer period of Optional Practical Training (OPT) after graduation, providing more time to gain work experience, explore industries, and develop a career direction.

But compared with the employment advantage itself, what matters more to me is the way AIS teaches you to think.

I gradually realized that what truly attracted me was never simply abstract numbers like “how many extra months of OPT do I get?” or “what is the employment rate?”

What really matters to me is this question:

Can I understand what is actually happening inside a company?

One of the reasons I chose Accounting is because I have always believed that:

Accounting is the “fundamental language” of the business world.

Many business career paths are built on a strong understanding of financial information and business logic.

After studying accounting, you can still move into fields such as finance, investment banking, consulting, and many other areas.

But the reverse is not always true. Someone who has only studied finance may not necessarily have a deep understanding of accounting systems.

Accounting is not simply about “recording numbers.” It is more like a language and framework for understanding how businesses actually operate.

And learning that language takes time.

When people talk about accounting, some may think it is little more than bookkeeping. Especially today, as AI and big data continue to develop rapidly, you may also hear people say that many accounting-related tasks will eventually be automated.

Maybe you have heard people around you say the same thing.

But that is exactly why AIS is becoming even more important.

AI itself cannot replace human business judgment.

To use AI tools effectively, you first need to understand how businesses operate and how financial systems are structured.

Only when you know how to analyze a problem and how to interpret data can AI truly become a tool that improves your efficiency, rather than something that simply replaces human work.

The Information Systems component of AIS has also helped me see how closely connected business and technology have become.

If accounting focuses on recording and organizing business data, Information Systems goes a step further by asking:

• How can we analyze this data?

• How can we use technology to understand the information?

• How can data support business decision-making?

It is not simply about “working with numbers.”

It is about helping companies make more accurate and effective business decisions.

I’ve increasingly realized that modern business can no longer be separated from technology.

Companies today are not simply looking for people who understand business. They need people who can understand both business and technology and, more importantly, connect the two.

AIS is exactly that kind of field.

It helps me build stronger business thinking and analytical skills while also bringing me closer to the capabilities and knowledge that industries actually need today.

For me, AIS is more than just a major.

It is the direction I hope to continue pursuing in the future.

Final Thoughts

If you are also considering transferring schools, or if you have just arrived at SCU, you may want to hear a little about how the experience has felt for me.

One of the biggest changes since transferring to SCU is that I have started to understand much more clearly what kind of learning environment truly works for me, as well as the direction I want to pursue in the future.

Compared with an education that remains primarily theoretical, I prefer an environment that stays closely connected with real industries.

Whether it is the industry resources that come from being located in Silicon Valley, the highly interactive classroom experience created by small class sizes, or the way AIS integrates business and technology, all of these things have helped me realize that business is not something disconnected from the real world.

It is something that can genuinely influence the world around us.

That is what attracts me most to SCU.

SCU has helped me realize that what I learn in class can actually connect with the real world, and that opportunities that once seemed very far away may actually be much closer than I imagined.

This time, I mainly wanted to share why I chose SCU and why I chose AIS.

If I have the opportunity in the future, I would also love to share more about my campus life at SCU, student activities, and other real experiences as a student here.