Admissions Blog: How Sweet Briar grads are winning at outcomes

If you’re a Sweet Briar engineering major, chances are you’ll land that first job long before graduation. After all, internships are mandatory, and in many cases, those first experiences open the door to subsequent job offers. Not a math whiz? Don’t despair. Sweet Briar students across all disciplines have a strong track record of getting into coveted graduate programs or securing a full-time job before May rolls around. Within six months of graduation, more than 90 percent are successful.

Our secret is simple: Small, interactive classes with one-on-one research opportunities from day one; strong support from dedicated professors who become lifelong friends; and a comprehensive focus on career readiness. Our award-winning career services office helps students connect with alumnae mentors in various industries for internship and job leads.

The numbers speak for themselves: About 80 percent of Sweet Briar students complete at least one internship, and nearly 40 percent study abroad. And they’re bound to get even better. Starting this fall, our new academic calendar will include two three-week intensive sessions to make room for the kind of learning you can’t just get in a classroom. What’s more, every student will be eligible for up to $2,000 to fund an experiential learning opportunity such as internships and study abroad.

Where’s the proof, you ask? Here are some of our rock stars in the Class of 2018:


Shelby Benny


Shelby Benny will wrap up her bachelor’s degree after just three years and is headed to the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law this fall. Last spring, Shelby traveled to Germany to complete research for her Pannell Scholarship on the origins of World War II. Earlier this year, the history and classics double major presented a paper on “Game of Thrones” at the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association Conference in Albuquerque, N.M.


Claire Zak in Rome in 2017


Claire Zak was accepted to Texas A&M University’s Department of Anthropology for a Ph.D. program in nautical archaeology. She plans to focus on Old World seafaring and shipwrecks, especially of the Classical era. Claire did some field work with Sweet Briar professors in Kazakhstan during the summer of 2016 and participated in an archaeological conservation field school in Italy last summer.


Emily Dodson


Emily Dodson will be working at M&T Bank in their Management Development Program in Richmond. “I found this program by attending a UVa Job Fair in September with career services, and I was seriously talking to a total of three companies,” says the business major and environmental studies minor. Several interviews later, Emily sealed the deal: “My goal was to have a job by Christmas, but instead, I had a job by Thanksgiving!” In addition to utilizing Sweet Briar’s career resources, Emily studied abroad with the Virginia Program at Oxford.

Follow Sweet Briar on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for more Class of 2018 success stories in the coming weeks!