Saying “Yes” to Opportunities at Whitman Led Student to Find the Right Major in Business Analytics

 Not knowing exactly what program he wanted to go into, Jack Cavanagh ’25 found that the Whitman School of Management not only appealed to him due to its vast alumni network and strong reputation but also gave him the opportunity to study in the new and emerging field of business analytics.

While conversing with other students at Whitman, Cavanagh would eventually find his calling in business analytics (BUA).

“At first glance, my eyes jumped to the most popular majors at Whitman,” Cavanagh says. “I got to talk to a lot of peers about their majors and their choices through joining the business fraternity. I realized that although business analytics was a newer major, it was growing really quickly, and there were growing opportunities for courses within the major.”

With this emerging major, Cavanagh has been able to expand his knowledge in BUA by going on several Whitman-hosted trips, including a trip to East Asia with Professor Eunkyu Lee. This expereince, Cavanagh says, exposed him and other students to how international business markets operate.

“Tokyo was a dream trip for me,and Seoul was an added bonus. It was a great opportunity to visit the mega corporations that exist in East Asian business culture. It was cool to see how completely different it is to the United States’ business culture,” Cavanagh says.

Cavanagh is also the president of the investment club, which he calls “his proudest moment at Whitman. “We created a lot of good speaker opportunities and learning opportunities for other students. I worked with a business analytics professor to host a financial analytics workshop last semester,” Cavanagh says. “There are very exciting things happening in the business analytics major, and there are crossovers with investments and the financial world.”

He stresses that he would not be where he is today at Whitman without networking. “I'd say that the biggest underutilized resource at Whitman is the alumni network. I think a lot of people start to learn how to network outside the school with alumni and other people in the field. Utilizing the professors as resources along with the Career Center and the administration within Whitman is the best thing that you can do for yourself,” Cavanagh says.

Even though Cavanagh came into Whitman undecided, today he has a clear picture of where he wants to end up after graduation: middle-market investment banking.

As for students who may be in the same position that Cavanagh was when he first came to Syracuse, he has a few words of advice. “I don't think anyone's expected to know what they want to do going into school, and the Whitman School is really good at allowing you to experiment within the first two years,” Cavanagh says. “So I'd say, first-year students and sophomores, really put yourself out there. Try a lot of clubs. Try to join a lot of organizations, and really test what you like, what you don't like. See what works for you, what you're good at. I think a lot of people would be surprised what opportunities come out of something so simple as just saying yes. Just go for any opportunity you have available to you.”