Class of 2025: Ashley Covitz finds home through the CMDA program
Ashley Covitz posed graduation photo.
Name: Ashley Covitz
Major/Minor: Computational modeling and data analytics (CMDA) major, with minors in mathematics and statistics
Hometown: Dublin, Ohio
Plans after graduation: Business intelligence analyst at Medpace (located in Cincinnati, Ohio)
Favorite Hokie memory: Being able to work as a sports analytics intern with Virginia Tech Football and seeing my work make a difference in games!
When selecting what college to attend, some students pick the school first, then worry about their course of study later; others are certain of their intended majors, and choose an institution based on that decision.
Ashley Covitz belongs to the latter group.
“I realized that I was a data analytics major when I made an Excel spreadsheet of all my different universities and all the fun facts that would be remotely interesting to me — anything from freshman retention and starting salaries and class sizes to average temperature and ‘what colors are the university?’”
When it came down to the top three schools with strong undergraduate programs in data analytics, Virginia Tech was the last that Covitz visited — and first in her heart.
“The other two, I could see myself there. I did my research and knew that I was going to have fun, and there were tons of opportunities available. But when I visited Virginia Tech, I just realized, this is home.”
Expanding her horizons
It wasn’t always a given that Covitz would call Virginia Tech home. Before Covid “shut the world down,” she was looking into the possibility of attending an international school. Instead, she committed to spending at least one semester abroad — and with the assistance of her advisors and faculty within CMDA, she was able to make that dream come true twice.
“I think that studying abroad was one of the most life changing experiences, because I think it taught me a lot about myself and a lot about the world,” said Covitz. “Going abroad and seeing the way that people view situations from other perspectives was so beneficial to me.”
Covitz spent the spring semester of her sophomore year in Paris with CIEE (a third-party program), while attending Lancaster University in the United Kingdom during the spring of her junior year.
“Paris was a little bit more about the city, about the history — I’m a huge history nerd — and being able to explore it,” said Covitz. “Lancaster was the university that I probably would have picked if Covid had not happened, so it was a little bit more integrated into the British culture versus just viewing the city.”
Making an impact on the field — from off the field
While Covitz’s spring semesters were characterized by impactful experiences abroad, her fall semesters over the past few years were reserved for Virginia Tech football and a sports analytics internship. As a CMDA major, Covitz possessed certain skills — like coding — that made her an invaluable asset among her fellow interns, saving time on their weekly reports by automating the process rather than relying on manual calculations.
Also working with the Virginia Tech club hockey team, Covitz not only learned more about the behind-the scenes work of sports analytics, but the impact on the field as well.
“It was absolutely incredible to be in the student section and see matchups that I had suggested,” said Covitz. “Or in our recruiting portal, seeing the people that we were recruiting and recognizing the underrated person that I said that we should get.”
While she won’t be working in sports analytics directly after graduation, it’s something Covitz is open to in the future should the opportunity arise.
“I know that there are a lot of people who really want to get into sports analytics, and I think once I've kind of established myself, and have a little bit more experience in the field under my belt, then I absolutely can,” said Covitz.
“In Dr. [Sierra] Merkes’s Sports Analytics class, she brings in a bunch of speakers, and almost all of them have transitioned from a different industry or a different area — things don't have to be linear. And so that was kind of encouraging for me.”
Ashley Covitz gives a midterm presentation during the Capstone course for the Computational Modeling and Data Analytics program. Photo by Melissa McKeown for Virginia Tech.
Finding the perfect fit
Her experiences abroad and as a sports analytics intern were significant aspects of Covitz’s satisfaction at Virginia Tech but finding the right program was critical as well.
Covitz, one of the 2025 CMDA Outstanding Seniors, knew from the beginning that the CMDA program was special. She says that while many data science programs tend to sit on the spectrum between “hardcore data” and data visualization, CMDA introduced a third dimension — bringing in mathematics and the theory behind the data science.
“I'm not a super technical person, but I wanted to have the technical foundation in addition to the interpersonal foundation to be able to apply to everything,” said Covitz. “I think it's such a testament to CMDA that graduates are going everywhere. They're going to national security, they’re going to the government work financial sector — I'm going to clinical research business intelligence. You can go anywhere with CMDA.”
Covitz highlights the importance of the CMDA Capstone course — which requires students to work on a team with their classmates on a real-world problem posed by a sponsor. But she is equally grateful for the people in the program — both students and faculty — who are completely supportive of one another: Everyone's pushing each other up, and everyone's very driven together.”
“Coming to Virginia Tech was honestly the best decision of my life,” said Covitz. “I love it.”