Oh my gosh ‘lesser education’??
How about finance 101 - how much is each going to cost you?
We are not talking about po-dunk-U verses a stellar school here.
Maybe somehow you want to justify the higher cost school, IDK.
My DD is at UA (in engineering, not business), but holding a MBA myself (from another state flagship) I do not think any sharp business student is going to be disappointed at the curricula at UA.
38.8 % graduate from UA in 4 years.
When judging the ROI Of each choice
IU is the much better school. Yes, it is justified to pay more in this instance.
So the UA grads that got into top programs at MIT, Harvard, Stanford, etc all partied to get there? What an asinine blanket statement:-( My DS is a freshman in the honors college at UA and only one of his suitemates is a small tad wild. No drugs, drinking just good kids working hard.
Looking forward to seeing him graduate with no debt and yes even as a freshman already he’s had opportunities tailored to him that he wouldn’t get at other universities. He’s very happy there.
@ScreenName77 All the students are only there to party? Really? Here is an example of what some students at Bama are achieving: http://uanews.ua.edu/2015/04/four-ua-students-named-goldwater-scholars/
@ClarinetDad16 That is a red herring. There is no reason a student who wants to graduate in 4 yrs can’t. A student with the presidential scholarship is likely to be the type of student who has the ability to graduate in 4 yrs.
Being from Indiana, and knowing many kids at Bloomington (including Kelley School students) – I hope the OP does not imagine that IU is an oasis of intellectual students working on their group projects on a Friday night. IU has as much party-life (if not more . . . .) as any other school, and a very active greek life, especially for women. It is typically known as a top party school.
Successful applicants to top MBA programs have strong work success for at least 2-3 years after undergrad. Unless Alabama has a poor track record of getting its top students into good jobs after college, and would hold the OP back for that reason – go to Alabama. The perks and special access are worth it.
Thanks for all the comments so far. Basically, my dad won’t say it but he is leaning towards bama mainly for the money. On the other hand, my mom is pushing hard for IU. A friend of hers with kids in college told her going to Alabama restricts you to jobs in the south and that anything non-engineering won’t open that many doors. Also that A “brand name” is important for business and that Kelley can open a lot of doors. On the other hand, I’ve heard it can be hard to get classes I want and/or graduate on time. Thoughts?
P.s. My mom (who heavily favors IU) says that if I was an engineer, she would support bama all the way. It’s just the fact that Kelley is a top undergrad business school.
So basically, what would be worse to pass up? Full tuition at bama? Or direct admission to Kelley? Is Kelley as great as everyone makes it sound?
Are those particular grads in business? I’m not aware of recent UA grads at those business schools.
Yes, this is what I’m saying. Like I said before, if I was majoring in anything but business I would be stupid not to go to bama. I’m clearly no expert, but I feel like in business, Kelley gives me a great “brand name”, has over 90% job placement within 90 days of graduation, and can prepare me better for the real world than almost anywhere else. Plus, Kelley is nearly seperate from Indiana, whereas anyone from Alabama can choose to attend the business school.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I would not think the families of the approximately 5751 UA students who don’t graduate within 4 years with their classmates consider it a “red herring.” imagine if they only “wanted to graduate in 4 years.”
I have seen recent Kelley graduates struggle to find jobs. For the $80,000 difference in cost, Roll Tide!!
@ClarinetDad16 many students opt not to graduate in 4 yrs. Co-op students do not graduate in 4 yrs. That is a choice. Unless the reason for not graduating is not being able to enroll in necessary classes, which is not a problem that I am aware of at UA (my child has never had problems scheduling his classes), the reasons for not graduating in 4 yrs are as variable as the enrolled students. They are not necessarily negative indicators.
If you had numerous presidential scholars stating they could not graduate in 4 yrs, then yes, that would be an alarming statistic and one that should be heeded closely.
Fwiw, my student could graduate in under but has opted to stay for four.
@screenname77 Have you tried contacting the dept at Bama and asking about where their students have ended up working or earning their MBAs? I am not familiar with that dept at all, so no help there.
This op will have absolutely no problem graduating in 4 years at Alabama. Can do it easily even with double major if desired. The biggest perk, besides money, of the Presidential Scholarship is priority registration. Honors students get to register before everyone else. This perk cannot be overstated. There is no problem getting the courses you need.
Honor students at bama also get priority housing, with other honor students. I consider a very helpful perk as well.
90% of students THINK they can graduate within 4 years.
http://hechingerreport.org/real-cost-college-probably-even-higher-think/
61.2% at UA don’t. Why should the OP be several standard deviations from the norm at UA in terms of time to graduate?
Although Alabama is a wonderful school, for business, Kelley is one of the top schools in the country, and if it’s affordable, I would definitely chose it. Take a look at the payscale data for business - Kelley is #88 while Alabama is #307 http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/best-schools-by-majors/business?page=40
Moreover, Kelley recruiting is very strong (over 300 companies come to campus) and it has a national reputation in the field, which will definitely help you in getting your first job.
A potential recruiting difference may be the most persuasive point (if it’s affordable).
The linked article gave common reasons why student don’t graduate in 4 yrs, “It’s a huge inconvenience,” said Nichols, of Mobile, Alabama, whose college career has been prolonged for the common reason that he changed majors and took courses he ended up not needing…”
That can happen at any school. (That student actually attends Ole Miss.). That is opting to not graduate in 4 yrs, not that they can’t.
If a student enters unsure of what they want to major in, that is a valid concern.