I’m a high school junior with a 4.0 UW GPA (Honors and AP classes), and I’m number 2 in my class. I haven’t taken the ACT yet, but I got a 30 on the pre-ACT last year and I’m projected to get a 33 on the actual test this March. My strong suit is math, and I’m looking to get into the business field, with potential majors being accounting, actuarial science, etc. I live in Illinois, so I would get in-state tuition at UIUC, but I’m looking into other Big Ten schools as well. How do Purdue, IU-Bloomington, UWM, and Michigan State all compare to each other and to UIUC? Is there a significant difference in their business programs? (I know UIUC’s accounting program is highly ranked.)
Hard to beat UIUC for that.
Yeah I realize that, UIUC is probably going to be one of the top schools on my list. I’m just trying to find out what the “best of the rest” would be, because I I don’t know much about them.
Have you talked to your parents about what they will contribute for your college costs?
Have you and they run the net price calculators on the college web sites?
I haven’t run net price calculations because I’ve heard from college planning guides that they aren’t very reliable. I have a decent amount saved for college, but scholarship offers are going to be a major part of my decision,
If you have “normal” finances (no owned business, no divorce, moderate assets) then the NPCs are very accurate. If scholarships are needed then you need to target schools where you can get merit aid. Those schools aren’t among them.
Actually if he does get a 33 ACT he would get significant merit aid at Michigan State, which does have a highly ranked business school. I think their specialty is supply chain management, not so much accounting. Illinois in-state tuition is high, so Michigan State might be a more affordable school with an ACT of 33. I don’t know about the rest of the schools.
If you are going to rely on scholarships, do your research very carefully. Many state schools do not give much (or anything) in the way of merit aid, although there are exceptions like Michigan State mentioned above. Many students believe that there is lots of money for high-achieving students and if you are a top student you will get a lot of scholarships. That is only true for some schools, and when it comes to state schools there is often a difference in scholarships given to in-state versus out-of-state students. There are some threads on this website that discuss merit aid awards.
Minnesota’s Carlson school of management has some very highly ranked programs, and all students there are required to study abroad. The business school has regular speaker series on campus that bring CEOs to the university for networking with students. It’s the only big 10 university located in a major city, so the opportunity for internships and jobs is right there.
There are rankings for the undergraduate business schools. Obviously, you do not have to rely on rankings, but it may be something to consider. Out of all the schools, I think IU has the highest ranking based on both US News and Bloomberg. This might be a good place to start when prioritizing your list.
Thank you guys for the input!
Make sure you apply to IU by November 1 of your senior year, for merit scholarships. That’s the deadline; they give no merit after that.
Make sure to check the other schools, too, for any deadlines.
Interesting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population
Columbus (#15)
Minneapolis (#46)
If the OP can get a 33 on the ACT, he/she will get likely significant merit aid offers at Indiana, Purdue, Iowa, Nebraska, MSU and Minnesota as well as non-Big 10 schools like Missouri and Kansas. He will likely get into Michigan and Wisconsin, but they won’t offer much in merit aid because they don’t have to. OSU might give some merit aid, but PSU will not.
For the OP’s stated major, accounting/actuarial sciences, UIUC will be hard to beat.
It might be a good idea to look at schools outside the Big 10 too, you may find that you are interested in a different type of school other than big midwest state university at some point in the application process and then regret not having applied to other types of colleges. Happened to me.
@Zinhead what significant merit does Purdue offer? The best I can find is $14-16K for the Trustee’s Scholarship which leaves at least $26K (which does probably bring it under UIUC in-state costs though there is some merit aid available there as well).
OOS tuition is $29,000 per year, and they offer two merit scholarships as follows:
http://www.admissions.purdue.edu/costsandfinaid/freshman.php
The scholarships range from $5,000 to $16,000 per year. Instate UIUC is around $20,000 for STEM or business majors. For high stat Illinois residents, it makes the cost of attending Purdue competitive with UIUC. If the OP can maintain those grades, class ranking, and get to a 33 on the ACT, he/she would be in the running for this scholarship.
- Illinois in-state may be the best value among the B1G schools.
- The best business school in the B1G is probably Michigan.
- Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana are also very strong in business.
- With your class rank, and grades, if you have solid ECs and improve your ACT, you may want to consider applying to Penn Wharton. It is the best undergrad business school in the country, and they give great need-based aid. If you are admitted, and have financial need, it will probably be the least expensive.
Not in the Big Ten, but if you want to have another affordable option, you could apply to Bama. Your stats will automatically earn you full tuition for four years, and their accounting program is well regarded.
My son has so many classmates from IL, I think they may start calling it the University of Illinois at Tuscaloosa. 
http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.html
Check this elite program out too. It’s higly competitive, but it may be of interest to you. If accepted, the perks are terrific: http://honors.ua.edu/computer-based-honors-program/
Penn’s acceptance rate is <10% (and Wharton’s is likely much lower), but if you think you have the goods, go for it. Just be sure to run the Net Price Calculator ahead of time to make sure it will be affordable.
@chikid14 - two bits of advice.
First - you are going to have a hard time beating UIUC on quality / value. If you plan to live in the Midwest / Northeast, the degree is going to open a lot of doors.
Second - If you are unsure between business, accounting, and math…go math. Math is a much more difficult curriculum, and can be applied to business. I am in finance, and only hire STEM grads who want to get into business. I would hire a 3.0 math major over a 3.8 business or econ major from the same school every time.
If it’s safe to assume the “CHI” in your name is Chicago, then UC should be far enough…but not so far it’s hard to get home when you want. Good luck.