BU Vs Northeastern Vs Babson Vs UIUC for business (finance concentration)

Hey, I’m from India. I’ve been admitted to all these places in the respective business schools and I’m having a tough time deciding between these for business and for a prospective career in banking/consulting. What is important for me is the career opportunities, campus life, the crowd and social life.

At BU, I was impressed by the reputation of the Questrom School of Business and their amazing career development services. They have also been ranked #6 for employment by Times Higher Education. However, I’ve read that the campus is not very good and there is not much of a traditional college feel.

For Northeastern, they have a nice campus and CO-OP which I’ve heard is pretty amazing and helps in employment to a extent. Also, they’ve been coming up a lot in the recent years and constantly boosting up.

For Babson, I love the close knit business environment. Babson has an amazing reputation for business, specially internationally. However, I’ve been told it’s not very good for finance and for employment. I see myself fit at Babson, but the employment factor is kind of worrying.

At UIUC, the accounting program is very reputed and I can double major in finance and accounting. The Gies School of Business just received a $150M reputation and they’re increasing the focus on business. However, it’s mostly known as an engineering school and the location isn’t as great as Boston.

Cost is not much of an issue for me. Please help me decide.

Goals? What area of business do you see yourself pursuing?

If it’s accounting UIUC is the clear winner, it also has the highest ranked program out of those listed overall (seehttps://poetsandquantsforundergrads.com/2017/09/11/wharton-tops-u-s-news-ranking-undergrad-business-schools/2/)

Also, factor in where you want to work after graduation (UIUC feeds into Chicago, and the others in New England).

I’ve mentioned that I mainly want to study finance and get into banking/finance after college. However if I go to UIUC, I may double major in finance and accounting.

I’m the parent of two UIUC Business students. Both double majored with finance (finance/accounting finance/supply chain) with an interest in consulting. My older child graduated May of 2017 and secured employment with one of the Big 3 consulting firms in Chicago. The younger one is currently a junior with a consulting internship lined up for the summer in Chicago. Neither had any interest in pursuing IB.

I don’t know anything about the other schools on your list, but you may want to consider some of the following things in your decision:
– size of the undergraduate business college at each school. Getting quality leadership experiences is important. Access to the opportunities available at the school should be examined.
– RSOs. Along the same line of thinking, research the student organizations on campus. For instance UIUC has several RSOs that give students the chance to learn what consulting is like. Here’s an example of one: http://www.ibc.illinois.edu. There are also co-Ed business fraternities that can have a positive impact on your college experience. I’m sure all the schools you’re considering have these types of ‘selective’ organizations, but you may find it helpful to do a little ‘comparison shopping’.
– what companies recruit on campus. One of the benefits at U of I is the strong College of Engineering, which draws prospective employers. And if tech interests you, there is the T and M minor. https://techmgmt.illinois.edu

I have to run now, but I wish you well in your decision!

Thanks a lot!