Does anyone have a son or daughter that is currently an undergraduate student in the Gies School of Business at University of IL? If so, can you tell me about his/her experience so far? Are the classes really challenging? How many hours did they take each semester? Any information would be appreciated! Thank you!!
I just finished my freshmen year at gies declaring a major in finance, however my experience is somewhat atypical as I chose to take more high level and technical classes to explore a dual degree. I took 15 hours the first semester and 17 hours the second. Most of the introductory business courses were not very challenging, as the classes do not emphasize technical rigor, rather emphasizing soft skills. For me, most of the classes were just assigned busy work and group projects and oral presentations. There are a few technical classes to watch out for (ACCY 201&202, FIN 221, ECON 103, Calc) as these tend to be the “weed-out” classes for the business sequence. Your student will benefit greatly if they have AP credit and course exemptions coming into their freshmen year.
Overall, I would say the college of business as a whole really emphasizes developing students holistically, the tradeoff of an easier academic schedule is the expectation to be involved in relevant student groups (clubs, business frats, business RSO’s, etc), assume leadership positions within these organizations, and do some corporate networking. So I wouldn’t sweat most of the classes! Im sure your student will do fine, and there’s plenty of resources for students to succeed academically 
If you have any other questions, I’d be happy to answer them!
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