Indiana Bloomington vs Northeastern vs Binghamton (business major)

Hi all, I am finishing up the college process and am open to any feedback you may have. I have been admitted to all three schools and their business schools as a finance major(plan to add information systems).

Pros and Cons

Indiana Kelley

Pros

  • Higher ranks
  • school spirit
  • great workshop programs
  • known nationally
  • nice campus

Cons

  • 50k/year (it is a con but not too bad of one)
  • intense Greek life
  • not as good of a school outside of the business program
    -have to fly there
    -most recruiting is done in the Midwest(want to work in the northeast)

Northeastern

Pros

  • “better school”
  • co-op program
    -Boston/northeast
    -4 hours from home(drivable)
    -pretty nice campus

Cons

  • 75k/year
  • no school spirit
  • 5 years probably
  • not sure

Binghamton

Pros

  • 28k/year
  • 3.5 hrs away from home
  • know a few people going there
  • close to nyc
  • business school is growing in popularity
  • good relationships with the big 4

Cons

  • not a very nice campus
  • doesn’t have much school spirit
  • teacher seem to be teachers not business people who teach business

if affordable, i would go with kelley or northeastern (but i would personally lean towards kelley)

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What major specifically within business and what is your budget without loans beyond the federal direct loans?

Finance and information systems. All are within budget, but northeastern is a little stretch.

Kelley is recognized as a great business school so if you think you’d be happy there, go for it.

I think your cons for NEU are totally valid. It’s a better school than it used to be, but I don’t think their “rank” holds that much weight with employers; as in, I can’t imagine any employer hiring a NEU grad over an equally or more qualified grad from the other schools just because it’s NEU. Their coop program is definitely a good thing, but be aware that it has disadvantages. I know several NEU grads very well and they all had some fairly useless internships. They also don’t like that friends do internships and you may not see that friend again for 6 months or a year.

My son attends Binghamton, and I can tell you that students at SOM get good jobs, many of which are in NY city and, of course, elsewhere. The campus is actually pretty nice and it’s layout means it’s easy to get to all other parts of campus. With the exception of the ugly building in the middle, the buildings are nice. Top notch dorms (some of the best I’ve seen of the 20+ college dorms I saw) and generally very good renovations to buildings inside and out. As for school pride, I disagree strongly on that. There’s no football team or rah rah atmosphere, but there is plenty of school pride. The 92% freshman retention rate is a clear indicator that students like their school and are happy.

I also like the city of Binghamton. I’ve been there several times recently and there are always people out and about. We were there on a 40 degree day in March and kids were literally in shorts and tshirts, like it was summer. Lots of people dining outdoors and on the streets. There are a lot of good restaurants, a fun downtown area, lots of shopping, easy access to beautiful countryside, nearby skiing, and many other activities at the university itself.

In your shoes, I’d go for Kelley or Bing. I wouldn’t pay full price for NEU.

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I’d start by taking out Northeastern. Between your list of “cons” and the price it just doesn’t seem worth it.

It sounds to me like Kelley is your preference. If affordable it is a good choice --especially if you are looking for more of a rah-rah school. However, if going to Kelley means taking out loans, causing hardship to your family etc. then Binghamton is a wonderful and much less expensive option to have.

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I have a friend who is between Bing and IU (did not apply to Northeastern) but I would choose Kelley. Northeastern I toured and I felt it was a bit transient and focused too much on the co-op and academics. It is a good school, but I felt that it was just that, there was nothing that made it exciting. I toured four schools in Boston (Bentley, Emerson, BU, Northeastern) and I disliked Northeastern the most. I felt the rest had a good hook and a reason to go there besides academics. Bing is well known in NY and the Northeast, but if you go to Florida most people won’t know if anything is special about it. It’s a very NY-based school but you could still get a good education though your ceiling I feel is lower since you can really only get great jobs in the Northeast, which though you prefer now, is not the greatest option. Kelley (I never visited or applied) is in a nice college town with a nice campus and has good amenities such as internships, name recognition, job placement. There are some schools that I feel don’t have great amenities and opportunities such Pitt, Richmond, and Tulane, but IU has that. Kelley will give you good opportunities and can send you all over the country and can get you to big companies which Bing and sort of Northeastern cannot do. And that’s one thing I value a lot. I am between Syracuse and American for communications and I feel that Syracuse can get me all that I want while American will keep me in DC. I also have a guaranteed transfer to BU which my parents urge me to take (it is non-binding so I probably will) but I’m not sure if it could get me a better job than what Syracuse could get me. But your values should come first, and if you feel that one school aligns best with them, go there.

I go to NU so i can address your cons (besides 75K bc that’s a lot). there is lots of school spirit!! Not as much as IU probably but there certainly isn’t “none.” NU students are very proud to be from and we’re not afraid to talk about it! 5 years is totally up to you but you can absolutely in 4 years with up to 2 co-ops. More students now are actually doing 2 co-ops in 4 years rather than the 5 year track. lmk if you have any other questions

I’d take out NEU. Price tag+serious list of cons= not what you’re looking for.
Between Bing and Kelley, it sounds like Kelley is the better fit, so it’s what I’d pick if I had your criteria, but don’t dismiss Binghamton, especially since it’s much less expensive and your “cons” for that aren’t real: all professors will be professors, not business people, for instance-- some professors may have worked in the business world and some may be adjuncts, but for all your foundational courses you really want professors who have a thorough overview of the field, have more than personal experience, and know how to explain it to undergrads: calculus, stats, econ, accounting… ; school spirit can be more than cheering on a football team… etc.

I think if you want a traditional campus experience, then IU. Its going to have more brand recognition than Binghamton, and that matters for your first job. It’s also a nicer place to be by most acconts.

Dont pay 75K a year to go to NorthEastern, unless your parents have net worth such that its irrelevant.

If you were set on accounting, I’d say Binghamton because it gets plenty of people into Big 4. Since you said finance, Kelley for sure. It’s the only one of those three that investment banks go to.