<p>Hello all,
I am applying to the schools of business for both Indiana and Illinois. There is about a 99% chance that I will be admitted to both, however, I am quite conflicted. I thoroughly enjoyed both schools, but I care what kind of connections I can make by going to either school. I will be majoring in finance, and fully intend on going Greek at whichever school I go to. Can someone explain to me the pluses and minuses of both Kelley School of Business and The School of Business at Illinois?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>This is a tough choice because you really can’t go wrong at either Indiana or Illinois. Finance majors at either university have an abundance of connections - through campus organizations, job fairs, career centers and a huge alumni base. Greek life is very popular on both campuses.</p>
<p>I personally am a graduate of U of I business school (from the pre-historic days 25 years ago) and my daughter is currently a freshman at Indiana Kelley School of Business. If I compare my 25-year-old business education experience at U of I vs. what we know so far of Indiana, I’d say Indiana is the winner. But this comparison isn’t really fair because so many things have changed at U of I in the past 25 years. I can tell you that my daughter got a LOT of personal attention from Indiana as an out-of-state applicant with good stats. She was invited to several events and got free goodies in the mail during junior and senior year of HS, even before she applied. She sent her test scores to both IU and U of I but never heard a peep from U of I. I was quite surprised at the level of personal attention she got from Indiana before even accepting enrollment, and we’ve been pleased with the continued attention students get at Indiana. She has a mentor through both the Kelley School of Business and the Hutton Honors college.</p>
<p>As far as campus atmosphere, Indiana has one of the most beautiful campuses of any we visited. And if you like ethnic food, Bloomington can’t be beat. IU students are very proud of their university. On any given day, I’d say almost half of the students wear some sort of IU apparel. I didn’t notice that at U of I.</p>
<p>I can tell you that U of I does have a really good Alumni Career Center. I have used some of their services. So the benefits of graduating from U of I continue well past graduation. I can’t speak to the alumni career services at Indiana.</p>
<p>IU has historically been much more generous with merit scholarships than U of I. So if cost is a consideration for you, then that’s something else to consider. You don’t say if either school is in state for you. Obviously that would be a big cost consideration. </p>
<p>So I’m sure I was no help at all here, except to give you our personal experience. You may end up making your decision on “soft” factors like the vibe you get when you visit. You won’t go wrong either way. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>johnwall, my son faced the same decision back in 2007. He chose IU for many of the reasons stbemptynest stated. The personal attention was probably the biggest reason he chose Indiana. He had an unfortunate meeting with a COB asst dean during a visit to Illinois that sealed the deal. Instead of selling IL to my son, the impression he got was that he should feel honored that they accepted him. It thoroughly turned us all off to IL. OTOH, every contact with IU made him feel wanted. And I can say that that feeling extended up to and through graduation.</p>
<p>I can’t speak highly enough about Kelley’s Career Services office. From Day 1, DA’s seem to be groomed for their first job in the business world. And the actual job search system was great. S had accepted an offer before Christmas break at a Chicago area company. </p>
<p>I’d suggest that you speak with some recent Illinois COB grads to get their take on their Career Services experiences. Good luck in making your decision!</p>
<p>stbemptynest,
Thank you very much for the very thoughtful response. I really appreciate it. I too agree that you cannot go wrong with either Illinois or IU. I reside in Illinois, however IU’s merit scholarships would enable me to pay the same price for admission as the in-state tuition at Illinois.</p>
<p>IllinoisMom2006,
Thank you for also having a quite thoughtful response. I agree that when I visited Kelley, the people there went more than out of their way to make sure that you start off on the right foot. I believe Kelley may be a tad more rigorous, however both schools present you with the education that you need in order to succeed.</p>
<p>johnwall11…I am not sure if you now OOS merit scholarships dramatically changed this year for IU. No longer is there a guaranteed $11,000/year based on your stats</p>
<p>A friend of mine, chose U of I over IU base on the overall ranking and since he’s doing accounting, U of I will be a better choice for him.</p>
<p>johnwall, if you do end up at IU I strongly recommend applying for the Kelley Living Learning Community (a section of one of the most popular dorms for students interested in business). In just the 5 weeks my daughter has been at IU, she’s had incredible opportunities through the KLLC. This morning she met with recruiters from Deloitte. On MOVE IN DAY there were representatives from many major companies like KPMG, Ernst & Young, Kohls and PWC talking with the KLLC students. I don’t know if there is anything like this at U of I. There wasn’t 25 years ago :)</p>