<p>Well, I've officially narrowed it down to these two schools. =] The decision is so brutal though. I'm pursuing a degree in Business and they both have fabulous business schools and the appeal of both the places is great. </p>
<p>I need some help with making the decision though! I've figured this out:</p>
<p>** INDIANA UNIVERSITY PROS **
- In state + 6,000/yr Scholarship
- Kelley Business school is among the top in the nation
- Nice Campus and campus life
- I was directly admitted to the Business school</p>
<p>** INDIANA UNIVERSITY CONS **
- Knowing a million people there. I kind of want to start over fresh, you know?
- Huge party school. I'm not a huge partier, but I understand any school will be like this.
- My sister just graduated from here and said that everyone's pretty dumb and that it's hard to make intellectual friends
- Bar age is 21. I like live music and I won't be able to see it here for this reason.
- Almost too close to home (1.5 hours)</p>
<p>** UIUC PROS **
- Perfect distance from home (3 hours)
- I like the campus better than IU's, when I thought I wouldn't.
- School has an overall better ranking than IU
- Will be around generally more academic people than if I were to go to IU
- I don't know ANYONE going/already there
- Really felt like "the place for me" when I visited a few weeks ago. I understand most people hate the campus/area there but there was something about it I really liked.</p>
<p>** UIUC CONS **
- $42,000/ yr. My parents are willing to shed that out, but I feel bad knowing I could go to IU for cheaper and get basically the same education and experience, with only slightly less prestige.
- Was not directly admitted to the Business School
- Dorms aren't as nice as the ones at IU
- Will feel more pressured to do well once I get there so I Can get into the B-School, so I may be stressed and have less time for a socia life</p>
<p>So, I'm basically indifferent here with a slight lean towards UIUC. I originally had NO interest in going there until after I was accepted and visited. IU's cheaper though and offers a similar, well, everything. Plus I'm already in the B-School there. </p>
<p>Can anyone help me out with this decision? Thanks!</p>
<p>Kelley is a great business school. You haven’t yet been admitted to the UIUC business school. IU would be a bargain. UIUC would be expensive.</p>
<p>Both schools rock the party charts pretty hard. This looks like a classic case of seeing greener grass on the other side. Fit is important, but unless you truly felt uncomfortable or unhappy at IU I just don’t see the argument for UIUC.</p>
<p>IU in a heartbeat. If you were intending on majoring in Engineering or a Science, it would have been a tougher call, but for the Humanities, Social Sciences and Business, IU is a no brainer in your case. You save your folks $100,000 to attend a better and more prestigious Business school. Let me assure you of three things:</p>
<p>1) Once you live more than 1 hour from home, you are far enough. If UIUC were located in a totally different part of the country, I could understand the novelty factor, but IL and IN are roughly the same and living 90 minutes from home is far enough</p>
<p>2) Even if you know 100 people at IU, with over 30,000 undergrads, what are the odds of your actually bumping into them often? We are talking 1 out of 300!</p>
<p>3) You are not going to find many intellectual students at most universities today. Chicago and select LACs are some of the few schools where intellectuals hang out. But the difference between IU and UIUC is insignificant.</p>
<p>Kelley is a very very good school, ranked in the top 20 for Business. UIUC is pretty far from IU in terms of business, so I’d probably say Kelley. Not only that, but it’s a lot cheaper for you (even if your parents are willing to shell the money out).</p>
<p>But in the end, it’s all about personal fit and seeing where you will be happier.</p>
<p>I understand the value of the Kelley degree and the 6,000k scholarship, but the thing is, it’s just… not apealling. Or is was, kinda, until I found out more about the U of I.</p>
<p>In an attempt to be fair to IU, I overglorified my interest in it. In reality, I’d much rather go to UIUC. I know it’s more expensive for a less prestigous degree, but you only get to go to college once and I want the best four years out of my life from it.</p>
<p>When I first got accepted to Illinois, I had no intention of going there and I literally posed NO excitement.</p>
<p>My dad insisted I give the place a chance, so we drove over there during one of their school days, and even though most people really hate that campus, I got that infamous “this is the place” vibe and there truly was nothing negative about it. I took about an hour to walk around the campus by myself and I sat in on part of a lecture and I could totally envision myself being a student there and feeling happy… and when I did the same thing at IU (before I visited UIUC), I just felt overwhelmed, and got lost on the campus because it’s so huge. It’s a nice campus, but I just felt sooo overwhelmed there with the bazillion people everywhere and campus that goes on forever in every direction.</p>
<p>When I got home after my visit to UIUC, I remember going into my room and literally reading the entire viewbook and all the other crap they gave us at the info session cover to cover and being really excited. </p>
<p>But now it’s like, if I go to the school I WANT to go to, it’s illogical in every sense because it’s a good deal in the short run but will potentially result in failure if I don’t get into their B-School, or if I do and graduate with the non-Kelley degree. And it’s expensive. </p>
<p>the Kelley direct admit is no joke. You will be in a much better situation if you attend IU. As someone who went to IU in state, you will find the campus gets very small very quickly as fara as navigating the campus. It really is crazy to spend more on a state school if you gamble on U of I. After all, you may not be able to get back into Kelley if you start in Urbana and don’t get into their program either.</p>
<p>I think it would be stupid to pay that kind of money for Illinois over Indiana. Simply stupid. There aren’t going to be any smarter kids at Illinois than at IU, in general. Partying is going to be about the same. If you were talking about spending that kind of money for UChicago or Duke or something, then there might be a decision. Decision: Indiana Kelley.</p>
<p>Well in the end, it’s your decision if your parents really can afford the higher cost (and you might make SURE they are 100% comfortable with that…will you need to take loans? Will you be able to afford extras like maybe a car, the extra expenses of study abroad, etc? When tuition goes up, will things get tighter?)</p>
<p>IU is an incredibly good value for you, though. And while your sister may not have met many intellectual types, my D has met MANY in her first semester…mainly through classes and honors dorm. It is a big place, lots of great opportunities.</p>
<p>And I agree–an hour away is not much difference than 3 hours. You’re still away from home.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision, I’m sure you’ll do well either way!</p>
<p>IU is a great school and a Kelley Direct Admit is a big deal, obviously. IU’s scholarships for smart in-state kids are REALLY tough to beat. But my son was also concerned about the size of IU - for him. And it just didn’t feel like a fit. IU does a really good job, though with their LLC’s and you can pick a dorm that ISN’T a big party pit. My son ultimately chose MU-Ohio…almost all undergrad, direct admission, not only to business, but directly to honors. You have to go where it feels right for you…and I’m talking as another Kelley grad. Everyone I know who went to IU loved it, including me. But I went to IU from OOS, and didn’t fell like my whole HS was there - which is what my son also said. It wasn’t right for my son, and he was very sure about that. He got lucky with scholarship money at MU, so it’s affordable. Sounds like your dad wants you to make the call. Sleep on it, mull it over, talk about the finances with your parents…it will come to you.</p>
<p>U of I is a huge school, too, though. You do know that, right?</p>
<p>I would argue that a high school student can not discern a “fit” difference between IU and U of I that is meaningful in any way. For that money, with a choice between 2 large state flagships, it just doesn’t make sense to rely on a small sense of “I liked it a little better.” This thread isn’t about the choice between a non-flagship state school which bills itself as some kind of Ivy-peer and IU- it’s about two large state flagships, one of which is in-state and also has the higher ranked business school. </p>
<p>Debrockman- I though you were always arguing about not wasting money by paying for schools like those in the Ivy League. Why would you even come close to advocating choosing an expensive out of state over IU? I guess it just opened the door for the plug for Miami!</p>
<p>I don’t think UIUC is worth the money. I don’t agree that IU doesn’t have smart students…that is BS.</p>
<p>And…as far as many kids from HS going…I don’t know how many you’re talking about, but my kids’ have a decent number of kids from their high school at their flagship. It’s more of a blessing than a curse. At a large university, you’re not going to have these kids in all your classes. You may see some walking across campus or something, but IU is too big for these kids to be constantly in your college life.</p>
<p>And, certainly, the so-called “not smart” students won’t be in your Kelley classes.</p>
<p>Whereas a smart affluent kid won’t get a lot of money at an elite private, they are fairly likely to get money at a State School, like IU. Some of us do not have inheritances. And you will notice, if you read more carefully, the student indicated that his dad wanted him to look at UI closely. So obviously, this dad is OK with the choice. I plugged Miami because the poster indicated they felt overwhelmed by the size of IU, as did my son. Miami is 1/2 the size. It’s just an option. And at least my son got a scholarship that brought the cost difference within reason. The state schools give a LOT of money purely on merit with no regard for family income. If the poster likes UI, he might get a lot of money.</p>
<p>…that said, poster…UIUC is really a very big school. An EXCELLENT school, but still big. I do understand the Indiana student not wanting to go to IU/Purdue thing. There will be hundreds of kids from any major Indiana HS at both schools. There will also be many kids at Kelley and they will be in your dorm. There certainly were for my daughter when she started there. When we moved her in I can’t tell you how many kids were yelling hello’s to us. There were all the kids from her class and the class before who she knew. That can be good or bad, of course. But there will be a few kids from your high school at the neighboring state schools, too, most likely. Enough to give you a friendly face, but not enough to fall into your same old crowd dynamic.</p>
<p>Things must have changed, then, because the students I met from the largest high schools in Indiana said they rarely saw their old high school classmates once they got to IU.<br>
Surprisingly, Miami isn’t on the table and this thread is about the OP and his choices. It appears that Illinois hasn’t given him a lot of money.</p>
<p>It’s early. We just got our money award last week. The OP may get money at UIUC. My son applied EA to Miami Honors and Kelley and got his award with his acceptance…but the Miami info just came the week after Christmas. IU sends their acceptances and awards out VERY fast. We had that one in November, but that’s pretty unusual. If you haven’t applied EA or ED, you probably haven’t heard anything at all yet.</p>
<p>And yes, I think things have changed. If you are from any of the big Indy area high schools, and know a lot of people, you will definitely see a lot of the kids you went to high school with. With Kelley being very competitive, lots of the direct admits are coming out of some of the more competitive large high schools…many of which are around Indy. You CAN avoid people you knew, but it’s not that easy. I can’t tell you how many kids from our HS got Kelley Direct Admit. As “prestigious” as Kelley is, it didn’t seem prestigious to my son when nearly every kid in the Academy of Finance was accepted. My daughter felt that IU was Hamilton County - South. And based on my visits with her, I certainly understand why she felt that way. Even the tailgating felt that way. All the front row tailgaters were from Hamilton County. And since half the IU cheer squad came from a few High Schools and my daughter was a former elite high school cheerleader, it totally seemed like high school all over again. I don’t think every kid would feel that way. Depends on where you come from and what crowds you ran in.</p>
<p>Out of state students don’t get that much money from the Big Ten flagships. My kids both got the top IU merit award (neither went) and it still left a lot for us to pay.</p>