Indiana vs boston

Colleges and Universities A-Z Boston University
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<p>Trying to help a friend out. (international student)</p>

<p>So, she’s trying to decide between Indiana University Bloomington and Boston University. Business major (undergrad).</p>

<p>IU:
-Kelley’s the better business school–at least, that’s what the rankings say. I would love to tell her not to place so much emphasis on rankings, but I’m not sure how that works out for an undergrad business major.
-It’s a lot cheaper, and she also got a $5000/year scholarship. Parents are paying full freight btw
-I think one of her relatives is staying in the area, so, being an international student, it’d be great to at least have someone to run to, just in case. And the occasional home-cooked meal would be awesome as well</p>

<p>BU:
-Better name recognition in this part of the globe.
-Better overall ranking? (I’m not sure, correct me if I’m wrong)
-Boston’s a more happening place! (But more happening = more expensive? And would that matter a lot?)</p>

<p>Yeah so practically everyone she’s talked to has told her to go to BU. I think I might be the only one she knows who’s slightly more in favour of IUB haha. But honestly even I’m getting confused, and seeing as I’m pretty uninformed myself, I thought I’d get some help from CC.</p>

<p>And I haven’t had the chance to ask her stuff like… what kind of setting she’d prefer (urban vs suburban), size, vibe (midwestern vs east coast), that kind of thing. My friend’s pretty laidback but she’s the sort of person who gets along with practically everyone. So if you could just tell me the major differences between the 2 schools, and your own opinions, I’d be much obliged!</p>

<p>(x-posted to the IU forum)</p>

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<p>You can't compare them except by size. They are otherwise extremely different, with Indiana being in a little city in southern Indiana, meaning kind of nowhere (though Bloomington is pretty). It's a Big10 athletic conference school - well, I suppose both schools use red as a color - and BU is not a big sports school. The experiences are very different. </p>

<p>As for business, I assume you're comparing SMG and Indiana's school, not CAS. Beats me.</p>

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<p>I don't know much about IU, but I doubt they have nearly as large an international community as BU does, which I would think would be a plus if you're coming from a different country. By the same token, I'd feel like she'd appreciate being in a city a lot more than being in a rural area. There are tons of things to do in Boston, and when your visiting another country why wouldn't you want to see as much as you can all in one area? I'm not trying to bash rural schools, but I know if I were going to visit another country I'd much rather be in a foreign city than in a foreign farm town.</p>

<p>Also, keep in mind that SMG (school of management) is one of BU's... "favorite" colleges I guess you could say? It gets a lot of funding from the school and the SMG building itself is arguably the nicest, newest, and most high tech building on campus.</p>