My son was accepted as a direct admit student at IU - Kelly as well as at U of I Champaign business schoo… He is an Illinois (Chicago Suburb) resident but the scholarship money from IU has made the tuition about equal. He was admitted to the Hutton Honors program at IU and James Scholar program at U of I. He is thinking of majoring in finance but will likely start undeclared.He has visited both schools and early on preferred IU-Kelly its campus and program all round, he was made to feel more wanted at IU. As decision time nears he is having a change of heart I believe because a large number of his high school classmates are attending U of I. He is now torn between the two schools and struggling to make up his mind and officially committ. I believe he is now overlooking what he disliked about U of I ( campus a bit run down, Champaign being run down, poor sports teams, party school reputation) of his state school to follow friends. Am I making too much of the Kelly’s higher business program rankings? Is U of I an all round better school? I want him to be happy but I am fearful he may be giving up an opportunity for what is more comfortable.
My son is a pretty quiet kid, doesn’t party or go out much but loves participating in sports. My fear is him not having an instant network of friends at IU will make him unhappy. , His high school friends are not going to Champaign as business majors so I’m not sure how much he would see them anyway. Any feedback, experience or opinion on following friends, making friends, which school has better business programs and will help him get a good job and be happy while doing it is very much appreciated!
UIUC is the better all around school IMO and its business school is every bit as strong as Kelley.
My son picked our state school (UMD/Smith School) over Kelley, a scholarship, and honors at IU. IU is a fine school, but if he wants UIUC, I would let him commit, write the check, and not look back. One of my son’s reasons was he wanted to be able to pick his own roommate, and he didn’t know anyone else who got accepted to IU. I Questioned him a little, but when he sounded ready, he pressed the button. I do admit I am still sad he didn’t take the huge scholarship offer from one school, but I fully supported his decision. Suggest you do the same. Good luck.
If you are worried about UIUC being a party school, I hate to tell you that IU is even more of a party school. Both schools have strong reputations, similar sports teams. Bloomington is a great college town, but both campuses have a lot to do.
The non-academic stuff has been covered (IU is as much or more of a party school compared to UIUC; sports teams are roughly the same in aptitude right now).
The biggest advantage of Kelley would be their workshops, like the IB Workshop that has a good track record of getting kids on to Wall Street. However, those workshops are competitive and difficult to get in to, and UIUC Business has something similar with their Academies (Investment Banking Academy, etc.). I hear that they have a strong network in Chicagoland? But can’t confirm.
There is one big difference, which is that Kelley is massive. UIUC COB has 2.8K undergrads. Kelley has 4.7K undergrads in Bloomington.
In terms of opportunities, they are similar enough that if the money is about the same, I’d let him go with fit. The difference in these 2 schools are so small that how successful he is will be mostly up to him.