hey y’all - so it’s coronatime & unfortunately i can’t go visit my top two schools
it’s between the kelley school of business at indiana university and the d’amore-mckim school of business at northeastern university. i’ve never visited either of these schools so what I know about them is really everything that i’ve dug into online. here’s my pros & cons list (honestly money is not a factor i got a solid scholarship from both & can afford either school. also i don’t play any sports so i guess that aspect of iu is a nice plus and school spirit is cool but it’s not something that i’m taking into account when i’m making my decision)
pros indiana
kelley is top 10 business schools so i am assuming that professors are good and that people that graduate do big things (i’m a finance major)
i got into hutton honors college & the ace program so i will probably have lots of opportunities if i go
everyone i said asked that bloomington is a cute lil town and that it’s very pretty
always opportunities to study abroad
freshman year i plan on staying in the JLLC which is a living learning community for the business students
cons indiana
ok this may be super irrelevant but i’ve heard BAD things about their dorms if i’m being 100% honest. especially with the mold situation and everything. i’m planning on living in eigenmann my freshman year bc jllc so honestly kinda worried
70-something% acceptance rate makes me worry about its prestige
i like to party & have fun but i don’t necessarily want to go to a party school, so kinda worried about that also. i’m gonna be heavily academics focused
i kinda like the city life a lot better & am worried i won’t like bloomington. ultimately i want to work in a big city like new york, boston, or chicago
about 9 hours from home but that’s really neither a pro or con i don’t get homesick much. travel costs could be a little bit of a problem?
i’ve heard that recruiters at kelley only recruit for jobs in the midwest. i don’t plan on staying in the mid-west at ALL so i’m a little worried that i won’t have as many opportunities as if i’m in the city
pros northeastern
more selective - 19% acceptance rate
business school is also good though not as well known
if i could there I’ll probably double major or minor in cs and they’re very well known for STEM
i LOVE boston vibes & the “lack” of a campus is not a bad factor for me - i also really wanted to go to NYU but i was waitlisted there
a lot more diverse compared to IU (or so i’ve heard)
co-ops are AMAZING and i think they’re such a good opportunity. if i got a co-op in nyc i would be close to home too
northeastern is about 4 hours from home which is not bad at all
ahahah not as important but their dorms seem SO much cleaner LOL. but could just be what i’ve seen idk.
cons northeastern
obviously not a top 10 like kelley is which is a pretty big factor
i guess kind of unheard of? not sure
i’ve heard that there’s competition for top co-ops in finance
SO YEAH THIS IS IT!!! please help i’ve never been this stuck on a decision before))): it would be sm easier if i just got off a couple of waitlists ■■■■■
On IU, it is the flagship public university (along with Purdue, which houses engineering), and many flagships have much higher acceptance rates than their private peers (including, for instance, Michigan, UVA and Berkeley), but are known to have great academics. Kelley School has a great reputation, Honors and Kelley is a pretty potent combination. In terms of party school – sure, if someone wants greek life and big time parties, it’s there at IU. But if someone wants to go deep into entrepreneurship, finance etc. (and hit up some parties too when they want), then IU works for that too. Basketball, not football, is the big sport on campus. On dorms, like any many public flagships, there is not nearly enough dorm space for 28,000+ undergrads and most students move into apartments after 1st year, so dorms are generally not an issue for most students. An LLC is a great way to connect with similarly interested students for first year. While Chicago is a destination for a lot of folks, we know Kelley School kids from the east coast who have gone back to the east coast post-grad. I’m guessing that there should be more detailed information about recruiting on the Kelley website. Admission to Kelley’s IB program is very competitive, but those students can go anywhere.
It sounds like you are more comfortable with campus experience at Northeastern but are unsure if you will have the same opportunities as at Kelley. Perhaps compare the realistic career options at each school – not the options available only available to the top 10% of the class, but to the top 30-50%. Can you connect with current students at each school to talk through opportunities in more detail?
I wouldn’t discount Kelley because of their high acceptance rate. It is higher because it is a larger program. It has a great reputation and companies recruit from around the country.
I would also take Northeastern’s acceptance rate with a grain of salt. They are notorious for playing the numbers. They admit people with low stats in their NU program and don’t include them in admission statistics. This artificially reduces their acceptance rate. I’ve also heard mixed reviews about Northeastern’s quality of life.
I would check out Fiske which tends to provide a lot of information about academics, social life, etc…
I would also reach out to both schools and see if you can talk to current students and see if they have any virtual open houses or programs for admitted students.
A friend of my son went to IU Kelley about 20 years ago. He had a great time there and got a good education but there are some caveats. By junior year he was tired of Bloomington and itching to be back in a big city. Of all the business courses he took he only had 2 taught by a professor. All the others were taught by AI’s which is their term for their doctoral students. Some were great, others not. Recruting was dominated by employers in the midwest although he did get a good job in Boston just before he graduated. And yes the freshman dorms were not good but mostly due to many loud and inconsiderate students with no real control from the university.
The campus is beautiful and sprawling, to the point that they have an extensive bus transit system to get students around.
As for Northeastern they have been well known in the northeast for decades. The best finance coops (Goldman Sachs etc.) go to the best applicants. And that is not necessarily the ones with the highest GPA’s. That is like the real world.
Boston is of course an incredble place to spend four years. About half the coop jobs are in the Boston area. And contrary to what some may say it is possible to graduate in four years with two 6 month coop periods.
Northeastern does in fact have a fairly defined campus for an urban university. The campus is not at all like BU or NYU. Here is a drone video of part of the campus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQSHCjnSL6U
As a recruiter at a big consulting firm, I would say Kelley, no doubt. You have so many strong majors there and Kelley’s Career Center is one of the best in the country. You can secure jobs/internships nationally and the students all feel like they get personal attention. Unless one is a significantly larger financial burden or you REALLY like one city/campus over the other, I would definitely go with Kelley. The other thing I would say, in conclusion, is the Kelley students all seem very happy and well-rounded/adjusted - like they’re getting a true college experience. Some of that could be the Big 10 atmosphere.
I can only speak to IU. Niece was a direct admit to Kelley, honors, nice scholarship (Indiana resident). Also had a chem major. Internships in Indianapolis, Chicago and Seattle, hired by Boeing in Seattle. Her husband (not sure he was in Kelley) also had West Coast internships and was hired by Microsoft.
Kelley is a major player; I would not discount it just because it is in Indiana.
My son had Northeastern as a choice but decide to go to Kelley. As a part of our research, what we learned was that Northeastern’s “lower acceptance” is somewhat made up. They ask a significant pool to take a semester abroad in fall and then start at Norteastern in Spring. Apparently this group does not get counted into the acceptance rate. I believe some news journal reported on this practice.
