Kelley vs McCombs

I know I am going to get biased responses…but that’s the point.

Currently, I am deciding between McCombs Business School and Kelley.
I am a direct admit of both Kelley and the Hutton’s Honor College and will be applying to ACE. I did NOT apply to the honors program at McCombs nor any other honor colleges.

Does anyone have a compelling narrative or something convincing to say that points to the notion that Kelley is better than McCombs? I would like to hear your perspectives on why you think the Kelley School of Business is prestigious and what you like about it(opportunities, environment, internships, etc).

Thanks!

Ok, scratch it. Can somebody who is a current Kelley student just tout the advantages of going to the school and advantages you get going to the school

Schools are academically very close. Texas is stronger as an overall university, but business schools are neck and neck. IU offers a beautiful campus in a small great college town. Texas offers a not very pretty urban like campus, in a fantastic small big city. Sports is better at Texas. Both schools know how to have fun…Is there a financial difference. That may be the deciding factor. Does one present a better value. If you are OOS, Texas allows for instate tuition after one year, with a little work. Kelley probably gave you some merit money. If one of the schools is instate, go there…

Hey TheAvidSeeker,

I’m currently a student at Kelley in the Business Honors Program. I’m not going to try and convince you to go to Kelley, but there are definite advantages. We have workshops in the business school that help students place into certain industries (investment banking, investment management, consulting, tech consulting, real estate). These are hard to get into (the consulting workshop has an average GPA of 3.95, investment banking has a 3.8,…) and you apply sophomore year. Internship placement for junior year is like ~95% for people in the various workshops – outside the workshops we have a great undergraduate career service office that is consistently ranked #1 by recruiters. Great placement in Chicago AND New York. We send about 150-200 to the Big 4 accounting firms and about 80-120 to Wall Street. Check the Kelley website for more stats.

Great faculty. I’m spoiled because I’ve had the honors professors, but all professors at Kelley care for their students beyond the classroom. Students will visit office hours to speak about life lessons more than the actual content – and they all have great stories and advice.

When deciding between any school (Kelley, McCombs, whatever,…) you should have a priorities list. Rank how important these are to you (ex. financial aid, job placement, location, campus atmosphere, faculty, whatever) per school and that should help you.

Good luck on your search!

@darknight19 Pretty good placement, indeed. Do you know how a 4.85 weighted GPA and a 34 ACT would fare for applying to the ACE Program for Kelley? If I get into ACE, I would most likely go to Kelley even if I got into McCombs.

@darknight19 Also, I heard that being in the Hutton’s Honor College is an advantage because the grade distribution is more generous–more people get A’s and B’s there than in regular classes because it helps the honor colleges reputation or something to that note.

@TheAvidSeeker I believe they will invite you to Ace. My D was offered Ace via email.

@itsgettingreal17 “elected students are invited to apply via email in January.”
How did she get hers early then?

Hmmm. I wonder if she didn’t pay attention to email. I’ll check.

@TheAvidSeeker

“Pretty good placement, indeed. Do you know how a 4.85 weighted GPA and a 34 ACT would fare for applying to the ACE Program for Kelley? If I get into ACE, I would most likely go to Kelley even if I got into McCombs.”

Not sure exactly how they consider students for the ACE program. I know a lot of ACE’s since we take the same classes, and a lot of them were super involved (and still are) in the community and outside activities. This makes me think that they take a more holistic approach when accepting ACE students. As far as being invited to apply: not sure what the requirements are, but I would imagine your scores are competitive. My roommate had a 36 ACT and 4.5 GPA and he was a ACE – if that helps for reference.

“Also, I heard that being in the Hutton’s Honor College is an advantage because the grade distribution is more generous–more people get A’s and B’s there than in regular classes because it helps the honor colleges reputation or something to that note.”

This is a really common thing I hear and here are my thoughts:
Yes the grade distribution for honors classes is higher ~3.5 GPA compared to 2.7-3.0 for regular classes. That being said, (from my experience) honors students tend to be a bit smarter/more committed to doing well in their classes than regular students (not to say regular students don’t care). In my opinion, if a regular student was placed in a Kelley honors class, it would be very challenging to adjust to the pace and rigor of the class.

Why I choose honors classes over regular classes:

  1. My teams (groups of students) in these classes are always awesome. Everyone is dedicated and makes great work.
  2. The professors in the honors classes are top notch (they truly care about their students’ inputs and career goals)
  3. The class sizes are smaller, so you get to actually know your professors.
  4. Your peers are all super smart/ meet new smart people.

The grade distribution is more of an after thought (for me at least).

Side note: ACE’s must take honors classes, and if you’re accepted in the Business Honors Program, you have to take at least 3 honors classes anyways.

@darknight19 In your opinion, how do you think Kelley fares compared to other undergraduate business schools?

@TheAvidSeeker Entirely depends on what industry you are looking to go into. Kelley has great placements in accounting, consulting, investment banking, and places a lot of students in New York and Chicago.

If you want to work out west, that might be more challenging, but definitively possible.

Compared to other schools: Kelley is top 10, which translates to lower elite. But the school has been on the rise over the last decade. I wouldn’t be surprised if it goes top 5 in the next decade or so.

Personally: I got off the wait-list at Michigan, but chose Kelley because of financial aid and the campus. Rejected from other big name schools and wait-listed at USC.

@darknight19 How is Kelley’s courseload? I choose to major in Finance. Do you have time to relax, or are you inundated with heavy coursework. I guess my same questions applies for the Hutton Honor College.

DS is freshman at Kelley, says courses are challenging but he does not feel overwhelmed. He is in ACE and Hutton and still has time to make friends, socialize, go to games etc.

@TheAvidSeeker I’m also doing finance and in Hutton and Kelley Honors.

As far as course work: some classes are more challenging than others, but overall there is a lot of time to make friends and do things outside of school. Lots of my friends in Kelley go out Thursday/Friday/Saturday. You will be surprised how much free time you have coming from high school. Also, a lot of time is used up by studying, not actual work (which is also different than high school). So depending on how fast you learn, your studying times may differ – and, of course, your GPA aspirations.

On Hutton: If you are in Kelley Honors, Hutton requires only 2 Hutton classes to get the honors notation. If you are not in Kelley Honors, you will need 5 departmental honors classes plus the 2 Hutton classes. Either way these (Hutton) classes tend to be more reading and writing intensive (meaning more time), but not necessarily mentally staining.

For me: I wake up at 10. I have class from 11:15-3:45, Monday through Thursday. Team meetings from 4-6, usually twice a week. And then studying depends on the week – the work comes in waves, so some weeks will be less intense than others. And I still have time to relax at night and go to bed by 2.

@1S1Dforcollege Could I ask what his stats were for ACE?

@TheAvidSeeker just sent you PM

Hi, My daughter received the email for applying for ACE program. They said that they will be sending out formal application on January 19th and they will send mail also to make sure that everybody receives it. Also, @darknight19, can you please tell me which place is good to stay? Teter vs. Mcnutt Kelley LLC? Any help is appreciated. Good luck!

@saraswa your daughter got the ACE email early?
What are her stats?

@darkknight19 thank you for taking the time to answer questions. I am trying to help my D decide about several great scholarship opportunities. She was direct admitted to Hutton honors and Kelley and also received emails to apply to ACE and Fry. At this time she has only gotten 11,000 merit and we are OOS. Have you met any Fry scholars and if so is it a very difficult scholarship to obtain? We would really appreciate any guidance!