Looking to Transfer from Kelley School of Business (Indiana U) to Northwestern/Recommend others!

Transfer Students
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Hey everyone! So I am currently a freshman at Indiana University looking to study either Finance or Economic Consulting here at Kelley, which for those of you that don’t know, is a top-ranked undergraduate business school which is quite distinct here from the rest of Indiana University. However, while I enjoy the curriculum and teachers, I have come to find that Indiana University just isn’t the best for my personal growth nor my interests!

I am currently looking at Northwestern University and really have fallen in love. When I visited everyone seemed to invested in what they were learning and gave me the exact sort of community I am looking for. I also love that Chicago is only thirty minutes away, and would actually love to work in Chicago after graduation. However, I know Northwestern is never a guarantee for any admit, and no matter how much I am “in love” with the school, I could just as easily be rejected as anyone else. Therefore, I would love anyone’s help in suggesting schools similar to NU, and those that fit the qualities below.

Qualities I am looking for in a school include (in order of preference):

Extremely passionate campus in all majors. This is the most important to me. While Kelley surrounds me with a lot of talented students, the passion outside of Kelley falls off tremendously. I want an eager student body which will educate me in all fields of interest; biology, journalism, anthropology, anything! Hence why I am thinking currently about Northwestern.

Great business/economics major. I understand I will most likely transition from a specific business degree to an economics degree if I attend a top 25 school, which is completely fine with me as I have developed a pretty great interest in the major.

If the tuition is 60k+, the school has to provide excellent financial aid to transfers. (Something Northwestern also does).

Much smaller campus than IU; 48,000. Preferably below the mid twenty thousands.

Great placement into Investment Banking, or favorably, Consulting.

Good surrounding campus city/town.

Quickly About Me:

Major: Economics/Consulting/Finance
HS GPA: 3.89
ACT: 32
College GPA: 3.91
College/HS Extracurriculars: PGN Business Fraternity Member, Economics Club, DECA Business Club, Varsity Volleyball
Personal Hook: I have a personal e-commerce business where I have sold over 200+ sneakers and apparel all over the world, even selling to Ian Connor, the previous personal fashion designer for Kanye West, and great friend of ASAP Rocky. I have done this for around five years now and I owe a large majority of my passion for business as a result of my company.
Recommendations: One from Informatics professor, another from Business Ethics professor.
Ethnicity: Hispanic/American

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My bad! Also in high school, I had a rigorous course, 8 APs in total. Only around 9/10 offered. Additionally, my school’s GPA was out of 4.0. So I had a 3.89/4, top 10% of class.

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Some of the other possible schools I am currently considering include: Notre Dame, Cornell, UPenn, UChicago. I know three of those are Ivys and extremely selective, but from what I’ve noticed, it’s far better to apply to a large variety of schools and hope one sticks.

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Just a caution, applying to a variety of reaches doesn’t mean your chances to each get higher! Have you looked into some of the less selective schools in Chicago such as Loyola of Chicago or DePaul? We’ve visited LUC and loved it; and I do believe that Jesuit schools foster a culture of passionate learning that you are looking for. No idea on biz school though aside from the general info on internships which sounded fantastic and the fact that they have a downtown campus facilitiates that. Other than that, I was a IU Kelley graduate but so far neither of my children are looking at business majors. Oh and my DS as a prosprective freshman got a great merit aid offer with lower stats than you. ANd back in my day, it was harder for Bus. Econ majors (me LOL) to find a job than specific majors such as Finance Accouting etc, but that’s ancient history and probably doesn’t matter any more. Econ was more geared towards grad school or jobs in the government sector.

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@TS0104 It definitely doesn’t increase my chances, but it is a little less likely that I would be rejected from all of my applied to schools! I should’ve added that fact that while I do want a more well rounded campus, I don’t want to step down in terms of business school quality, which Kelley has really shown it has. I always figured that would happen as well, but I guess nowadays a Economics degree at any top 25 school can get you into some pretty great consulting firms and give you a shot into Investment Banking! IU is a great school, and I came here in particular because I thought I would love the B10 college feel, and while it definitely has its benefits, I’m looking for a smaller, more academic based college!

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Have you considered some of the schools out east like Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette, or Colgate? Good business programs with plenty of NYC connections. If you want the consulting firm/IB pathway of the schools you list Northwestern and UChicago are great, but to transfer into either is very tough, even with your grades, etc. Of course, you won’t get in if you don’t try…

None of the schools listed have access to a great town/city (other than the two Chicago schools) within walking distance. Some are a challenge to get to via car (when we visited Colgate, they turned that into “A school in the middle of everywhere”).

Best IB programs (and consulting) from undergrad are Ivy’s, Stanford, UChicago, MIT etc. All tough to get into as a transfer. However, there are some good schools in NYC that may get you there because of their proximity. NYU (also tough to transfer into, but of the schools listed in this paragraph probably the easiest), Fordham maybe, I’m not sure about their business program but a very well known head of state went there. Of course there are the smaller east coast LACs to look at, but again most are rural.

Hope that helps.

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@BrianBoiler I have not investigated Bucknell, Lehigh, or the others you mentioned. I’ll take an in depth look into them, thank you! I have also considered NYU but from what I hear, they offer pretty horrible financial aid and I definitely could not afford 70K+ a year. The Ivys, etc are great and I know I will definitely apply to Cornell, but past that and I begin to question if the time, effort, and money I put into that transaction is worth it seeing how they are have acceptances around 5%. Like you said, however, it’s always worth a shot!

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BUMP

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BUMP