Michigan Ross vs U of Illinois business

My D has been accepted into the Ross School of Business at Michigan as well as U of Illinois business (in-state) and other big ten schools. Would love to get the perspective of others with knowledge and experience with these schools or facing a similar situation. Thanks and good luck to everyone else.

How important is cost? What is the net cost of each school? Does she know what area she is interested in (marketing, finance, entrepeneurship etc.) and what are her future plans?

Good questions. 4 years at Ross will be $260k vs $140k at Illinois. She is thinking finance or consulting in NY or Chicago which appears to be stronger at Ross, at least in terms of companies recruiting. At Ross 47% go into finance and about 25% consulting. At U of I, about 60% go into accounting. Starting base salaries are about $10k higher at Ross ($70k). We want her to decide. Just gathering insight from others that may have been down this path. Thanks!

–What can your family comfortably afford (no loans, no hardship)?

–And the difference in starting salary is likely due to the fact that there are more accounting majors at U of I which typically start around $60k.

We can afford either option without loans, but of course no one wants to spend more than they have to. We only have two kids to cover for college so we don’t want the cost to be a limiting factor. But we are looking at the ROI and trying to balance that with wanting the overall best fit and experience for our children.

If cost of attendance is not a concern, given your daughter’s potential career interests, Ross would be a better option.

If you can afford both and she’s a direct admit for Ross, then Ross. Definitely greater opportunities in the field of interest. Also, no worries about state bankruptcy impacting the University.

If your daughter is set on finance and consulting, and Ross could be afforded, I would definitely say go with Ross. Ross is a target for top finance/consulting firms. The same cannot be said of Illinois Business.

Unfortunately or fortunately, finance/consulting is a career track that is very prestige-driven and the school one goes to can effectively truly open or close doors. Can a person from a non-prestigious school or program break into the top firms? Yes, but those are very rare stories.

Both are good schools, but for difference in cost, I would favor UIUC. Ask yourself which of these two would do better in the long run:

A UIUC COB graduate with $120,000 in the bank.
A UM-Ross graduate with $0 in the bank.

We faced a similar, but not identical situation with our son 2 yrs ago. He was not accepted as a Ross direct admit…he got his acceptance through Michigan’s College of Engineering.

Anyway, we live in a Chicago suburb and like you, the cost of attendance difference was going to be about $120k. We also could afford it without any loans…but as was stated above, $120k in the bank is a significant amount of money. My son chose UIUC.

I’ll share some of the things that factored into the decision.

– First, his older sister was already attending U of I as a business major. It was mostly a plus because of the familiarity. It was a little bit of a con…well, because his older sister would be there with the same major.

– Second, he liked the amount of AP credit he would receive at U of I…I don’t remember the exact amount, but I believe they gave credit for Lang, APUSH, Gov, BC Calc, Stats, Chem, Macro/Micro, CS and Physics…though because of AP Physics changes he had to take a placement test to get the hrs.

– Third, he had no interest in IB and was leaning toward Accounting and Finance.

– Lastly, UIUC has a great study abroad program with lots of flexibility. His older sister was actually studying abroad in Europe when he was attending the ‘admitted student’ days at both schools. When we asked about it at Michigan, the reply he got was a vague, ‘we’re working on it’.

So it came down to whether he thought Michigan was worth an extra $120k. We tried to imagine where he would be after 4 years at each school. Would there be any regrets?

Well, fortunately he is extremely pleased with his U of I experience. There are zero regrets…and believe me, I’ve asked him more than once. Currently, he is abroad and loving it! He’s been to Morocco, Copenhagen, Dublin, Berlin, Venice, Milan and Madrid…and it’s only been 8 weeks!

As for your daughter and her interest in consulting, she should check out some of the available RSOs at UIUC.

http://illiniscno.org
http://www.ibc.illinois.edu
https://publish.illinois.edu/businessmajors/2017/01/18/info-sessions-for-otcr-consulting-a-premier-student-run-consulting-firm-at-uiuc/

Each of my kids got involved in one. My daughter, who is graduating in May, has a job lined up with one of the Big 3 Consulting firms. Both of her room mates also have consulting jobs for post-graduation. They’re all going to be based out of Chicago.

As for my son, I don’t know where he will be after his 4 yrs, but U of I provides lots of opportunities for personal and professional growth. It’s up to the student to seek them out. Good luck with your decision!

^ there’s a huge difference between Ross and UIUC for consulting. For accounting I’d say you’ve uiuc but for finance /consulting, Ross.

^^ I never said UIUC was the same as Michigan.

There is an entire thread, Is it really all about “What a student makes of their college experience…or is it the school?” devoted to the topic of student outcomes. I understand some schools have an advantage over others…and yes, Michigan has an advantage over UIUC in consulting. In my case, and that of the OP, we had/have to decide if the advantage is worth $120k…or actually $260k out of pocket

As I shared, I have a (UIUC CoB) daughter who will be working for one of the Big 3 consulting firms. Choosing UIUC doesn’t guarantee the same outcome. It is a long shot. But spending an extra $120k also doesn’t guarantee it. It just increases the odds.

All I am sure of is that my husband and I are super grateful our daughter is happy and we didn’t have to spend the extra $120k of our money! lol

Superior programs can charge a premium. Michigan has no problems getting top dollar. UIUC would charge the same, if they could. It’s up to thr OP to decide if the premium is worth it. With that in mind, the road to elite jobs in finance/ consulting will be easier from Ross. It’s just the way it is.

Direct admit to Ross is pretty damn cool. However, for the price of Ross they could attend U of Illinois and have money leftover for graduate school.

@rjkofnovi I agree superior…though I prefer to use the phrase ‘high quality’ because I’m getting superlative fatigue ;)) …programs can charge a premium. (Btw, I was curious and you may be interested…UIUC non-resident cost of attendance is ~$210k vs Michigan’s ~$260k)

However, we can probably also agree that just because something costs more, doesn’t mean it is better in every aspect…especially when taking the individual and their wants into account.

The question is whether $260k for an undergraduate degree makes sense. You don’t have to convince me that Michigan has a wonderful BBA program.

In terms of rankings, Ross School of Business at Michigan is better, but in-terms of cost ILLINOIS is cheaper. If money is no problem then go to ROSS. Also University of Michigan is the only public institution that’s got a name in everything/ In engineering Michigan is TOP 10, In Medicine and dentistry they are in the top 10, business they in the top 10, education they are in the top 10, in public health they are in top 10, and they have like 103 graduate programs in the top 10. So Michigan has good name in everything if money is not cost. Illinois is at top 10 in engineering and also they are in top 10 for bossiness in certain programs. It won’t make a big difference. As long as you know what you’re doing in your field. Like for example I have a friend that I know who majored in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University (Semi Ivy league School) and Another friend who majored in Biomedical Engineering for University of Maryland (State School), well both of them got the same exact salaries and same jobs, and in fact the student that went to University of Maryland after 2 years started to make more money then the Johns Hopkins Grad. Also the student from UMD is knows what he’s doing, while the Johns Hopkins student is not the steller type of student although he went to a steller university with better professors and better resources. It’s all about the STUDENT as long as you’re good in what you’re doing then really it doesn’t matter where you studied. In UVA, there is a computer science professor I know who used to work there until he retired and studied from University of Alabama but made more then all of the other Computer Science professors who came from Georgia Tech and MIT so it’s all about the work ethic.

I would lean toward Michigan. Especially if she is a strong enough student to stand out at Michigan. I think that would have real value.