I got into Kelly with the 10k Dean’s scholarship. Also accepted at U of Minnesota Carlson, which is in state. I want to major in Finance or Business Analytics. Kelly’s Investment Banking Workshop is very interesting, but I heard is very competitive to get in.
How big of a difference between Kelly and U of Minnesota Carlson? Any advise please?
Finance is not necessarily investment banking and yes, you’re right, the workshop is very competitive to get in.
What’s the price differential between Carlson and Kelley? What’s your parents’ budget?
(Carlson is really good and the Twin Cities are doing very well economically so you need a good reason to turn it down).
You need to research these colleges more because you don’t even know the correct spelling of one of the colleges which tells me you have not done your due diligence, especially considering you will be spending the next 4 years of your life there.
If I understand correctly, tuition at the Univ. of Minnesota will be about $15,000 per year versus appproximately $27,000 at IU-Kelley ?
The Twin Cities area has a very healthy economy, therefore, there should be great internship &, maybe, co-op opportunities available.
Have you visited each school ? If so, do you have a preference ?
FWIW: Two years ago, US News ranked IU-Kelley undergraduate business at #11 & Univ. of Minnesota-Carlson undergraduate business at #15. Not a significant difference.
US News also ranked the Top 10 undergrad finance majors. IU-Kelley was #8 & Carlson did not make the top 10 (but it may have come in very close to the top 10).
Significant difference in campus environment. Which do you prefer ?
@MYOS1634. @socaldad2002, @Publisher,
Thank you so much for your feedback! I appreciate that you took the time to read and respond to my question. Both Kelley and Carlson are excellent and well respected and I feel that can’t be wrong go with either of them. But I can only go to one of them!
Cost:
Carlson: Total cost of attendance $31,266 for residence
Kelley: Total cost of attendance $51,222 for nonresidents
It will be about $10,000 cheaper to attend Carlson after factoring in the Kelley school. I am grateful that my parents can afford either of the schools without taking loans.
Location:
I haven’t visited the Indiana University, but know Bloomington is a small town. I grow up in the Twin Cities area and will want to live in a big city after college graduation. During the college years, whether the school is in a big city or a small town is less important. Going to Carlson, means that I can go home on the weekend if I want to and spend time with my parents.
Major and Programs
I am not naturally smart and I have to study hard in high school for my grades and ACT test score. I am relatively good at math, took AP Calculus AB and BC in the Junior year. Based on my academic strengths I thought Finance or some kind of business analytics program would be suitable for me. But honestly, I don’t know for sure. I think I can wait until my Junior year in college to declare a specific business major.
Kelley was ranked #10, and Carlson was ranked #19 in the latest US News & World Report ranking. However, overall, the whole University of Minnesota is ranked higher. So Kelley is better than Carlson, but is the 9 point difference make a big difference?
Also based on the size of the business schools, Carlson has about 600 freshmen last year, Kelley has about 2000? I would assume smaller is better?
Internship and Job Placements
Again, Kelley and Carlson both have excellent opportunities for internship and job placement. Carlson reported 93% internship, 97% job placements after graduation. Kelly reported 91% internship, and 96% job placement.
I noticed that Carlson graduates tend to stay in the Twin Cities area after graduation, vs Kelley graduates seem to find jobs in Indianapolis, Chicago, and New York. Because Kelley graduates have more job opportunities in different big cities, I am wondering if Kelley is better for me. I have no idea where I really want to live but I want to live where I have many opportunities to move up. Is it worth it to go to Kelley just for job placement locations? If the job placement opportunities for both Kelley and Carlson is same, this is an easy decision for me – I would choose Carlson.
I would also look at the business schools undergrad population. I think Kelley has 7,000 where Carlson has 2,500.
With that said I think Kelley has a better reputation than Carlson and there is something to be said about getting out of your bubble (Minnesota) and trying a new location to live for 4 years.
I would definitely visit IU before making a decision. One campus may speak to you more than the other.
Good luck.
OP: Bigger can be better with respect to undergraduate business schools because it leads to a greater number & wider variety of class offerings and attracts more recruiters to campus.
From an environment perspective, no slight against U Minnesota whatsoever, but I tell people Indiana University is the quintessential public university in the quintessential college town. It is just hard to beat that Bloomington campus and town.
I agree with the above that Indiana has had a stellar national undergrad business school reputation with employers and MBA programs for many decades. I can’t remember it not being Top 10 in every ranking service.
A big factor for me would be to have a total change in environment at a young age, so if I grew up in Bloomington, I’d definitely say to myself, “Why not go away from Bloomington for college if I can?”
Congrats on your acceptances…to me you don’t have enough info to make a decision…should definitely visit IU and learn more about their programs and what they have to offer. For example you could double major in finance and business analytics at Kelley.
I don’t think that there is a wrong or bad choice in your situation; neither, however, is there a clearly better choice.
I second the idea of taking a “senior day”, registering for a visit on a Friday attending a freshman English class and a freshman business class (you need to request that; both are two stapples so that you will easily be able to compare with UMNTC when you go visit). Don’t forget to visit the library (does it make you want to learn, study, read…?) and if you qualify for Honors college to request an encounter with Honors students and/or professors or administrators.
@catfishdante I assume you mean you were directly admitted to Kelley? Please know that they are very strict about grades to apply for admittance after you are there, if you weren’t a direct admit. It’s nothing less than a B for the core classes. I’m not sure if you are direct admit. I’m sure they have to adhere to those same grade requirements. I only mention this because you mentioned working hard for your grades. Does the other school have similar standards for staying in the program? It may be one factor to consider.
@Momofmanytoo and others, thanks again for all the response to my question. Through hard work, I was directly admitted to Kelley and to the Hutton Honors College. Carlson students have to have at least C- for the core classes, sounds like less strict than Kelley.
Based on the inputs received, I plan to have a visit to Kelley before making a decision.
Good luck to all other students who are still waiting…
@Catfishdante Admitted to both schools as well but we are OOS for both. There are many things to consider. First of all, there is a chance you might be receiving some Merit at UMN since scholarships have not been awarded yet. This will make UMN even less expensive. In addition, I believe the Dean Scholarship is attached to achieving a certain GPA. This one area where one needs to be careful. What happens, it the GPA is not attained. Will the extra $10K a year make a difference?
IU Kelley is quite intense and rightfully so. In order to get in, a student has to have 3.8 GPA and a 30 plus ACT. Your Freshman class will be full of high achievers. It attracts the prospective Ivy Leaguers or the like due to reputation, opportunities, location, and ultimately cost. Another attractive part of IU and Kelley is that it attracts a high percentage of OOS students which is a huge plus when it comes to having a very diverse student body. Kelley is well known all over the country.
Carlson is much smaller and less known outside of the Midwest. The pluses of being in a dynamic city such as Minneapolis can not be underestimated when it comes to internship opportunities and access to extracurricular activities. Being in a smaller school within a very large school has its benefits. It is also a very selective school with only about 29 percent acceptance. However, there is very little diversity, especially geographical diversity if that is important to you.
We were offered the same scholarship at IU (slightly less $$$ UGH) and I was invited to apply to others via the SSA. However, We find the number of essays to be written in order to qualify for other scholarships to be extremely time-consuming for the time being. None of these scholarships might get IU where it might need to be when it comes to affordability. Having said that, we will wait to see how the other applications play out in the next couple of months. We would probably choose Carlson over Kelley for the amount of money that you would be savings. This is not to say IU is not worth it, but considering you have both of these choices, the amount of money you would be saving, it would be your first smart financial decision. Another factor for you seems the opportunity of being able to go home more often. Do not overlook is this factor.
For sure visit IU. It is a very amazing University. The campus is beautiful and Kelley is impressive. Both schools are very strong and for sure the reason, we both applied. This is also the year both schools will be going “Bowling” when it comes to their Football success. This by itself is really cool.
@catfishdante Ok, if you are direct admit and already admitted to honors college, I would say that you should be confident enough in your academics to make it at IU, as long as you aren’t one of the few that let the party atmosphere interfere with your grades. If your stats were any less, I would advise you to consider the university program with less strict grade standards.
I’m sure there are benefits to being in a big city. However, Bloomington is a great college town that students never seem to be disappointed with. If costs are not an issue, your ideal maximum benefit enrollment may be Kelley. If you’d like less academic pressure from grade requirements, perhaps you should choose the alternative. It really just depends what level of commitment you are feeling.
IU Kelley has a program where you can shadow a current student in class. If you visit campus, please sign up for this option. The generic tours can be pretty lax. Putting it nicely, they don’t hard sell the place, probably because they don’t have to. But it’s much better than the normal tour would present. Plan on spending some time looking around on your own and be sure to visit the village area on Kirkwood Ave. Better yet, if you sign up for the shadow option, the student will email you and you can make plans to spend some extra time with them after the class to get their own perspective. Good luck!
^Signing up for the shadow option is a great idea!
Definitely agree with those that said visit IU. Also, if you received the Deans in the amount of 10k, I’d venture to guess you’ll receive some other scholarships after completing the Selective Scholarship Application. My son is a Kelley freshman from Alabama, and he absolutely loves IU.