I’ve got the common dilemma for Indiana kids like me, Purdue or IU? I’m going to be a business major, and by most accounts, Indiana’s Kelley business school is a top ten program while Purdue’s Krannert is ranked around the 40’s and 50’s. By these rankings, I should attend IU.
But the twist for me is that Purdue offered me a full-ride scholarship and I got into the honors college. At IU, I got only a $3000 scholarship and no honors college or anything. I am a direct admit into both business schools, meaning I do not have to apply again at the end of my college freshman year. I am in-state, and can easily afford IU.
Interesting situation. Krannert is an excellent school too with good placement. It is hard to believe that a full ride at a good school doesnt sway it. Thats 100K (less 3k X 4 Years) =88K difference over 4 years. I’m a big Kelley advocate but based on this scenario going for free and maxing out the opportunity is a no braner.
Just throwing it out there that my son got a full ride at a couple of places but wanted Kelley Honors. He got that at Kelley Indianapolis + full Tuition and a travel abroad stipend. Did get the 6K and direct admit at Bloomington. But Indy was a better deal and fit for him.
He loves being in Indy and is having an awesome time. You should at least check it out.
First thing you should learn is that rankings don’t matter. Pretty much no employer looks at rankings.
Kelley’s IB Workshop is a feeder to the Street. Quite competitive to get in to, however. Krannert is highly regarded for operations, IT management, or anything quantitative, so they are the clear choice if your interests lie there. Other than those, there probably isn’t much difference in opportunities, so unless you are gunning for Wall Street, I would take the full-ride scholarship and ask your parents to save the money they would otherwise be spending on you for some graduate degree.
@mom2collegekids That’s a very good idea. How should I do that? I sort of have a grudge against IU because I went to their “direct-admit day” 2 weeks ago where they pretty much had every prospective business student with a 30+ ACT score or 1270 math attend a spectacular event to entice us to come. While I was there, I got to meet a group of other in-state kids talking about scholarships. We went around saying what we got, and I was surprised, every single other person there had a $8000 scholarship, AND we were waiting on additional scholarships they had applied for.
So I was pretty pissed when I found that I was the only guy with a 36 ACT or perfect SAT, yet all these people with 30’s and 31’s were rocking $8000 and most would receive more scholarships. It all traces back to GPA - IU accepts weighted GPA’s and doesn’t un-weight them. All these other people had above 4.0 GPA’s, while I didn’t, because my high school doesn’t weight GPA’s.
What pissed me off even more was that there were selective scholarships where you write essays and such, except you needed like a 3.8 GPA to apply for that, and I guess they thought I was too stupid (even with a 36 ACT) to apply so I didn’t even get the opportunity for those.
So all those other students are going to have $10k + in scholarship dough AND honors college invites at IU while I get nothing. Which leans me towards Purdue. But I still loved the IU visit that day. How should I ask for additional scholarship $$$ from IU?
@MYOS1634 My parents have said they have no preference, it is my decision. IU is quite affordable to them. My estimated total cost of attendance at IU is about $20,000 a year after the $3k scholarship.
@PurpleTitan The thing is, and this is a major thing, I’m bad at math and science. This is the major reason why IU is still on the table. I got a 36 ACT, but I got a 36 on everything except for math. Everyone always says math is the easiest, but not for me. It took me ages just to figure out ACT math and I still think it was a miracle I got a 34. Meanwhile, I feel like Purdue is all the kids that say math is a breeze and complain about the other 3 sections; opposite of me.
Go to Purdue on full-ride and then apply to a Top-Ten MBA Program after a couple of years. Use the $80K+ savings to fund your MBA Education. You will not learn anything more at IU that you wouldn’t learn at Purdue. Undergraduate courses a pretty much the same across the board at most business school. While at Purdue, you might be able to do some cross-link courses at their Engineering School or Projects with their Engineering Students.
Mention your ACT 36 and the reason why your GPA is UW. (If you can, do the math and determine what your GPA would be weighted…and state that.). Mention that IU is your top choice and that you’d love to enroll, but the cost is an obstacle. Mention that Purdue has offered you XXXXX (give specifics as to what they offered…don’t just say “full ride”). If you can, include an attachment with a copy of the merit offer.
Then you need to restate that IU is your number one choice and why it’s your top choice. Then politely state that you’re requesting that your merit offer be reconsidered in light of your stats. Mention that if a new merit offer would make the school more affordable, then you will immediately enroll. Then thank the person for their time and attention to your concern.
Then provide full name, address, contact info, and your assigned IU ID number.
others can chime in with further ideas and improvements…this is just off the top of my head.
If this fails, go to Purdue, excel, and leave all those other IU students in the dust.
Do you know what you want to major in in business? Are you contemplating a minor in another field? Purdue is more science and engineering oriented so course offerings and minors could differ quite a bit. My uncle is a professor at IU and he feels the calibre of students at Purdue is higher. He essentially told us not to bother if not accepted to the honors college at IU. Purdue is an exceptional school for a full ride scholarship - seems like it would be difficult to turn down.
The advice in #8 is excellent.
Large universities receive so many applications that it’s quite possible the reviewer didn’t notice your GPA was unweighted; a typical weighted system is +.5 for Honors, +1 for AP (I know, schools do it all kinds of ways, but that’s a simple one). State "if my GPA were weighted with the usual +.5 for Honors, +1 for AP, it’d be …)
I hope you can follow through and get good results. Do let us know!
Kelley is usually ranked around #10 while Krannert is usually ranked around #20 (I am not sure where the OP got the 40-50 ranking…perhaps MBA ranking?). To many, Krannert + full ride > Kelley.
It is worth a try to send a letter to Kelley, but it is important to understand that if you end up at Purdue, do well, and leave with no debt that your future will be in fantastic shape.
I would also suggest you contact a school board member or your district superintendent and tell them what you experienced at IU. They need to understand how your district’s policy of not weighting GPA affects students. It won’t help you but it might get their attention so they consider changing it in the future.
I spoke to the IU scholarships office, and got referred to a student intern, who said that all information is private, but did reveal that the cut-off for additional scholarships was 3.8 GPA and 32 ACT. Sucks for me, I had a 36 ACT but 3.6 GPA. This is non-negotiable and there are no appeals. So no luck there.
3.8 weighted - but you had that, right? Try to contact the Dean of Admissions with a nice email, indicating your weighted GPA is … but your high school only transmits unweighted, which is 3.6; high-quality work can be easily seen in the fact you’ve got a 36. IU is your first choice, etc, etc, etc.
These are the hgihest-ranked admissions representatives by admission region -
If you’re from Indiana, contact scott-fiddelke@uiowa.edu
The general gist I got from IU when I spoke was that, “hey, your 36 ACT was clearly a fluke as demonstrated by your 3.6 GPA. You should be happy we even gave you a scholarship in the first place. You clearly aren’t smart enough for the selective scholarships, so we’re not even going to let you apply. You must have spent all of high school sleeping through class and partying.”