I have narrowed my college decision to these schools. Although, u of I will release decisions Friday I’m confident they will accept me. I am an Illinois resident so I don’t have much of a feel on how Ohio views osu. I am going to major in accounting. U of I is #2 in accounting while osu is #10; however, osu has offered me a full tuition scholarship while I expect 0 from u of i. Any thoughts on where I should go? I have talked to teachers and most say u of I while others say osu. Most of the teachers from my school are u of I grads so their opinion might be bias. Thank you in advance for any ideas.
The difference between #2 and #10 is hardly worth talking about.
If you are serious about accounting, then you will choose the better value. Which sounds like OSU. :-"
@NROTCgrad Thank you
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has one of the highest in-state tuition rates ($15,602). You would be spending at least $60,000 more over 4 years. OSU has a great business school (Fisher) where I assume you would be taking Accounting. Is U of I worth spending that much more? I think not, unless cost is not any issue.
@rg717 Thanks
How Ohio views OSU: It is our flagship school. We hold it in high esteem.
Also look up student satisfaction ranking, generally quite high for OSU.
I strongly encourage you to visit the campus and see what you think.
Good luck on whatever you decide.
PS My daughter has a full tuition scholarship to OSU, and it has been really nice in terms of our budget.
My daughter also feels more independent, more adult and less reliant on her parents.
Go Bucks!
O-H-I-O
@osumom2018 thank you I’m beginning to lead towards tOSU
University of Illinois is giving you less support because it’s a better school with a better reputation. However, whether it’s THAT much better is justify the steep difference in tuition is pretty debatable.
Don’t concern yourself with reputation within Ohio; instead consider the reputation of the school in the place where you want to eventually end up.
@adjunctified thank you
You are doing the right thing, asking questions and getting feedback.
I also live in Illinois and deciding between U of I and OSU. I don’t know about your high school, however, the majority of the students in mine are all going to U of I. Here’s what I think. If you want to meet completely new people and see a new aspect in life, go to OSU. If you want to be in an area where you know you are guaranteed to have somebody to be with you, go to U of I. For me personally, I want to venture out and have the “true college experience” and I feel that OSU does a better job in offering that than U of I. Plus, OSU sports are the bomb and 21921248x better than U of I’s sports lol
@kshinforthewin thanks
You are getting some good ideas and suggestions here.
Your decision should be based on your personal situation.
Your financial, academic, social factors, and of course, career goals.
I think it is a good mix of feedback here.
The adults are suggesting you look at the money and career goal aspects.
Where can you get the best education for the money?
Is UI worth 60K more than OSU?
Do you want to take on 60K in debt or from your college fund?
Do you want to go to grad school? If so, going in the hole with undergrad seems imprudent.
However, if you want to stay in Illinois to work, the UI degree may be worth 60K.
Here in Ohio for example, there is a huge OSU alumni network, and being an OSU grad
gives you a leg up in hiring, especially in the personal service field. Perhaps that is the case
in Illinois as well. If you are more employable in Illinois with a UI degree, 60K may be worth it.
Also, UI is large enough, if you want to spread your wings and not mingle with the high school crowd you
could do that. My daughter wanted this, and chose not to room with kids from her high school at OSU.
When you look at the data objectively both are excellent schools and are cohorts. Ignore the OSU haters on this thread. When both schools have top 20 business schools and top 10 Accounting schools (per US News and World Report) of hundreds of universities analyzed there is no real difference and you cannot go wrong. Additionally, Wall Street Journal did a ranking of universities for quality of graduates recruited and again both schools did fantastic. UofI 3rd and Ohio State 12th overall and when you narrow it down to Business grads UofI was 10th in Business/Economics and 3rd in Accounting while OSU was 2nd in Business/Economics and 10th in Accounting.
At the end of the day it will come down to how you apply yourself at school, both can provide the education and future you desire if you work at it. It is important that you visit both schools to see which school feels more comfortable to you. If you like both or like OSU better go to OSU, if OSU is not comfortable go to UofI. The possibility to graduate from a school with no debt is huge and will help you to achieve financial stability and success more quickly. If you can save $4000 a year starting at 21 and invest wisely many financial advisors say you can have $1,000,000 when you retire-music to an accountants ear! Good luck and let us know your choice!
@osumom2018 Thanks @collegeorelse Thank you and I will.
As mentioned above, it is critical that you visit both schools to get a feel for each university to see which one suits you more. My daughter was torn between Ohio State and Purdue. Accepted into both schools for engineering. Purdue is an excellent engineering school, however after our visit, she took it off her list. It was not a good fit for her at all. Ohio State, OTOH, is a perfect fit and is where she will most likely attend in the fall (good for me to hear as my other daughter already attends there).
So please, visit each school and see which one is a fit for you. I think you will find that Ohio State has so much to offer both on the campus and off of it. Good luck.
I wouldn’t worry about the relative prestige of OSU vs. UIUC when interviewing for jobs even in Illinois. Both are well-known, well-regarded schools.
In the part of Ohio where I live, job applicants with an OSU degree have an advantage.
And few have heard of UIUC, so there would be no brownie points for that degree.
Sounds like Illinois doesn’t operate in this fashion, which is good.
@osumom2018 Had a talk with my counselor. Chances are highly likely that I will attend tOSU and then get my master’s from U of I so I can get my CPA in Illinois and be able to work in Chicago because I want to live in a big city like I have lived my entire life. Thanks for helping me out. Also, I’d like to thank everyone else for giving me feedback.
I think you are making a most excellent decision fbi251! The best of both worlds.
A financially prudent decision, and consistent with your career goals.
I wish you well, I am sure you are going to love tOSU and be a real asset to the school!
That said, you may want to visit tOSU before you make your final decision.