Hello, so I was admitted into UIUC CoB as well as Indiana Kelley. Indiana is cheaper by 2k plus I do have honors college and mabye ace. For UIUC I have the golder freshman seminar. I plan on majoring in finance with a minor in poli sci or international studies. I know Kelley is better for finance but I believe that UIUC might be a better overall school.
I’m just wondering if anyone could give me some advice to make my decision. Thanks a lot!
UIUC is not better overall. These both are big state universities. Each has subject areas that are stronger/weaker than the other’s, but that is it.
If you prefer what Kelley has to ofer you, go there. If the cost difference doesn’t mattter, and you like UIUC better, go there. But do verify first about your aid packages. Must you maintain any specific GPA to keep any scholarships, or to stay in any particular program?
First of all, I’m the parent of 2 UIUC CoB (Gies) students. My daughter graduated in May of 2017 and my son is a current junior. Both of them double majored with Finance - one with Supply Chain Management, the other with Accounting. My daughter never applied to Kelley, but my son did.
Now that I told you where I’m coming from, I’ll share our thinking when my son chose U of I. Like you my son was offered financial incentives as a direct admit to Kelley, making it cheaper than Illinois. We attended admitted student day at both schools (and Michigan) before making a decision.
The biggest difference between these two Big Ten business schools in our opinion was size. Numbers are getting fuzzy in my mind after 3 years so I thought I’d look up the freshman class size for comparison. UIUC reports that there were 560 business students in the freshman class, while Kelley had 1657. If you look at all undergraduate business students U of I had 3105, while Kelley has 7665.
Why was size important to us? Because although both universities have strong business programs, in our mind access to opportunities (business frats, business organizations, leadership opportunities, study abroad) must be greatly impacted by the number of students. You may want to research activities that may interest you and see how many students are in them and how selective they are.
The next thing that was important to us was outcome. Look at the post-graduation job stats. UIUC places very well in Illinois and for my kids, Chicago is/was their top destination…not Indianapolis, Columbus, etc. (As an aside, my daughter got a consulting job in Chicago and many of her friends did too. It has made the transition from student to adult much easier. She got an an apartment with a fellow Illini and gets to see friends on the weekend.).
Lastly, UIUC benefits from having strong Engineering and STEM programs. It draws tech companies to campus. There’s also the T and M minor. My son is in it and is looking forward to the China trip at the end of the semester. https://techmgmt.illinois.edu
So I would say access to opportunities, a stronger study abroad program and job outcomes swayed my son to choose Illinois…even though his older sister was there. 
AP credits, locked in tuition, and only 2.5 hrs from home (a western Chicago suburb) were all pluses…proximity helped when my kids had to travel to Chicago for interviews.
If you have any questions feel free to ask. I’ll try to help. You have two great schools from which to choose. Good luck!!
Do you want to go into investment banking? Kelley is better for that specifically but both are good for other jobs like corporate finance and big 4.
I’m sill a little undecided on that.
You can’t go wrong with either
Thanks for the help
@88jm19 : Very informative post !
Double majors “finance & accounting” and “finance & supply chain management” should yield tremendous job opportunities.
From an outsider’s perspective, IU Kelley looks attractive due to slightly lower COA, Honors College, and size of the business school which is likely to attract a large number of employers to campus. The trick, of course, is to distinguish oneself with Honors & a high GPA in order to get the best internships & job offers.
But Illinois’ T & M minor should prove to be a significant plus when seeking job placement as an intern or for a career.
Regardless, you are presented with two great options !