So I’ve recently received news that I was admitted to UIUC business and Kelley as a direct admit (yeeeeeahhh!!) But I’m not sure where to go. I know Kelley is ranked higher in both overall and in my intended major, but the cost is still a little steep for me. Both have about the same student population but UIUC has a smaller business school, which usually means more individualized attention. But I’ve heard people over and over again swear Kelley is one of the best.
Thanks
Are you in state for either school?
@happy1 I’m instate for Illinois
Then I’d go for that. Unless money is not a concern at all for your family, I don’t think Kelly is worth that much more over UIUC.
I would choose UIUC. I know I’m biased because I have 2 children at Illinois, but they are extremely happy there. My son, who had applied to Kelley and was direct admitted as well, chose UIUC. They gave him merit $s so the COA would have been roughly the same. However after attending direct admit day, he felt the incoming freshman class size and caliber of students at Kelley, was less of a fit.
One caveat, if you have a strong interest in IB, Kelley might be better for you because of the trickle down effect of their MBA program. Good luck!
Oh and if I were you, I would visit both schools, and if possible, arrange to shadow a student. Talk with students and admissions about topics that are important to you. It may make your decision an easy one.
I like @88jm19 post.
It’s true that fit is everything. My son got full tuition and DA at both IUB Kelley and Kelley Indianapolis. He chose Indianapolis to my surprise.
Spend a long weekend. Be in touch with the recruitment people (my son emailed the Deans directly requesting a tour), and go visit IUB and Illinois. If is not too late see what Kelley Indianapolis offers as well (1200 DA’s at IUB versus 120 at Indianapolis). You might be surprised. Only about 50 miles away, but a completely different feel.
You should be proud that all of your choices are great. Go visit.
Good Luck!!
Thanks for all the answers everyone! I just have one last question though. If you know someone or even attended one of these schools, what DIDN’T they/you like about it?
@88jm19 what was it specifically that you say was not a good fit about the caliber of students? Did you feel that students were over qualified and or over achievers? Was that impression due to the presentations or was that impression due to meeting other prospective incoming freshmen?
I am considering the school myself so any help would be appreciated.
@Goodkidsdad your thoughts?
@NewYorker404 I’ll start by saying that there was a lot to like about Kelley. The current students we spoke with at Kelley direct admit day were enthusiastic and friendly. The speakers at the large group presentation were very impressive. The campus was lovely. The dorms were fine…but that was not a high priority to us.
On our campus visit we were more interested in two things…the academics and the Kelley students.
The academics would be good. Depending upon the major it compared well with UIUC. Kelley’s IB is superior, but UIUC’s Accy is stronger. Kelley seems to benefit from its strong MBA program.
My son is a high stat kid, who is naturally bright and a hard worker. As we visited UIUC, Indiana and Michigan, we focused on the opportunities for top students, along with the “feel” of those top students and the business students in general. Perhaps you can’t do the latter with great accuracy, but we went into the campus visits with that as one of our goals.
In our case, my son is not interested in IB. The impression we got from the informal evening event was that a lot of the high stat, prospective students were focused toward IB…and we spent a long time there and spoke with a lot of people. (You may wonder how do we know who is high stat. We don’t. It’s all about perception and I’ll leave it at that.) My son is probably capable of going that path and being successful, but why? And how does an 18 year old know?
But I digress…perhaps to avoid your “caliber of students” question. Kelley is huge. (something like 1200 versus 700 per class, I believe) As a result we feel they accept a lot of students who will make the experience a little less appealing for some. My children graduated from high school in 2013 and 2015 from a large (Chicago) suburban public high school. The friends they know who go to Indiana are happy and doing well. However, to be frank, they were not among the top academic students at their high school. It may sound like a ‘prestige’ bias here, but that is not the case for us. We got the “feel” that the Kelley students, in general, are outgoing/social and perhaps on average less intellectual. I apologize if that offends anyone.
Good luck with your impending decision!