So I just got into Indiana University, and I’m still waiting to hear back from Illinois, but I have a very strong feeling that I will get into the College of Business. I am interested in both engineering and finance, but I feel like I would succeed more in finance because I really enjoy calculus, but my basics are not that strong in math.
I am interested in the concept of engineering, but if I’m being honest, I’m not sure I’ll put in the needed amount of work, and I don’t want to set myself up for failure. So I’m thinking about a major in finance with a minor in computer science and a minor in electrical engineering. I might also want to get a double major in entrepreneurship.
Is this a good idea and which college do yu think would be better?
I’m in state for Illinois. UIUC is better at engineering by a landslide but IU is slightly better at business.
If you are not that strong at math, avoid the engineering minors (except for CS). Competing with the engineering kids that live and breath this stuff will drag down your GPA. If you are going finance, pick a second major/minor that is far enough away from your first so you can develop a niche. Something like statistics, hospitality management, and building construction are good pairs with finance/economics. Open up the course catalog and see what is available and interests you. Alternatively, you can build up your writing/analysis skills with a rigorous humanity as a second/minor, especially if you have a passion for it.
Between UIUC and UI in finance, both are very similar and you can be successful at either.
I’m not an engineer and others can correct me if I’m wrong but I think there would be little point in an engineering minor. To me your either all in with engineering or your not. It is likely that you would not be able to get a minor in electrical engineering because it probably requires a lot of prerequisite courses you would just not have as business major. I would guess that someone might add an EE minor to another engineering major just to have some exposure that might complement their current engineering major. In that case many of the prereqs would already be covered.
IU has a very popular business school, and you need a 30 ACT to be a direct admit, I believe - and there are math classes that are considered “weeder” classes for freshmen and sophomores. My nephew is in the Kelley school now, as a freshman.
Finally, in Indiana, IU has always been known as the school for Humanities/Liberal Arts/ Business; Purdue is known for STEM.
Well, apparently IU will start offering Engineering soon - but obviously, they’ve not established a rep for it yet.
Again, Purdue and UIUC are more well-known for Engineering and STEM. But IU’s Business school has a good rep.
IU also has a good rep for liberal arts/humanities/languages.
I don’t know which university would be better for you, however I will share some of the reasons my son and daughter are very happy at UIUC’s College of Business.
They like the size of the College of Business at UIUC. I believe UIUC has around 650 per incoming freshman class, while IU admits around 1200.
They both felt that a lot of the students from their high school were direct admitted to Kelley, but only the better students from their (Chicago suburban) high school were accepted to UIUC’s CoB.
As for cost, my son received enough merit based $s where IU would have been cheaper, but he still chose U of I.
Business Career Services does a great job preparing students for a job. (My daughter had a wonderful internship after her sophomore yr and has another one lined up for this summer. In hindsight she feels she could have gotten an internship freshman yr, but at the time she thought she was too young. Her younger brother is learning from her and will try to find something for this summer.)
My son (only a freshman now) is interested in the Technology & Management program. (He had considered majoring in engineering…and was accepted to U of Michigan’s engineering, but after some deliberation chose business.)
UIUC has a wonderful study abroad program. My daughter participated in the James Scholar summer Brazil trip and spent her second semester sophomore year in Europe. She loved them both!!
UIUC accepts a lot of AP’s for credit. Both of them are way ahead in terms of credits toward graduation. It has given them a lot of flexibility.
And lastly, I love having my children just a little over 2 hrs away!
@88jm19 I believe they’ve just begun to start introducing engineering, but they still aren’t very well known for it. I was primarily talking about UIUC when I said a minor in engineering, my bad. I live in state for U of I so that’s where I have been looking the most. Thank you for drawing my attention to that!
For business/finance, the differences between IU and UIUC are minor, so I would go with the cheapest option… and that will most likely be in-state at UIUC. There is no point to going into more debt just to go to IU.
UIUC will be cheaper, and it’s more selective, if that’s important to you. And probably has everything IU has, and maybe more…
This is just my personal opinion, but I think UIUC is often under-rated, and IU is often over-rated. I went to IU, btw. I liked my time there and feel like I got a good education, but I think their OOS tuition is ridiculous for a state school of their caliber. But I’m sure a lot of folks might disagree with me…
@db1128 - In the short run, it will not mean much. The current governor is supporting UIUC vs UIC and the city colleges which is the opposite of Quinn. However, in the long run, it means the diminution of Chicago as a major economic powerhouse. Furthermore, while Chicago is struggling to grow, the smaller MSA’s in central Illinois are getting walloped economically as firms relocate to areas with more hospitable business climates.
With the exemption of some funding of UIC’s medical schools, funding of the three University of Illinois campuses is not separated. It is the University of Illinois which divides it amongst the schools. For a series of reasons, funding for UIC’s medical schools is now separate from the normal funding mechanism. At one point it was included but they fought to be separated because the University of Illinois was not being fair to it.
Historically the University of Illinois has short changed Chicago campus by not adjusting for cost of living expenses. Chicago is supposed to get a concession because of expense. Anyway, funding for the University of Illinois is a highly political expense. There are times in which the state will make the University repay them money. Also, the university won’t know how much it will receive until after yearly tuition decisions and/or start of fall term. It is a true mess.
Something has got to give, and unless Illinois changes its constitution, it won’t be state/city worker pensions. The current budget situation is unsustainable and businesses are rapidly exiting the state which will eventually result in a death spiral. Chicago has raised taxes so much that property values are falling, and tax revenues are only sustained by the slow adjustment in property values. Eventually it all ends up like Detroit where tax rates were 3-5x the surrounding communities and where you could buy a house for $10K, while residents moved elsewhere. It’s pretty easy to relocate to NW Indiana or Wisconsin to escape taxes and get better services.
This isn’t going to happen right away, but it is beginning now, and quality of state services including Universities will fall unless they find alternate funding sources. UIUC will go on huge funding raising drives and eventually will wean itself of most state finances, but there is going to be a lot of pain involved. For a student, this is going to mean larger class sizes, less research money, and slower response from administration and, of course, much higher tuition.
I’d check into IUPU-Indy and Purdue , plus other universities in the Midwest HE compact so you won’t pay full OOS tuition. http://www.mhec.org/
UMich began this process 30 years ago after it was clear to the regents that state funding would continue to decrease. That’s why they have a large ($11 billion) endowment . The state currently only subsidizes about 50% of the in-state tuition reduction.
I wouldn’t look to Congress to bail out Illinois either.
If cost is an issue, I’ve heard praise about Illinois State’s business school, as well as Northern Illinois U’s… which are smaller campuses with smaller class sizes probably. Tuition is cheaper at those, too.
If OP’s grades and test scores are good, ISU and NIU also give some merit awards… NIU has Engineering, too.
So does SIU-Carbondale and SIU-Edwardsville. If you have good stats and need money, those latter two are worth looking at.
Of the Indiana schools in the MSEP, IU-PU-I would be a good, more affordable alternative to IU and i believe they also have the Kelly Business program on the Indy campus.
My own kid liked Ball State, (also in MSEP) but she’s more into Humanities - I’ve no clue how good Ball’s business school is, but I hear and read nothing about it. Doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile… But after touring Ball with her, the school seems more liberal arts/fine arts/applied arts oriented… for instance, I’m always reading how great the architecture, fashion design, musical theater programs are…
If money is not an issue, also look at private schools like Butler or Illinois Wesleyan.
Other states’ schools to consider - UMich (how are your grades?), Michigan State, UWisconsin.