I have narrowed my choice down to UMass-Amherst Isenberg or Kelley at IU. I have been directly admitted to both programs for marketing, and the honors programs at both schools (Commonwealth and Hutton). I loved IU and Kelley clearly has a better program. That said, even with scholarships I would graduate with debt to pay off at IU, where if I went to UMass I would graduate with money to spare for grad school as I am in-state, with additional scholarships. From an outsider’s perspective, what’s the better pick?
“if I went to UMass I would graduate with money to spare for grad school”
That would be my pick. I don’t see the point of taking on debt to go to IU.
UMass Isenberg + Honors. 
Congratulations!!
Money is certainly a consideration. I would weigh that against how important the overall college experience is for you. As an example, are college sports important to you as part of the experience? How about how you would feel on each campus? Maybe getting out of state is important?
If money isn’t the deciding factor, i.e., you can’t afford the higher tuition, I’d go with IU Kelley–it is the higher ranked school and it’s busness school is one of the best. Plus, if you grew up in MA, it will broaden your horizons to go to school in another part of the country.
If you want to stay in MA after school, then UMass is the choice. If you want to move away, then IU has the bigger national reputation, and likely a much broader base of recruiters calling on campus. On the other hand, going to college halfway across the country isn’t for everyone. Be sure that’s what you want. In my experience, a major cause of transfers is that the student was doing fine, but just didn’t feel comfortable really far away (more than 4-5 hours’ drive) from home.
@tfletch77
When you say ‘id graduate with debt’, how much debt for 4 years are we talking about?
Ask specific questions about the composition and instructor of the classes you’ll be taking. Our family’s experience at UMass Honors is that instructor quality varies widely. Transfer between class sections is very hard because of over-crowding. The quality of honors advising varies a lot too. Be your own advocate! Demand value for your tuition and don’t presume they are looking out for you. Candidly, we have been disappointed with UMHC compared to the education our older 3 daughters got at private colleges. With merit aid, the older girls tuition wasn’t much more but the support and educational quality they received was plainly better. Don’t get hung up on the Honors name. Its better than zoomass used to be but its no Bentley or Babson.
@MYOS1634 about $20,000 in total, all federal loans no private.
Ok that would make the difference workable.
Next step, ask questions to the honors college representative at both.
Do they guarantee honors housing? What honors classes and seminars are scheduled for the fall? What are the criteria for scholarship renewal? Etc.
Also, at Kelley, look at the criteria that get Finite Math waived (as it’s an un-necessary killer).
I don’t see any scenario where Kelley is not your choice unless that $20K is problematic to you. If it’s a 5.5% loan with a payback of 15 years, that’s about $2,000 per year. However, if the eventual career is more tied to your graduate degree, then maybe it doesn’t make a difference. It’s hard to turn down a chance to attend one of the top business schools in the country. Isenburg is very good, just not Kelley.
I’d pick Isenberg with honors. It’s a very good business school and you’ll make lots of contacts at New England based companies. It will be easier to travel to school and find an internship in the summer. With 20,000 collards saved you can buy a new car when you graduate with a solid job. Not that many people in New England will be much more impressed if you want to Kelley, ssriously.
Even though there is no wrong choice here, the right choice is Indiana University Kelley School of Business.
Each choice has its pros & cons, but I don’t think I’d allow $20,000 in debt to be the deciding factor. That’s a pretty modest premium for a big-name Business degree.
^^ It’s just an undergrad business degree, certainly not worth 20K in extra debt, especially if you want to continue to live and work in the Northeast. Around here, hardly anyone will care if you went to Kelley undergrad. Not saying Kelley isn’t a decent school, but UMass Isenberg has gotten increasingly competitive and has access to lots of industries here in New England/Boston. Most of the kids from Isenberg that I know are doing fine.
“^^ It’s just an undergrad business degree, certainly not worth 20K in extra debt, especially if you want to continue to live and work in the Northeast.“
Not all undergrad business degrees are equal.
I looked in the IU Bulletin and didn’t see any. Are you aware of any? Exceptions would seem to defeat the purpose of a weed-out course.
Agreed that it’s unnecessary; lots of people have successful management careers without higher math skills. One wonders how many people might have gone on to successful corporate careers but for their D in Finite Math, which required a change of major to a humanity, which resulted in greatly-diminished post-grad job opportunities.
For a career in marketing, I’d recommend UMass and no debt. There will be very little difference in education and job prospects. Debt stinks and if you can avoid it and go to a good school, which you can here, I recommend avoiding it.
“Our family’s experience at UMass Honors is that instructor quality varies widely.”
My experience at MIT was that instructor quality varies widely. I think that is part of life regardless of where you go.
I will however agree with others that $20k is not a horrid amount of debt.
Thank you to everyone for your input. After considering it all, I decided to commit to IU-Kelley with Honors. The 20k debt is something I am not too worried about, and Kelley has significantly better programs/reputation and opportunities in all majors, and the atmosphere will be a better fit for me (being from MA, I need to push myself out of my comfort zone). Not to mention that the campus and area is much better than UMass. There really is no wrong choice here as they are both great business schools, but for me I think IU is better. Thank you again!