I’m from Southern NJ and am looking to major in Business. Deciding between Miami, UMD, and Indiana. I’ve heard good things about Kelley but was wondering if Miami or UMD are more prestigious… I would appreciate any help I could get!
While my son did engineering, he did take some business classes at Maryland through the QUEST honors program, and really loved them. Other than that, I can’t speak to which business program would be better for you. I truly don’t think prestige/name is as important as what you do when you get there. What I mean by this is that it’s important that you take advantage of special programs, you earn departmental honors, etc.
As for a comparison of universities, I am obviously a huge Maryland fan. I can tell you that in the past, another student had decided on Indiana because they offered him more merit than Maryland did. While he loved the business program at Indiana, he did not love the university and ended up transferring to Maryland. If I recall correctly (and I could be mistaken, because it was several years back), the issue that he had was something with Greek life - something about not being able to do it at Indiana (honestly not sure what the specifics were but something to the effect of they limit invites to fraternities (?), I think, but don’t quote me as I could be mistaken).
Another factor to consider, assuming you are admitted to all 3 schools, is the expense/ease of coming home. FWIW, in addition to the easy public transportation, for the Thanksgiving and Spring Breaks, Maryland has its own charter bus (for a fee) that runs directly from campus to Southern NJ (across from CH Mall), Northern NJ and NY Penn Station. Ease/convenience to come home may not seem like a big deal at this point, but it really does make a difference.
Go E A G L E S !!!
I agree that the determinant of your success at any of these 3 business schools --all of which are very good --will be how well you do in your classes, the skills, special programs and internship and work experience you are able to obtain. It’s up to you more than the school you attend. Having said that, I believe Kelley is best if you want an internship and job on Wall Street at an Investment Bank firm or IB consulting. They have one of the top programs for that. But otherwise if you are looking for accounting, business management, or mostly any other area of business, I think you should base your decision based on cost and fit. Visit each campus and see how you feel. Anecdotally, I know of a few students of colleagues and friends from our NYC metro area who did not feel as comfortable (due to a bit of a culture shock) at Indiana and transferred out. I have not heard of anyone from our area not feeling comfortable at Maryland (a popular choice at our high school) which has more northeast kids. Only a few from our area go to UMiami. By the way I believe it’s actually hardest to get into Smith college of business at Maryland because it is a LEP and much smaller in size than Kelley.
@c0llege0 - how about them Eagles!!! Fly Eagles fly!
My son received a scholarship to IU/Kelley a HUGE scholarship to farmer/Miami, and was in-state for UMD/Smith. He knew he really wanted to go to UMD as long as he was direct admit to Smith. He was accepted to Smith as a freshman, and will be graduating in May. He loved his experience at UMD, and has a very good job lined up when he graduates. Farmer and Kelley are really strong business programs, but if for some reason your student wants to change majors, I really think UMD is the best school overall.
ETA - something else to consider is ease of travel to the school. UMD is relatively close to multiple airports and train stations. Miami Ohio is far from the airport and kind of in the middle of nowhere (but it is a beautiful campus),and I think IU would be between the two as far as difficulty to travel to.
@maryversity Great game, wasn’t it! Parade will be outrageous tomorrow. My son got in to UMD and it is his favorite (and mine, tbh) school, but I don’t think we can afford the oos tuition! I was hoping he would get some merit, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.
YES!!! Totally awesome…my “like” to your comment was about the Eagles, not about the tuition…sigh I hear ya, and will keep my fingers crossed for you…