Hey everyone, I got into IU Kelley for finance and I am a direct admit to the business school at UW Madison. I still haven’t heard back from everywhere yet, but these two schools are definitely in my top 3. I have no idea which one I would rather go to and I was wondering if I could get some advice. I’m looking to go into investment banking or consulting as a career although things can definitely change.
Either one is great. Depends on which one being in state. And which one offer you the scholarship.
Not sure about the respective departments but uw is considerably more selective than Indiana generally for students.
Have you ruled out Industrial engineering? I think Indiana University doesn’t offered that degree. I was under the impression that the engineering majors are at Purdue.
For IU Kelley and UW Madison I am a finance major, but I have gotten into other schools such as UIUC and Clemson for Industrial engineering. Also I am a California resident so I’m OOS for all of these schools.
Consider the entire campus experience.
I graduated from IU and my daughter goes to UW Madison. So I have competing biases. I can’t comment on academics as I have no involvement with business. For Madison, the environment is more of a midwest-urban setting. IU for business is much more of a frat-business environment which I mean in mostly a negative way. Bloomington has changed dramatically over the last 20+ years and I think it is a bit full of itself. On the other hand, Madison has been full of itself for much longer! The weather in Bloomington is generally better with beautiful and prolonged autumn and a nice spring with blooming redbud and dogwood trees. The corresponding seasons in Madison are relatively brief and harsh. Winter in Madison promotes personal growth and is a bit unremarkable in Bloomington. I love IU but I think the school spirit at Madison is more. I don’t think you can go wrong with either choice. Good luck.
@WISdad23 what do you mean by “frat-business environment”? Just that everything revolves around frat life?
Also, can you comment on the amount of out of staters or what it would be like being from the northeast at either one of these schools?
Thanks!!
I was trying to be polite about the frat guy business major stereotype. But my opinion on that is old, not recent, so maybe things have changed. UW has less of a Greek presence.
Both schools have a significant out of state (and international) presence. For both schools, many of the out of state students are from Illinois (the Region), California, and the Northeast. Both schools are relatively inexpensive for out of state students relative to full freight LAC’s, so they are attractive.
The campuses are different. Bloomington’s campus is gorgeous with limestone buildings throughout. they have put a lot of money into the architecture and over the past 20+ years have really improved the landscaping. Many colleges have nice buildings but are just grass up to the foundations. IU is much more “finished” with limestone edged planters and small gardens. The only downside is that all of the new buildings have filled in former green space and given the campus more of a dense feel. Nevertheless, there is still nice green space intermittent throughout the campus.
Madison on the other hand is different. It is a long, skinny rectangle with the state capitol area on the east end, the medical center on the west end, and a lake on the north side. The capitol end is urban with State Street being a vibrant, pedestrian only area with restaurants and shops. It is larger and nicer (but similar) to the Kirkwood/Downtown area of Bloomington. The architecture at UW Madison is OK, with some interesting buildings, but not in the same league as IU. It has too many of the soulless socialist buildings of the 60’s and 70’s for my taste. But it has a long lakeshore which is gorgeous in all seasons and allows for outdoor activities that few schools can provide. The green space is mostly around the lakeshore as well. For me, I did not care for the UW campus at first. It requires spending some time and it grows on you. IU I find very nice from the start.
A small thing, but a nice memory years later is the experience walking to class, something you do repetitively for 4 years. IU is more pedestrian, less traffic. UW is more urban.
We live in Indiana and my kid went to UW, and know many kids at both schools. The IB program at IU is very (very) competitive to get into, and has an excellent placement rate.
A kid from northeast or west coast would feel completely comfortable at either school. Both draw from beyond the midwest, and my UW kid was good friends with many east and west coast kids. At UW, a lot of Chicago-area kids as well as Minnesota kids (MN and WI have reciprocity, so MN students at UW pay more than in state tuition, but still much less than full OOS tuition at UW). As for IU, it gives merit to OOS students, one of the few midwest schools that does, so draws a lot of OOS kids for the merit money.
The campuses and towns are different, and your mileage may vary. I’ve spent lots of time at IU and don’t understand the fuss. I find it attractive enough, and the cultural experience is enhanced by the excellent museum and the Jacobs School of Music, a top music and dance school. Bloomington itself is roughly a 6 x 6 block area with trendy restaurants, coffee shops, bars etc. It is everything a college student needs. Greek life plays a pretty strong role in student life at IU, and like at many schools, there has been some negative publicity. Football team is generally unimpressive, basketball (of course) and soccer are generally excellent. Bloomington is about 45 minutes from Indy, without traffic.
Madison is a city, albeit a smaller one, and the state capital. Campus sits on Lake Mendota, which is a centerpiece all seasons (sailing in warm months, pond hockey and skating in the winter months). The center of campus runs from Bascom Hill down to the libraries and State St, and other campus buildings fan out from Bascom Hill. There are two on-campus residential areas, southeast which has two high rise dorms and several other midsize dorms and an urban feel, and lakeshore which is nestled along the lake,with nature trails etc. Each neighborhood has a large, central dining hall plus smaller eating options spread out in various dorms Percentage wise, greek life is smaller at UW, about 10% participation. Madison is a “foodie” town, with a big farm-to-table scene and a fabulous farmer’s market. Epic software is a big employer, has built a google-style campus just outside of Madison, and hires UW grads. Football, basketball and hockey are all big.
The majority of students at both schools move off campus after first year.
As someone above noted, if you want to preserve an engineering option, IU will not work as the engineering programs are all at Purdue. UW still does not do a lot of direct admits into Engineering, so a student could, in theory, decide over the summer that they really want to do engineering and not business, and take the pre-requisites in the fall and then apply to the Engineering major of choice. I do not know how difficult admission to UW Industrial Engineering is, though the gpa and pre-requisites will be on the department webpage.
Great options, good luck with your process.
My understanding is that Kelley ranks highest among the Big Ten undergraduate business schools (US News). I would try to gain a little more from each of those business programs to see if there is a change in ranking in your area of interest. If one of these is in state for you, as a parent I suggest saving your parents some money. 
I have three UW daughters with one having graduated in accounting and then a masters in accounting. The Madison experience is hard to beat. Congratulations on facing a tough decision because of your hard work - there is not a bad choice for you.
UI is not a targeted business school for BBIBs. Only Ross at U of Michigan garners that rep in the Big 10. Get a 30 on ACT and have a 3.8 and you’re automatically accepted in UI Bus Sch. UW is much more selective.
A lot of good information about each campus given here. It sounds like you have two main issues to think about. First, the B school and major. Then there is the campus. Some similarities but different student cultures. Definitely no Greek influence on the rest of the students at UW. Madison is a medium sized city but you would be spending your time on/around a very vibrant campus. Do not plan on making trips out of town from either campus- time/distance not practical. Indianapolis is not an exciting town, btw- and the UW campus area is the best part of Madison for students. You may want to consider demographics- consider that more students will be from the state than not. UW has the Wisconsin- Minnesota (mainly Twin Cities) demographic while IU will have those from IN. Subtle ethnic differences (I am from WI, educated there and spent a few years in Indy plus visits to H’s relatives in south IN). Plus the mentioned OOS/region students which add to the school flavor.
The IU business school is in Bloomington on the main IU campus, not Indianapolis.
Can any current student or graduate please comment on the quality of Kelley? How about its professors, course load, and job placement? Thanks.
re above post- a better source would be the IU site- ask there.
@soren99 There is a lot of information in the IU forum, on other threads there, that may help answer your questions about Kelley. Scroll back a few pages and look for relevant threads. The member @iubaccounting has a lot of insightful comments on the Kelley school and is either a current student or a recent graduate, I believe.
The following thread may have information that will help you…
Both terrific universities with great B schools, in my opinion. How lucky you are to get to decide between the two! are you in state for either school? Is cost a factor? Did you get merit dollars at either? is one more expensive to travel to from home for you? these are other factors to consider after weighing the different B schools.
My son came close to having to make this very tough choice as he was admitted to both EA. We are OOS for both and he got merit aid at Kelley. We had visited Wisconsin and he loved it and hadn’t visited Kelley yet. We had a hotel reserved for admitted students day. He found out 12/15 that he was accepted to his other option ED and our choice was off the table. Not sure what he would have done, but he was leaning Kelley because recruiting and focus is more national and they had more resources.
I think if the choice here is IB, I don’t believe that would lead you to Kelley.
If not accepted direct admit to the business programs at either U Of W or IU, how hard is it to transfer in? IU has a clear criteria for direct admit. Does U of W?