Which Midwest school should I go to?

I have been looking at a handful of Midwestern schools. To be more specific, Big Ten schools.
University of Iowa
University of Wisconsin
Indiana University
University of Michigan
My top choice right now is Iowa because I’m an Iowan and the tuition is pretty good. I want to study business, specifically finance, so a midwestern university with a great business school will get some consideration from me. Problem is, I think Iowa is more towards the bottom in terms of academic excellence. I know Michigan is known as a “public ivy.” Wisconsin isn’t too shabby either. I know each school I listed has a good “social atmosphere” so that’s not a big concern. Any suggestions? I’m leaning towards Iowa but try to convince me otherwise! Also, I’m ok if you add other schools similar to the ones I’ve listed.

Why did you omit Purdue on the list? What is your stat?

Can you afford out of state tuition? Wisconsin costs almost $48,000 per year for a non-resident; Michigan is almost $60,000 per year.

I think Iowans pay in state tuition at Wisconsin. At Minnesota, too. Any reason who it’s not on your list? The Carlson school of business is pretty good.

I think the better question is “Which school or schools should I apply to?”. You haven’t even applied let alone been accepted anywhere as of yet. I would definitely apply to Iowa. Then if you have the stats consider the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. OSU Fischer is quite good. If in fact Wisconsin and Minnesota have reciprocal agreements then you can definitely look into them as well.

I could be wrong, but my understanding has been that Wisconsin only has a reduced tuition agreement with Minnesota. My kid is a UW alum, and the tuition website only showed WI resident, MN resident, or other (out of state).

That being said, an application to IU Kelley business school, which offers merit aid for high achieving out of state students, would make sense.

Have you run the NPC on them all?
What are your stats?
What your parents’ budget?
Depending on stats and budget, you may want to add Iowa state, UNebraska, Butler, Drake, Creighton.

Michigan seems a little more on the expensive side but Wisconsin will probably be ok.

Most public flagships do not give financial aid to out of state students, so most OOS students have to pay all of it. IU does give some merit aid to OOS students, Wisconsin does not. Michigan may give financial aid but is very very competitive for OOS students (think kids who are also applying to Northwestern, Duke etc.)

As an UW parent, I think UW is a fabulous school at a bargain price, about $36k tuition vs. $50k+ at a private university, and room and board is closer to $10-12k a year compared to some privates where it is closer to $15k. But I would not generally advise a family to take out loans to pay for UW when Iowa – an excellent institutions – is their in state school.

UMich meet the need of OOS students with $90k or less family income.

Thanks for the responses guys. For more information, I am currently a Junior, that’s why I haven’t begun applying for any colleges yet. I took the ACT this summer and got 30, but my GPA is not the best at 3.45. I’ve taken honors and ap classes throughout hs though. I’ve been researching rankings of each universities business schools. Iowa’s Tippie College of Business is ranked #64 while the other universities business schools are ranked higher. Can anyone tell me if Tippie is a good, great, or bad business school?

Iowa is ending the MBA program. Not a good sign https://www.wsj.com/articles/university-of-iowas-tippie-college-to-end-full-time-m-b-a-program-1503440964

That’s MBA though, will it affect undergraduates?

Blin20, if Tippie is closing its MBA program, it means that the Business school is struggling. This will likely impact faculty retention, and possibly recruitment activity as many companies would rather recruit BBAs and MBAs in the same visit, particularly in the case of programs located in areas lacking major corporate entities. That is not to say that Tippie’s undergraduate programs cannot thrive, but it is going to be an uphill fight.

Do not restrict yourself to business programs. Grinnell has an excellent Economics department, as do several Midwestern LACs such as Carleton, Denison, Kenyon, Macalester and Oberlin. Denison has a Financial Economics concentration which is very interesting.

Look into Denison and express interest.

My preference are bigger schools for the lifestyle and the sporting events like football. I agree there are some smaller schools with excellent business programs, but I’m strictly looking at the Big10 or maybe Big12. I’m really liking Indiana’s Kelley School of Business. They are ranked highly, problem is Indiana is further away than I would like. I’m thinking I could complete my BBA in Iowa than go elsewhere for my MBA?

Alexandre, I think Tippie is only closing its full time MBA program. The part time MBA program is still there. The reason for this is to create more options in the specialty business programs from the article I read.

So your parents can afford a total of $200,000 for your undergrad education, and have said they are willing to pay that? Just checking, as many parents won’t.

You aren’t getting into Michigan with your GPA, honestly – and certainly not into
Ross. Also, Iowa doesn’t have reciprocity with MN or WI that I know of.

I’d go to Iowa, them work for a few years before deciding if you need an MBA (I have a BBA & MBA – trust me that you may not feel that you need both once you start working).

What about Michigan State for a high match and some from the UWIsconsin system (Milwaulkee, Platteville, Whitewater) if you want OOS?