My son has been accepted direct admit so far to Indiana (with honors) and Illinois business school AND offered a selective spot of 39 students in the Illinois Honors Business Program. He was also accepted to Wisconsin and Michigan, with direct admittance to the business schools still pending. He wants to pursue Business management, marketing and strategy–not accounting or finance. What are your opinions on which school would be the right choice for him–he is a well-rounded very involved student. We have heard stories of Ross taking students out of the business program for having like a 3.4 gpa–and trying to get in as a Freshman is incredibly hard and pressure- filled. What are the requirements? Is it crazy competitive on campus among the students? Does it matter to go there and not be in Ross if you don’t get in? What can anyone tell me about Wisconsin Business school? We are from a Chicago suburb and don’t know many people in it. We loved U of I, but many of the students seem accounting and finance focused. Is Indiana as selective? Any opinions would be welcome!
I haven’t heard of students losing their pre-admit status at Ross, but it is a worthwhile question to ask Ross if he gets pre-admit status there. Ross is going to be the best academically, but he should only go where he had pre-admit or open access to business majors if that is what he wants. Don’t gamble on late admission anyplace if he is pretty clear on his major. Kelley has a good reputation.
CWilson, the minimum GPA to remain in good standing at Ross is 3.3, but as intparent said, it is highly unusual for students to drop below that GPA.
When you say that your son is interested in management and strategy, does that mean he wants to work in consulting? What is your financial situation? Is cost of attendance a concern?
No it isn’t a huge concern, but good money has been offered at IU and some money offered at Illinois. If hate for him to give that up for Michigan that is so expensive and may not even get in the business school. Consultancy he might be interested in. I just know he doesn’t want to be in banking or accounting.
Ross will only give your son edge over the other options you listed for investment banking and consulting jobs. Kelley is as good as Ross in all other ways. So, if attending Kelley is cheaper, and your son is not that keen on consulting, I would go for Kelley.
He doesn’t have the pre-admit for Ross yet anyway. But may still get it.
I would not agree about “Kelley being as good as Ross in all other ways”…my opinion. However, I do feel both Michigan and Indiana benefit from their strong MBA programs.
I have 2 children at U of I in business. They love it…and my husband and I are extremely happy they are there.
Only my son looked seriously at Michigan and Indiana. My son was accepted at Michigan as an EA for engineering. He applied was not accepted as a Ross pre-admit. We chose to pass on Michigan because of that and we could not justify spending that much on an undergrad degree. (no merit award, so we were looking at $240K) As for Kelley, we liked the school, but after attending direct admit day, he felt like the size of the incoming freshman class ~1200 I think, along with the caliber of students, was not as good a fit as Illinois.
At UIUC I believe there are about 600 in the freshman class. It may sound cliche’ but it feels like a smaller, private school within a large university…in my opinion, the best of both worlds.
I will share with you three things we had under-estimated/valued, but turned out to be important to us:
First (in no particular order), is the study abroad program. My daughter spent Spring of sophomore year in Europe. The experience was positive on so many levels…and it was cheaper than being on campus! (My son can’t wait for his turn.)
Second, my son and daughter are involved in a business organization that has benefitted them in many ways…social, service, leadership, mentorship, professional development, etc. I would rank this as the most important part of their UIUC experience so far.
Lastly, Business Career Services, and the college in general, has the students thinking about jobs from the first week of classes. A lot of students can get a nice summer internship if they try.
https://business.illinois.edu/bcs/
I could add more, but I would suggest that your son visit the schools, and if possible, arrange to shadow a student. Talk with students and admissions about topics that are important to you. It may make your decision an easy one. Good luck!
Are those three points you listed for UIUC really differentiators? It would be hard for me to believe UMich and Indiana don’t have study abroad, or organizations focused on business majors, or career services.
Ross and Kelley are both great business schools, but I do think Ross is better known and might give him a leg up in the job market.
I wasn’t thinking of the 3 points as differentiators.
I was saying I had under-estimated the quality of the UIUC College of Business in those areas. While studying abroad in Europe, my daughter became very good friends with some Kelley students. I’ll just say that they told her it was challenging to get into the study abroad program. They were also under a little more stress because of Kelley’s requirements concerning transferring credits. Yes, this is anecdotal, but I was just trying to be helpful.
Also, the OP stated that her son was well-rounded and very involved. I feel the U of I experience has been outstanding for my children…who are also well-rounded and very involved. It was a concern that a large school like Kelley and the competitiveness of Michigan might prove more challenging when trying to become involved in ECs. (And it is important to note that the concern was not due to a lack of confidence in their abilities.) We were trying to be pragmatic.
I agree that Michigan is an excellent school…the reason we considered it. However, like the OP, we are IL residents and therefore were looking at $240K (probably more). My perspective (and I’m sharing this to show from where I am coming) is that although we can afford to write a check for all 4 (Michigan) years (no loans), we feel the Ross undergrad prestige (and other factors like the study abroad, RSOs, career services) isn’t worth the cost of attendance difference. We shall see how I feel when it comes to looking at full-time employment ;), but for now we are not second-guessing our choice.
Thank you for all of this feedback–it is very helpful!
Thanks for following up with that response @88jm19