<p>I am looking to study finance, accounting, or economics. If I got into all of these schools business colleges, which one should I attend? </p>
<p>I'm from Illinois but assume money isn't a factor.</p>
<p>Oh and I’m a preferred admit to michigan ross and I’m in the honors business program at uiuc</p>
<p>Anything??</p>
<p>I don’t know from business, but you haven’t told us anything about yourself. You can look at all the rankings you want and maybe decide which is the best business program in general, but that is not the question you want to ask. The question should be where can I go and be so well supported intellectually, emotionally, and financially that I will do the best work of which I am capable. Each person will have a different answer to that question and it will be only tangentially related to someone else’s idea of prestige or best. Sorry I cannot be more helpful. </p>
<p>Ross is the best all around program, especially with a pre-admit. Northwestern would be a strong choice as well. </p>
<p>^Exactly what jkeil911 said. These schools are very different from each other - Michigan and UIUC are large flagship public universities in college towns; UCLA is a large flagship public in a very large city; Northwestern is an elite mid-sized university in the Chicago suburbs; USC is an excellent mid-sized private in a very large city. They are very very different from each other.</p>
<p>Also, I find that students often want us to either assume money is not a factor (when it usually is) or present the monetary differences between the schools and ask us to completely ignore them. I think this is a really bad way to make college choices, honestly. You have to choose a college holistically, and cost is an important factor. I’m willing to be that unless USC and/or Northwestern gave you significant aid (either merit or need-based), UIUC is the most affordable option for you. It’s also an <em>excellent</em> public university and consistently makes Best Universities in the World lists because of its research output and reputation. So it’s not like you are compromising much if you choose to go there.</p>
<p>If you’re asking me which one I’d choose - I’m not sure how that would be relevant to you personally, and also my decision is colored by the fact that I’ve already finished college about 6 years ago. Nevertheless - I think if I had to do college all over this time I’d want to go to a huge state flagship university in a college town with hundreds of student orgs, vibrant Greek life, Division I sports and tailgating, lots of majors, a big library, lots of on-campus amenities and lots and lots of people. It just seems like such a good time, and then when it’s over you have a humongous alumni network and can always cheer for your home team (I’m a football fan). So for me that would narrow it down to UIUC and Michigan.</p>
<p>From there, I’d see that I’m in the honors business program at UIUC, which to me gives the best of both of my preferences - a small LAC feel at a huge lovely state university. The program is 40 freshmen who get exposure to special seminars, special networking events with business leaders and faculty, and a covered international trip to explore international business. There are also weekly honors courses, job shadowing, and a mentorship program. Being already graduated from college, I know that the experiences you have in college matter FAR more than the individual ranking of your undergraduate school.</p>
<p>It also becomes clear to me that the honors business program includes a four-year merit scholarship to UIUC.</p>
<p>…So I would choose UIUC and never look back.</p>
<p>If we ignore finances and atmosphere (i.e location, style of school, amenities, etc), we cannot answer your question. If we are looking strictly at academics/prestige/job opportunities we also cannot answer your question. You have presented three possible fields of study. Each field would lead to a different answer. For accounting UIUC is one of the top two programs in the country. Michigan and USC are also good in accounting. If you choose finance, Michigan/Ross is hands down the best program. If you choose economics, Northwestern and Michigan are the best options. Note that Economics at Michigan may not be through Ross. UCLA also is good for economics. If you are looking at business majors, note that Northwestern and UCLA really do not have undergraduate business schools. Northwestern’s.MBA program is outstanding, however. In California, aspiring business students go to Berkeley/Haas.,</p>
<p>ALL of this leads to the conclusion that you need to ask yourself a lot of questions about what you want to study and what type of school you want to attend. </p>
<p>UCLA does not have a true business major, although it has a “business economics” major (as well as a plain economics major and a math economics major that is probably better preparation for economics PhD study).</p>
<p>UIUC is probably your best choice. </p>
<p>You say ‘assume money isn’t a factor’ instead of stating that it isn’t. That leads me to assume that it is, but you wouldn’t mind taking on the debt to go to the best university. I’d caution against that mentality. I think at this age, adulthood seems so distant and far away, that taking on large amounts of debt to finance one’s education doesn’t seem like a big deal. It’s an investment, many convince themselves, that will pay off later in life. While there’s some truth to that, for many teens, this is one of their first decisions as an adult. Large amounts of debt (generally considered >30k) can have serious impact on your quality of life. So it should be taken after careful consideration with an understanding of the risks.</p>
<p>c.f.</p>
<p><a href=“Majoring In Debt: College Students Struggle Under The Weight Of Loans | HuffPost College”>Majoring In Debt: College Students Struggle Under The Weight Of Loans | HuffPost College;
<p><a href=“UPDATED: Share Your Story -- Majoring In Debt | HuffPost College”>UPDATED: Share Your Story -- Majoring In Debt | HuffPost College;
<p>“I’m from Illinois but assume money isn’t a factor.”</p>
<p>Sticking with your request, Michigan is your best bet since you’re already a preferred admit to Ross. For finance it is a target/semi target school and most of the other schools mentioned are not. </p>
<p>It’s doubtful that any OOS public university is so different, and so much better, that it is worth a substantial price premium over in-state UIUC rates, unless your family is so wealthy that an extra ~$100K is a negligible expense. Toss in the honors program advantages and it’s hard to justify anywhere else. </p>
<p>By “target/semi target school”, rjkofnovi presumably is referring to recruiting by major Wall Street investment banking and consulting firms. Before you spend nearly double to pursue those hopes, try to get hard evidence that Michigan graduates really do get those jobs in significantly higher numbers, at significantly higher salaries than what UIUC grads are getting. FWIW, average starting salaries reported to payscale.com are almost identical for Michigan and UIUC alumni.</p>
<p>“It’s doubtful that any OOS public university is so different, and so much better, that it is worth a substantial price premium over in-state UIUC rates…”</p>
<p>Same old garbage about how all OOS publics are pretty much the same and only private schools are worth paying a premium. </p>
<p>Oh btw:</p>
<p><a href=“9 Problems with Payscale.com's College Rankings (and One Solution) - Around Learning”>http://aroundlearning.com/2013/09/8-problems-with-payscale-coms-college-rankings-and-one-solution/</a></p>