eladalin, the two schools are extremely diferent. To begin with Indiana Bloomington is a very large state-run university, with 40,000 undergraduate students located nowhere near a major city. In contrast, Brandeis, a private school, combines a nurturing, small liberal arts college and world-class research university-with the smallest student body I believe (less than 800 in a class) of any top tier national research university. And that small student body is matched with high-powered professors who actually teach in small classes (this week's Newsweek article featuring a Brandeis professor, William Flesch as an example of a great professor who can positively change the lives of undergrads is one example). As you can imagine, given this size advantage, the research opportunities are tremendous. Plus it's very close to Boston, which is the world's best college town, but on its own suburban campus.
Indiana is a fine university. But, as I've mentioned to others on CC, for undergraduate students, Brandeis is truly amazing. Its intellectual environment is comparable in many ways to its University Athletic Association sister school, U Chicago (perhaps no coincidence that the President of U Chicago is a Brandeis alum). Yet its students are down-to-earth, friendly and non-competitive with one another. FYI in a recent Forbes national college rankings survey, Brandeis was ranked among the top 15 research universities and 30th overall among all private univerities and LAC's--a testament to its focus on undergraduate education. Larger schools, including some Ivies, were ranked much lower.
Despite its small size and relative youth, Brandeis' alumni are very distinguished--to name just a few: Nobel Prize winner for chemistry Rod Mackinnon, Fields Medal winning physicist Edward Witten (often called "Einstein's successor"), 3-time Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Friedman of the NY Times, The Earth is Flat etc; Mitch Albom of Tuesday's with Morrie (about his Brandeis professor), the Creators/Producers of Friends; actress Debra Messing; Robert FX Sillerman (billionaire businessman--currently owner of American Idol and Graceland) and Christy Hefner, former CEO of Playboy). Also, if you're into social justice or theater/music/art, it's a very exciting place to be.
Further, the school is very diverse undergraduate and graduate, with a strong international flavor (in fact the majority of its International Business School is international students).
With respect to undergraduate business majors, it is inaccurate to say the Brandeis program is less competitive than Indiana's simply because the Brandeis major is brand new as of this coming year. Although Indiana's program is well established, the Brandeis program is innovative. It's being launched in conjunction with the highly-regarded Brandeis graduate International Business School and the excelentBr andeis undergrad Economics department. The international focus of the grad business school--incredibly appropriate for the international economy in which we live--undoubtedly will add international flavor to the new undergrad Business major as well. One key point is that, unlike Indian's program, the Brandeis undergrad Business major will have a liberal arts focus . Here's a link to an article discussing it:
Brandeis Business is practical, unique - Op-Ed
Good luck with your decision!
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