poppop

A friend of mine is considering between IU and UIUC for business.. he is pretty sure that he will get into IU, but 50/50 chance for UIUC, so he was I asking me which one to choose if he gets accepted into both.

However, I have no information about IU at all. Which one would be a better choice in term of business program? (He is planning to do management + international business). They both are ranked the about same in business (IU #11 UIUC #12), however in the national ranking, they are far apart( IU #75 UIUC #38). I was told that IU has better business program, is that true? But the fact that IU is alot easier to get into, and are ranked alot lower in the national ranking, does that mean that the students are less competitive and the courses are less challenging (eg. easier to get an A from the curve etc.)? Which one would be a better choice, considering only in term of quality of education and better job prospect. (I know that IU campus is way nicer )

barrons

The difference between 38 and 75 is not that much out of 1000's of schools. IU is much better for music too. Indiana is a smaller state with two major publics so they are easier to get into. Big deal. That is really the midwestern way where equal opportunity is really a goal for all and elitism is bad. For business I think IU is a little better and more widely recruited.

AimHigh

UIUC may be a good school, but they're disorganized and make mistakes with what they tell you regarding classes, requirements, etc., My son couldn't even get a tour, despite the fact that a letter confirming the tour was sent, which was requested because they're such a mess down there. The campus is a dump compared to IU. They also make it almost impossible for in-state students to get in because they want higher out of state tuition. Overall, I think IU is a better place to be.

Calcruzer

I think a lot of the ranking difference is based upon the fact that UIUC (Illinois) has an engineering school and IUB (Indiana) does not.

This unusual occurence goes back to the very beginning of the Indiana University branch system.

Back at the beginning (early 1800s), it was decided that Indiana should fund two separate universities--one more dedicated to the technical side of academics (Purdue) and one more dedicated to the liberal arts side (Indiana University at Bloomington).

As the universities expanded, they both added business schools, IUB added an optometry program and a law program while Purdue added an aviation school and a nursing program and more liberal arts majors. Nowadays the two schools (Purdue and Indiana) are essentially equivalent academically with the exception that Indiana has no engineering programs and Purdue's theatre and journalism and music programs are all lumped into the college of arts and sciences there--and accordingly, are much weaker than Indiana's.

In my opinion, if the original plan had been to put everything on a single campus, instead of two separate ones (think of the academic level of a school that combines the best of IUB and Purdue), you'd probably find that the Indiana university campus would be challenging UC Berkeley, the University of Virginia, the University of Texas, the University of North Carolina, and the University of Michigan for the top spots among public universities. (It would probably come in 2nd, just behind UC Berkeley).

However, because Indiana has no engineering program, and Purdue's fine arts programs are relatively weak, IUB and Purdue keep getting ranked much further down the USNW list than they would rank as a combined institution.

P.S. One must also consider that the campus at Bloomington is much more beautiful than the one in West Lafayette (or Urbana-Champaign) and there is much more to do in Bloomington than West Lafayette (or Urbana-Champaign)--but at the same time realize that has nothing to do with academic ranking.