You can’t compare schools/options without factoring the cost of each.
Once he has all his merit money applied of course he can make a better decision. But if things stayed the same he has to full rides to 2 good business schools. That’s just hard to beat in my mind. Maybe it’s because I am the one paying the bills… Lol…
OP is a NY resident with a $40k/yr budget. I don’t see where OP ever stated that they have a full ride anywhere.
So on post 17 he stated “debt free”. I read this fast and just assumed wrongly “free” tuition my bad as they say… But still same outcome… No loans or debt. Thx for pointing that out.
Unless some big outside scholarships come through, Michigan will likely not come in below this amount.
Hard to pass up the money you’re getting at Indiana. But I sounds like you maybe need to go your tours and evaluate your offers once they all come in.
@knowsstuff You’re right, it is difficult to pass up afordable tuition at indiana versus other schools. I also applied to a lot of private scholarships so hopefully those prevail.
It’s interesting to go to school for entrepreneurship. No school will make me an entrepreneur; that’s up to me. i can make the same business at gies or kelley or ross, it really depends on the environment i’m in, the people i’m surrounded by, and the resources the school has. I guess that’s true for any major, but entrepreneurship especially. Or do you guys not agree with that? that’s kind of a new perspective i’m taking; I can go to U of Minnesota for approx. 30k a year and it’s already in an entrepreneurship powerhouse city. 0 debt and amazing location for business. idk. like for computer science you’ll want to go to the best CS schools for job placement. but for entrepreneurship, which factors become most important?
also, some of you referred to me as “He,” I’m a girl 
@saltypretzel… You go girl ?! Sorry about that.
Each school has its advantages. My engineering son wants to do a minor in it so they have this https://innovateblue.umich.edu/academics/minor-in-entrepreneurship/
Each school will have advantages and disadvantages. I agree with UMinnesosta program and city. Lots of advantages.
A friend of ours daughter’s at Babson and loves it. Their program is stellar.
Since we’re on the Illinois site https://entrepreneurship.illinois.edu/
Each college with have many things you can do. At Michigan my engineering son got a $5,000 grant and $10,000 one. For funding to do things on campus.
I would go to the college that has what you think will benefit you in the long run. Forget about rank. What opportunities will you be afforded that are more or less guaranteed? So many colleges have cool organizations /clubs but some are competitive to even get into so they look great on paper. But what else can you do if you don’t get those? Make sense?
https://techmgmt.illinois.edu/
Great program if you can get in. So what else can you do if you don’t get this? That’s my point
All the colleges you are looking at will have great opportunities. You just have to go after them. But some colleges are also more helpful then others.
I would never say UIUC is the only school or the best school, when it comes to interdisciplinary entrepreneurial opportunities. As I think it is obvious here on CC we bring our own biases and limited experience.
However, I do see UIUC as a special place, drawing many companies to campus due to its strong business (Gies) and engineering (Grainger) colleges. Here are a couple of links that might be interesting to prospective students:
Champaign-Urbana may not be located near a large city, but there is Research Park. https://researchpark.illinois.edu/
Going up next to the BIF is the Siebel Center of Design. https://designcenter.illinois.edu/about/
And since saltypretzel said she’s a girl, here’s an example of a start-up from an entrepreneurship class. MakerGirl https://makergirl.us/
So while Knowsstuff is correct that a student needs to set realistic expectations when it comes to accessing a university’s opportunities, I feel that Gies does an excellent job creating opportunities for a large percentage of their students. It’s one of the reasons why I point out incoming freshmen class size, when comparing undergraduate business schools.
^^^ no question. That’s why I said to research all the opportunities that each college has. There are so many, that spending an hour searching the website is crucial to gain the knowledge. There is no reason the OP can’t email an academic advisor and just putting it out there. I am sure they will let “her” (??), know many options on campus.
I am truly amazed at opportunities my kids have on campus. Also professors might have other opportunities if you just ask them.
I really feel any of her choices will lead her to her goal. But if there is affordability and fit at one over the other then then might be a great choice?
As far as companies coming to campus… This can get overblown a bit. Any major college is having hundreds of companies coming. Then you stand in line to give them your resume. They hand you a card and tell you to apply online. You can just do this on indeed or the like for these companies also.
^^ I agree that affordability and fit are very important, but saltypretzel asked for input while disregarding finances for now. Yes, she has a lot of good choices and it sounds like she is taking a mature approach.
I am a firm believer that a student can have a great experience and find success at more than one school. In my opinion, self-awareness and expectations are important in the decision-making process.
As for companies on campus, I agree that there is a wide range of involvement. Some may only participate during Career Fairs. However, we were very pleased with the relationships BCS (Business Career Services) and the various RSOs have developed with companies.
Of course, the Big 4 has a huge presence on campus. Both of my kids participated in weekend, leadership-type conferences. It may sound crazy, but they know individuals who had full-time, post-graduation employment arranged by sophomore year!
^^ I don’t want to be imprecise, so I need to make a correction. My kids know an individual who had accepted a full time job offer sophomore year. They mentioned her to me. It is not a common experience to my knowledge.
I’m an Illinois finance grad. I loved everything about my time there and it was an incredible educational experience.
That being said, if you’re coming from out-of-state and you can be debt free going to Indiana, then that’s a great deal. At least in the Chicago area, most firms are going to look at Kelley and Gies undergrads as fairly comparable (Kelley has a bit better rep in finance while Gies has a bit better rep in accounting). The East Coast seems to favor Kelley grads a bit more (although part of that is that Gies students are often from the Chicago area and are a bit more biased to heading back home). Based on pure academics and job placements, I can’t recommend spending materially more for one over the other, so if Kelley is cheaper, then that’s an easy decision.
I like Minnesota a lot and the Twin Cities market is a great place in and of itself for job opportunities, but nationally, Kelley is a level above Carlson for business. If you plan to go back to the New York area, then Kelley is definitely stronger. Gies and Carlson seem to be comparable in the rankings, but the Gies ties to the Chicago market inherently provide a larger breadth of job opportunities (as Chicago has the full range of accounting, banking and consulting jobs that’s only comparable to New York).