Lehigh vs Indiana (Kelley direct admit) undergrad business schools

As @tsbna44 said, it really doesn’t matter from a jobs perspective which one you choose. They’re both very good in the field you’re interested in. You are to be commended for successfully gaining admission to both.

College is an opportunity. Your success will not be determined by which college you choose but by you. It’s what you do with the opportunity before you that will matter.

So, the question is, which college offers you the best opportunity to thrive. Which one offers experiences that will more likely bring out the best in you?

The most obvious difference between the 2 schools is size - 30,000 vs 5,000. You’ll see your share of large lecture halls at IU, but will rarely see classes of that size at Lehigh if at all. Kelley alone has almost 7000 students, which is well more than the entire enrollment at Lehigh. Kelly has more than 100,000 alumni, which is a big network. Does that matter to you?

There are tradeoffs. Raunch Business School at Lehigh is growing, so the university is investing in it. By the time you get there, they are scheduled to open a brand new building for Rauch with state of the facilities. It’s nice to know that the business school is a priority for them.

You will have more interaction with professors at Lehigh although once you get to your major in junior and senior year, there might not be any difference at all. Lehigh has a student:teacher ratio of 10:1 vs 16.5:1 at IU. Do you do better with more opportunities for teacher contact or does it not matter?

Fraternities & sororities are a big part of the social scene at Lehigh. Are you a joiner? About 1/4 of the students at IU are members of fraternities and sororities. That’s a significant number, but the university is big enough that you can take it or leave it and find your social scene elsewhere if that’s not your thing.

Which one is closer to home? Are you looking forward to getting away to some place different, meeting different kinds of people, and having an adventure? Or would you prefer to more easily be able to get home to see family and old friends if you want or need to?

IU may be more oriented toward connections in finance in Chicago although it would be well known in NY too. Lehigh would be more oriented toward NYC. You’re interested in Boston. You’d probably be surprised that Big Ten schools are well represented in the finance community in NY and Boston. So, I don’t know that Lehigh would offer a big advantage there.

Your choice.

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