GA resident here (so UGA’s Terry College would be $0 tuition). My son has been admitted to the business programs at the four schools listed above, plus UC Irvine—which we’ve ruled out due to distance. We’re having a hard time deciding, because three of the schools feel very close in overall strength (UF, UGA, OSU). Kelley at Indiana is obviously a top business program, but my son isn’t excited about the university itself (location, overall prestige, etc.).
He’s very focused on business right now—especially Finance/IB—but we all know majors can change. That makes choosing a well-rounded university feel like the safer long‑term bet. Although UGA will be tuition free for us UF has offered $6k/yr merit scholarship. OSU and IU Kelly will be OOS and OOP.
Has anyone gone through a similar decision process? How did you ultimately choose? We’re planning campus visits next week (UF, UGA, OSU) and hoping that helps clarify things. What else we should focus on as visit these schools?
Thanks
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UF and UGA are the same school. I mean, walk the campus same, etc.
UGA is pre business - not business (ie direct admit). UF is direct admit I believe - since kids can choose any major. OSU is direct admit as well.
So - if $$ matter to you, I’m going UGA.
If they don’t, then either Fisher or UF - but likely UF because I think the track record is a bit stronger for IB than Fisher, but not majorly so. You might ask each about class size - as many here say UF bus classes are often online. But others say, it’s not true - that you can choose to take them online but don’t have to - but it’s something to research.
I don’t know if finance has a requirement at Terry or if simply meeting the BBA pre-reqs allows you to choose your major - you might ask.
Well, you have 4 of those (including IU btw) - I’m not sure the “prestige” argument holds water - no one in life cares if you went to UF, UGA, IU, or OSU - vs. one another - regardless of what people think because of US News. All are extremely well thought of. In other words, if you choose Kelley for its business prestige but decide to change to - say - Political Science, you lose nothing vs. UF, UGA, and OSU - and IU is a leader in many things. That he doesn’t like the campus or area is different - but in the grand scheme of real life, it’s no less prestigious. It is less selective - but that doesn’t impact “prestige”. My kids both chose far “less prestigious” schools and both got into UF, and the one that applied to UGA got into UGA Honors - and went to a regional public instead. And both are, I’m sure, doing as well as they would have done from UF or UGA Honors.
BBA Selection Criteria - Terry College of Business - UGA
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Thanks for the tips and perspective. Very helpful!
It is true that all three (UGA, UF, OSU) are big public schools with similar business program rankings, and even the fourth (IU) is bunched together. UGA is tuition free and UF is very nominal cost (with some scholarship), so given proximity (compared to osu and IU), inclement weather of Columbus/Indiana (although mild inconveniences), and relatively similar business school programs should the choice be between UGA and UF? Don’t think he would rank college campus and student life at OSU/ IU that much higher than UGA/UF.
Only your student (and you) can answer this.
To me, IU is the nicest campus and it’s not even close. It’s also the most concise.
If you go by reputation/ranking, it’s the most likely for IB. Not sure if he didn’t want business what he’d want but IU is very strong in the social sciences, international sciences and journalism. It shares some commonality with UGA in that regard. But yes it’s expensive.
I don’t know where you live but if you live in Atlanta, UF is 5 hours. IU is less than 8 hours (or flight + 1 hour) with OSU a little farther but an easy flight (not far from the airport)..
To me, UF and UGA are similar - even the campus. OSU is enormous (like the other two) but in a different way. But then again, my son’s school (Bama) was really large - but you find out that you only use a part of the campus. From my couple visits to OSU (I’ve been to UF and UGA many times), I think UF and UGA have more in the immediate surrounds.
UGA is tuition free - but not direct. Are you wiling to take that risk. Did you see the requirements I posted earlier.
UF is direct - but I brought up before - before I committed, I’d want to find out if some classes are only online unless that’s not a concern. I say this because some on here have said it’s true and others have said it’s an option, but not a requirement.
There are no wrong choices here. The only wrong choice (to me) is to eliminate IU based on its lack of prestige. Eliminating it because he doesn’t like it makese sense though.
And I’m not sure how much the financial aspect matters to you.
Good luck.
UF’s business core is online, and it doesn’t have as great a pipeline for IB.
UGA has the Morehead honors college, Atlas/Magellan club and more recently, The Corsair Society, which serves as an “exclusive” program for specialized placements in Investment Banking and Consulting.
IU Kelley of course, has the Workshop system, which many state business schools are trying to replicate to boost placement numbers on Wall Street, including UGA. By sheer numbers IU places the best to the big banks (Goldman, Morgan Stanley, etc.) and consulting firms (McKinsey, Bain etc.), which can be seen from LinkedIn
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We’ve heard about UF’s online classes and that it is very strong in that regard but we don’t want him (and neither does he) to take bunch of online classes while being on campus, kinda defeats the purpose of going to the college. Based on our research UF has a strong pipeline into FL (particularly Miami) finance firms, and more and more big Finance firms are moving to south FL. Terry has a strong regional placement pipeline into ATL market, while KELLEY offers the best option for Chicago and NYC.
Will check again but I think he is admitted directly into Terry School of Business.
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Yes, very intrigued by Kelley’s workshop structure, also heard great things about Warrington’s MSF program that has 100% direct placement into top-tier IBs. Will research more on these.
Very much appreciate the feedback.
What is the COA per year at each school–especially U Florida ?
Don’t hear. Have him reach out to the b school and ask. Many have said this. Many others have said it’s not true - that it’s just an option but you can go in person.
Have him reach out and find the truth.
U Florida shows for next - $30900 for 25/26 so they get $6k off. Ga would be free. So it’s $100k-ish savings or more over 4 years - with inflation. There is risk of a 10%+ hike at UF - they’ve been looking at taking OOS tuition up as it’s lower than peer schools.
UF says $12611 for room and board. Seems low to me - especially when moving off campus if you stay near.many campuses get cheaper - not sure UF is one.
One thing I noticed - OP said today finance but that could easily change. But then talking about MSF. At 17, even those that think they know what they want…many simply can’t possibly know.
OP here’s what UGA says about direct admit:
My UGA acceptance letter says “Welcome to University of Georgia and the Terry College of Business.” Is there still another application process?
Congratulations on your acceptance to UGA! You were accepted as an intended business student in the Terry College. You will need to apply to a Terry major upon meeting application eligibility requirements in order to begin your major courses.
There is no direct admission to a Terry major for any type of student, first-year or transfer. All students who wish to pursue a Terry major must complete the major application process.
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Chiming in as a parent who recently went on a tour of the UF business school with my son. It was the two of us and the tour guide, a senior. The online aspect is real. It is downplayed by the school (I can’t remember the exact words- “flex” or “hybrid” maybe). However, the facts are that the gen ed/core business classes (generally the first two years) are recorded events. A professor goes into the classroom and lectures. Options for students are: attending in person at the time of the lecture, watching online at the same time of the lecture, or watching the lecture at your leisure. Our guide told us that no one attends in real time. I don’t know if that is because the class times are inconvenient or what, but we saw a professor lecturing to an empty auditorium with cameras pointed at him from multiple angles. No student was present.
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This sounds like OP wouldn’t like but then they made the comment on the MSF and placement. Is that a trade off worth it to the student ? The parent did note that IB wasn’t an assured outcome their student wanted - and of course for any 17 year old that’s true.
UF should really communicate this teaching method - if there’s no opportunity for in person - to kids b4 they apply. Perhaps they do but some are not picking up on it or are ok with it ? It’s a very different world since many of us went to college, with technology none of us likely imagined. My daughter voluntarily did one class asynchronous each semester. For some, it works.
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This is very insightful. Knowing our son, he may opt for online classes but it wouldn’t be preferred by us to pay OOS tuition (compared to tuition-free UGA’s Terry) for online classes. There are tremendous resources online for all undergrad classes from Coursera/MIT online and other prestigious schools anyways. Even if he doesn’t opt for it I can see him not wanting to be the only kid in the class with otherwise empty classroom.
You’re correct, we heard really good things about MSF but not sure having many classes online in first two years will motivate him to stay there extra year.
Yes, technology is changing everything but it should augment learning experience, not replace it, IMHO. This is not encouraging and we plan to inquire about it during our campus visit this Friday.
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Off-topic, but reminds me of how a former Speaker of the House of US Representatives used to utilize C-SPAN.
Back on topic: Confused. Reading the choices of U Florida, Indiana U, Ohio State, and U Georgia, I wonder whether this is a thread about football recruiting or academics.
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He is accepted as an intended business student. He will have to apply to the Terry college of business. All information is available on their website. If he wants finance, he will also have to take an accounting entrance exam as part of his application. He will list his first and second choice of major. Finance is always top one or two in competitiveness. He will have to write an essay. He will have to complete or in progress all the Terry prerequisites and get mostly/all A’s in those for Finance.
I have a UGA Terry graduate in finance and I’m not convinced IU places any better than UGA “high finance“ outside the workshop program, which is extraordinarily competitive to get in. The Atlas/Magellan/Corsair programs place very well. MIS seems to place well in consulting if he is interested in that.
My kid loved his time at UGA, we think he got a great education. He ended up in the city where he wanted to work in a corporate finance rotational program for a fortune 500 company which he loves. It was a great decision and the free tuition is awesome!
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