Kelley MBA (Indiana University)

As a resident and with scholarships, my total cost of tuition for an MBA at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business would be only about $20k. Not per year, but total. I know Kelley is not in the MBA business schools">M7 or anything, but this is looking pretty good compared to the $150k+ that most top programs would cost. Is the OCR at Kelley so abysmal that it would justify spending the extra $130k elsewhere? Or would I have a good shot at IBD? Preferably for a BB, but MM would be alright.

 

I attended Kelley undergrad and had an awesome experience. So at least from an experience perspective, I'm sure you'll love it.

As for IBD recruiting, why don't you ask for historical employment statistics? I'm not sure how well Kelley MBA places into BB IBD. Do you care about being in NYC? That might be more difficult. If you're a top performer, I'm sure you could land a BB IBD gig in Chicago out of Kelley MBA. But anyway, ask to see where recent MBAs have landed in IBD - that will be your biggest clue.

Speaking of being a top performer, that might be a good reason to go to Kelley. The top students at pretty much all the top 25 MBA programs land great gigs. There will also be less competition. Tons of people will want to do IBD at schools in the 5-10 range, whereas you'll be competing with a smaller group at Kelley.

One downside might be that the long-term value of the network will be lower at Kelley - especially if you want to do IBD, where you will not be surrounded by many other Kelley MBAs. But if you do land a BB IBD gig, you'll have a great network anyway.

Good luck! If you decide to go, be sure to play Sink the Biz at Nick's as much as possible!

 

I don't know, personally, if I got into 5-10 schools, I'd take them over Kelly. There are a lot of "Ifs" in going to Kelly to land IB. If you're a top performer, If you're chosen for IB interviews, If top IBs recruit on campus that year, etc.

If you go to a 5-10, you know that even if your in the middle of the curve, you'll probably get at least a handful of IB interviews at most of the BBs and MM, and you know that most of the IBs will come on campus to recruit.

But again, its your life decision, but don't forget, once you do your MBA, there is no more "reset" button.

Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis - when I was dead broke man I couldn't picture this
 

Couple things to consider here. One would be 'regret'. When a previous poster asked a hypothetical about choosing between Harvard and Darden...or a similar ranked school...one response was, "No one ever regretted going to Harvard." And maybe that isn't 100% accurate, but the point still stands.

Choosing a 'lesser' school comes with risk and along with risk comes regret should you fall short. On the flip side, you may make it from the lesser school and have a great story to tell one day.

I don't think it's a question of whether it's possible to get to where you want to be, it's more a question about probability. A higher ranked school lessen that risk and increases that probability because the brand name tends to be much stronger.

You have to determine how much regret you can potentially deal with should you not make it into BB, as well as MM or IB at all.

The schools I'm looking at are much more tightly grouped, so choosing between them is harder in one sense, but the negative impact appears to be much less. The farther your schools are away, the more difficult that decision is to make. If you are deciding between spending $20k for UNC or full cost for Duke...and you wanted to be in the SE and not interested in BB IB in NYC, then UNC becomes an easier choice since the brand names carry about the same weight in the South. However, if you wanted to go to NYC for BB IB, then Duke is the much, much safer choice.

You have to figure out if you are okay with MM banking in Chicago because that is presumably the more likely outcome. If you are perfectly fine with that and see BB IB in Chicago or NYC as merely icing on the cake, then Kelley doesn't seem like a bad choice.

At the end of the day, that $150k isn't a huge deal when compared to life time earnings BUT, remember that you are virtually obligated to either (a) pursue an intense career path (IB, PE or consulting), for several years in order to comfortably pay off the debt or (b) live significantly less comfortably for a lengthy amount of time paying off the debt with you pre-tax, $150k all-in pay for the corp fin gig...and I'm not bashing corp fin or anything, just picking some round numbers for illustration purposes. The question at that point is, just how bad do you want to be in IB. If you are unsure and think you might end up hating it, then Kelley might be the better choice, since the lower debt amount allows you to 'escape' the nightmare career path you would otherwise be stuck in.

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 

Great post OP. Last month I visited the school and got a lot of the same impressions.

The Bad:

As you said, the presence for on-campus recruiting for MBA is pretty week. If you're interested in attending Kelley for IB/IM you're going to have to do a lot of the leg work yourself.

It's in Bloomington Indiana, definitely a college town. (This could also be a good thing, depending on your POV.)

The Good:

The capital markets academy is the smallest of the 5 academies. This graduating class only had only about 10 people in there last year. What's good about that is you only have 10 people reaching out to 1000s of Kelley grads in different positions across the US.

The CFA partnership. (For those of us who want to get into IM)

The overall cost. With what's left on my GI bill I could probably go full time, pay out of state and probably have less than 60k in debt.

Like you I also found the school very pleasant and the current students very friendly and open. I was invited to go play beer bong with many (at one point, almost all of) of the current class. Great times. Every person I spoke to immediately either pointed me in the direction or reached out to someone whom they though could help me. Along with speaking with multiple second year candidates who did secure IB positions at BBs in NYC, I got a call the next morning from another student who got a WM position with another BB (Think GS, MS) in Dallas. This call came about from a simple text from one current who I ended up talking with for a few minutes waiting for the bathroom.

Overall, I'm interested since I'm looking to get into an IM position in the Chicago area.

 

Thanks for the kudos.

I also feel obliged to point out that, as of today, you're wrong about the GI Bill Benefits. I just got an email a few hours ago saying that if you have a 100% Gi Bill rating and are between 90 days and 3 years of exiting service Kelley will be billing you as an in-state student. This brings debt down to whatever you pay for food and travel....and given the school's placements it's debt well leveraged.

For finance: If you prefer a competitive culture or access to OCR is your primary consideration you should probably look elsewhere. For PE/VC, go elsewhere: no current students that I met or looked up are on track for those roles.

I'd say that the school is a good fit for students who prefer a highly collaborative, tight-knit environment and are willing to do the work when it comes to recruiting the school should be looked at. One thing that stood out to me is that if you look at the number of students who want IB roles vs those who get them, Kelley (in spite of suffering from a small sample size) stands out: I can't think of any other schools where everyone who was in the IB-prep career track actually got an IB role.

One important thing I forgot to mention: there doesn't appear to be any demarcation between undergraduates and MBA's when it comes to placement. UG's regularly hit up MBA's for networking purposes and vice versa.

It's also worth pointing out that Kelley alums are amazingly supportive......I've been extremely impressed in that regard, and keep in mind that this comment is coming from someone who completed their undergraduate degree from a military college...a group of schools which are famous for ferociously loyal alumni.

 

Thanks for your additional comments.

When I visited I took the time to speak with the advisers in the Veterans center in the Memorial Union.

As I'm past 5 years out of service, I'll be considered out of State.

Luckily, If I would apply far enough in advance, I'll get the yellow ribbon bonus. (Thus eliminating the first semester's total cost. ) I'll also get full time benefits in regards to BAH and the book stipend.

However, since I only have a month of benefits left, I will not be receiving anymore benefits after the first semester and I'll be paying out of state for the rest of the way. That includes the second half of the first year.

Regardless, out of all the schools I'm looking to apply to, it's the most affordable. Of course, I make that statement with no idea of how much financial aid I'd be offered at any of the other schools I'll be applying for.

Thanks again.

 

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