IU vs. UMD
Hey WSO. I'm a high school senior in the final stage of my application process and I was wondering what the pros and cons were of going to either the University of Maryland or Indiana University Bloomington. At this point, I'm figuring out whether I should aim for MBB or IB (original I know) and which school could help me the most in this endeavor. I've been accepted into both school's finance programs. So here's what I know so far:
UMD
- In-state for me ($30,000)
- Accepted Maryland Scholars program
- Non-target
- Top 25 business school, top 50 university
- Close to DC
- Not a whole lot going on in terms of campus recruiting
IU
- Out-of-state ($55,000)
- Hutton Honors College
- Semi-target
- Top 10 finance program, top 75 university
- Some on-campus recruiting (especially from Bain I've heard)
- Very nice campus and college town
- Prestigious and competitive Investment Banking Workshop
It's also worth mentioning that my parents are going to help me with the majority of my costs for college, so that's worth considering for my decision. Any feedback is appreciated!
Current student/recent grad of UMD. IB is 100% a grind from UMD, but we have alumni at all major banks and they’re happy to help. I think one of the big reasons we don’t have more kids break into IB each year is that the business school/ smith doesn’t force banking down undergrads throats like a lot of other schools do. We only have 20-30 kids each year really shoot for banking so if you’re motivated and work hard you can definitely break in. On average we have about 15 break into IB across BB and MM, but very rarely get anyone into EB. I can’t personally speak to consulting, but we usually get a few more people into ER/S&T/AM including top shops like Trow and Stepstone, mainly bc based in the area.
If you do choose UMD I will say the environment (for better or worse) is not particularly cutthroat and it’s a lot of fun to go to school here. Would also recommend applying for the Smith Investment Fund (SIF) Freshmen year, and applying for Wall Street Fellows (IB/ Wall Street workshop) going into sophomore year.
What have been some of UMD's recent placements (BB and EB if any?)?
IU getting heavily recruited by banks and consulting firms. If cost isn’t truly an issue I would go IU for opportunities.
I am bias, so take it with a grain of salt.
How did you get into the Honors college at IUB without any financial aid? In other words, is the cost gap really that large still?
My personal take is to go to IU since you are from MD. It gives you better MBB and IB recruiting options and a different perspective. You'll have more chances for NY, Chicago, SF, etc. UMD is a fine school, but the culture and atmosphere is very blah compared to others in college towns (e.g., UVA, UNC, Clemson). I don't know how many commuters they have, but it clearly plays more of a factor than a college town.
Those numbers for tuition are rough ones. I haven't gotten my entire financial aid package from either university yet, but I got 24k in merit aid from IU. Probably not getting anything from FAFSA, but I know that Hutton gives their students some money. I'm lucky enough that cost isn't a huge factor, but rather I'm trying to understand what the benefits and downsides are for both colleges.
go to IU then try to transfer to a better school for IB. IU is great but the workshops are highly selective and it is always nice too have options
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