Help with College Decision: University of Richmond vs. Northeastern vs. IU Kelley Undergrad

I have yet to hear from many of my regular decision schools, but wanted to identify the best option of my early action acceptances. For context, after undergrad, I hope to pursue a career in management consulting, asset management, or finance(not necessarily IB, but that would be fantastic). 

Richmond: Admitted with interest in the Business Administration major, along with concentrations in management consulting and economics, and a minor in Spanish. I was awarded no merit or financial aid, so I would take out loans; however, they would not be tremendous. 

Kelley: I was directly admitted to Kelley's Economic Consulting program as a Dean's Scholar; I also have the option of living in their Jellison Living Learning Center for Direct Admits. I am confident in my ability to work hard and perform highly enough to enter their Business Honors program as a Sophomore, but know it is unlikely I will earn a spot in the Consulting or Investment Banking Workshops. IU is the cheapest of my options(nearly half the cost of Richmond) so I would not have any debt after undergrad. More importantly, I would be able to pay off a sizeable chunk of graduate school tuition if I take this option. 

Northeastern: Admitted to the Business Administration and Economics combined major, on the contingency that I transfer in as a Sophomore after a year at another 4-year school. I would go to my in-state school(UMass Isenberg School of Management) for a year before attending Northeastern. This is my least favorite option, but one of my favorite schools - would transferring to Northeastern be "worth it" for the professional outcome? Evident by my admissions decision, I received no merit or financial aid here either. 

Which undergraduate program would be the best for a desirable professional outcome in my industries of interest?

6 Comments
 
 
Most Helpful

Per my comment on another thread:

UR is a fine school. Definitely not a target but has a very tight knit alumni network and has been crushing placements lately. IB Placements (not S&T/other shit) from the past ~3 years include: GS, PWP, EVR, multiple MS, multiple BofA, Barc, CS, Jeff, FTP. Also several alumni exits into UMM/MF PE. Pretty impressive for a school of like 3000 people.

Almost everyone who places into IB is part of the IB club at the school, so you essentially have to join that club. As with any non-target, it's more a measure of your personal skills (GPA, networking skills, technical prep, agreeability) as to where you will end up landing. If you're a good candidate, you will be able to land a good gig.

The business school is a solid "meh" for finance and focuses heavily on accounting - I think most kids from the school end up at Big 4 firms. But who gives a shit because you don't use anything from school in this job.

Sounds like Northeastern isn’t the best option because you would have to switch a quarter of the way through. Obviously IU is a great school and if you can get into the incubator you would be set. As you mentioned it’s also a lot cheaper than Richmond. I would consider the cultural differences between the school too and what you would prefer - Richmond is a small school, not super diverse, big Greek life scene. Definitely worth considering if those are things you want.

 

hey man, thanks so much for the detailed reply - this is extremely helpful. i recently received the presidential scholarship at richmond. so, as of now, it is around the same cost as my state school. my plan is to go to UR, work my ass off, and apply to their ib/finance focused clubs, unless i get into one of the targets i applied to. if you have any more information/data regarding placement, or advice on how to break into IB from richmond, i would really appreciate it.

 

Richmond or IU no doubt.

Richmond was an option for me and wish I went because they have solid placements for IB. Idk about consulting though

 

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