Kelley School of Business at Indiana University or University of Florida?

I am a high school senior deciding between two schools: Indiana University and University of Florida. I am from neither state and I am unsure which to choose. I want to work in a bank front office position out of undergraduate (preferably IB). I understand neither school is a target. Both schools are similar price. I am also in the Hutton Honors College at Indiana. I would try to join the Investment Banking Workshop at Indiana and the MSF Program at Florida. I know Indiana has a better history of IB Placement but also that Florida has had a lot of recent success with IB placement from the MSF program. Can anyone add insight to help me make my decision?

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MSF takes like 25 kids. Some do consulting or other non IB jobs. About 15 get placed in IB. The vast majority go to RBC and WF. 2 go to Evercore. 1 goes to Jefferies and Houlihan each. Everyone else goes to Suntrust. 5 banks are represented. You have one top bank, one lower BB (if you count RBC as that), WF as an in between, 2 good MMs, and Suntrust as a LMM.

Indiana on the other hand places in many more banks in a wider range of categories. Would definitely recommend IU over UF if they're the same price. If you were in state for UF Id say otherwise, but as is IU places better on average.

 
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It's not even close. IU if you want IB at a BB in a big market. Not everyone wants that. You can do really well in IB in Charlotte / Atlanta. Your income will go waaaaay further and you may like the life style better than NY. All personal preferrence.

Also, you are young. IB sounds cool but you have no idea what you'll really want to do so be flexibile. Both are good state schools. If you're singularly looking at IB, then IU. If considering the whole college experience thing, go where you'll have more fun.

 

Part of what I am factoring in is Florida’s efforts to improve their standing with the “Rise to Five” initiative which the President explained as a plan to make Florida a top five public school in the country. I am thinking/hoping this prestige increase is noticed by banks and will then make a degree from Florida more valuable in 2024. They also hired a new director for the business school who has an aggressive agenda to improve the school. Are these factors that banks will take into consideration come 2024 even though Kelley has a better reputation and is already established as a stronger business program?

 

Keep in mind that even if Florida is able to make some improvements by 2024, it won't matter by then. You'll be going through post-junior IB summer internship recruiting 2 years from today.

 

No, those factors are irrelevant. I wouldn't consider any attempt at a prestige increase matters to employers.

Also, in terms of downside/bear case at both schools, IU would offer more opps for accounting or consulting B4 roles, which can open doors into banking down the road, if you're not one of the 80/1500 (5%) selected into the IBW program. Further, IU is going to give you more options in Chicago/NYC if post-grad location is a factor.

One drawback would be social/greeklife has been decimated in recent years, with much fewer liberties on the partying/tailgating front, while underage bar scene is more challenging relative to UF.

 

Can anyone in or is an alumni of the Indiana Investment Banking Workshop give advice on what to focus on to get accepted other than just good grades? Also does anyone know the different roles kids in the Capital Markets and Banking Workshop get into?

 

The IBW at Kelley is a great stepping stone into the world of investment banking. When recruiting begins for the IBW there are many factors they take into consideration besides good grades. One major area of criteria is your involvement on campus and initiative to take on leadership roles during your freshman year. I'm not saying to join a bunch of organizations and clubs on campus, but rather a few that interest you and you see yourself contributing too (helps if it's focused in finance). Another big aspect of recruitment is the networking process. It's very crucial to have connections within the IBW. A lot of time candidates are passed up because 1). they don't demonstrate enough interest in the financial services industry 2). they don't no anyone within the workshop. Finally, crush the final interview and technicals!

The main difference between the IMBW and CMBW are what they focus on. IBW is focused more towards M&A and Rx whereas CMBW is focused more torwards DCM, ECM, and LevFin. Min GPA for IBW is 3.6, however the median GPA of the last class was close to a 3.9. CMBW isn't far behind. Although each workshop focuses on individual groups, they are both great and the profs will help recruit into whatever group the student desires.

 

As someone from Florida who got into both IU and UF, I would go to 100% go to Kelley especially if you want to do banking. The workshop places 75-85 kids each year on the street in top BB and EB firms compared to UF which sends barely 25 kids. Coming to Kelley was the best decision I have ever made, PM me if you want to hear more.

 

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