Indiana Kelley, Ohio State Fisher, or Boston College?

Another, "Where should I go to undergrad?" thread, I know, but let me lay it out for you. So I got into Kelley Direct Admit at Indiana and after scholarships/aid plus the money from my parents in total I would have to take out $68,000 in loans on my own. Since I live in Ohio, I get OSU instate tuition and over the four years would have to take out only $7000 in loans. As far as Boston College goes I haven't received my final financial aid, but I imagine the total debt when it's all said and done would fall somewhere in-between the two of these other schools, but on the higher side. Are the opportunities I'd find at BC or Indiana worth the extra debt? Also, in the back of my mind I've entertained the idea of transferring from one of these schools to a better one after my first year. With all of this in mind, where should I go?

 

If ur considering BB firms/general finance profession: Just for the info, my friend transferred from my university to Indiana in the second semester for undergrad. He is currently working in UBS as an investment banking analyst. He said that most of his friends from kelley were hired into BB firms. Dude, you should check the Linkedin University ranking website. They have used the linkedin database to rank universities that have most student entering finance & investment banking industry as % of the total student who studied there. They have ranked BC #14 in both the rankings. OSU & Kelley doesn't show up but regarding overall alumni lists, both OSU & Kelley show up. Regarding the cost, the difference is huge. Hope this helps and you make the best judgement.

 

For finance specifically OSU is #10 and Kelley is #9 although OSU is significantly cheaper. You can’t go wrong either way although I wouldn’t pick BC due to cost. I interned with a kid last year from there and it didn’t seem like her opportunities were much better than mine. BC brand name may carry you a long way however, could be a good long term investment...

 

I am so torn between IU Kelley and OSU Fisher. I like IU, and think Kelley is great. However, I am a diehard OSU fan (parents went there) and I love Ohio State and feel like I can have a more enjoyable experience there and like Columbus a lot as well. I worry OSU isn’t as highly ranked as Kelley but it seems like their perception is improving and OSU is investing a lot in Fisher overall. Also OSU in general is more selective.

 

A lot of shitty advice on this thread. Kelly is the best school for finance among the three. For banking, it's not even close. Go to Kelly and work hard.

“Elections are a futures market for stolen property”
 

Anecdotal evidence for going after a long-shot-at-best career by saddling himself up with a shitload of high interest debt, is good advice??

Don't make this decision based on anecdotal evidence on your chances of getting into investment banking, especially when your base case scenario involves $68k in debt. There are enough kids at Harvard with 3.5 GPAs to fill every analyst class, but banks also recruit at a long list of other "target" schools, so let's keep that whole idea as a long-shot at best. IU is a good school, and has the employment reports to prove it--most undergrad schools evade that disclosure--but it all comes down to ROI. Boston also releases solid employment reports.

 

OP, don't worry about debt. It's an investment in your future, and it's really not even a lot of debt. You should only worry about debt when your options are all shitty. I caveat that this is mainly true for finance, where school name brand really matters. For areas such as accounting/CS/engineering, cost should definitely be given more weight.

“Elections are a futures market for stolen property”
 

Not sure what you decided but I go to Ohio State and definitely would choose it given your situation regarding costs. In my fisher futures class alone we got 95% placement (one kid in honors accounting went to Deloitte) including 2 GS offers, 1 CS, 3 citi offers, JPM, UBS is now a target starting next year for Chicago office, multiple Cain bros offers, key is a target, 2 Evercore offers, 1 Lazard offer, 2 RBC offers, 1 Piper offer, William Blair has two reserved spots a year although the ones that got interviews in my class went to other banks this year, 2 Houlihan offers + 1 in RX, a Jefferies offer, and there is a lot more that I’m forgetting and again this just from my class alone (2021). OSU Fisher is rising fast thru the FF program. Even if you don’t get into FF banking is totally possible from outside the program.

https://fisher.osu.edu/careers-recruiting/students/undergraduate-studen…

US News recently ranked fisher at #10 undergraduate finance program right behind Kelley. It is a great education for the price, truly great value especially if you are in state. To be honest however, we are not near the level of Kelley, Northwestern, or Michigan (ew) yet for IB recruiting, but in 5-8 years I see the futures program growing to 60+ students.

 

Do you have a source on Fisher being ranked #10 by US News? I don't think that's true. Last I saw, IU Kelley and Cornell were tied for #10.

Also, how do you know that Fisher will be a target for UBS's Chicago office next year?

 

Thanks for the input....what other schools did you consider...am looking at OSU and IU, long time Buckeye fan but everyone tells me how great Kelley is - am direct admit to both - thx in advance

 

I considered Kelley, UIUC, and OSU. Chose OSU and got BB offer. Kelley is a fantastic program IF and only IF you get into the IB workshop. That being said, your shot at an EB/BB out of OSU are also limited if you don’t get into fisher futures although a ton of kids get to solid MMs and LMMs every year outside of futures and it’s cheaper than Kelley (which is why I made that decision) A girl in my class made it to GS IB this year that wasn’t in futures. I’ll also say that OSU culture is incredible and football season brings everyone together in a really special way. Everyone ik here absolutely loves the experience. You can’t go wrong with either schools. Kelley will give you more opportunity if you get into the IBW at a higher cost, might be worth the risk, but for me it wasn’t and I still got the same job other Kelley kids get and I get to enjoy great football/student life every year AND intern at PE/VC shops part time in Columbus during the school year. The OSU experience is what you make of it. You might have to put in a little more networking grunt from OSU than Kelley but the opportunity is still there.

 

Considering these two schools as well - how difficult is it to get into these workshops....have good scholarships at both, but worry about IB or consulting workshops being too hard to get into etc...costs are essentially the same, so if there’s more Kelley vs. Fisher feedback would love to hear it. Thanks!

 

I’d say OSU unless you currently live in Columbus and then go to Kelley or BC. I know some people with some insane BC outcomes 5 or so years out of school so have a bit of bias there, but Kelley is probably more fun.

61k is a lot of money and not sure if the marginally better outcomes at Kelley assuming you make neither IBW or Fisher Futures is worth the extra debt.
Especially if you are contemplating an MBA anytime in the future. Moving away from home I think swings the scale.

 

I’m a kelley rn. Solid IB placement. I’d pick OSU tho cuz of the debt situation. For me my in state(Psu) and Kelley were the same price after my scholarship from IU so I picked indiana but experience is similar across big tens. If u get good grades and get into fisher futures you’ll be fine and I have friends there. I just know that fisher futures is smaller than our workshops so the exposure is a little less but I think if you go in to school with the right mindset you’re fine. PM me if u have questions about IU

 

OSU - the debt is not worth it. Yes it may require a little extra leg work to break into a top BB / EB but has been shown to be done time and time again out of OSU. If you can't hold the grades and do the networking at OSU then there is no way you'd survive BC or Kelley where there are more kids who know they want to do banking. Be the big fish in a small pond for kids who want to do banking at OSU and be the 1-2 who gets the GS / MS offer.

 

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