Indiana (Kelley) vs Boston College (Carroll) Undergrad

I am trying to decide between these two schools. I know neither are high targets for investment banking, but which do you think will give me a better shot at breaking in?

1) Indiana - Kelley Direct Admit, and acceptance to the Hutton Honors College (liberal arts honors where I could take one honors course a semester), also about $25,000 cheaper per year for me

2) Boston College - accepted into the Carroll school, would have to pay full price but my parents are committed to helping me out with the money

Money is part of my decision but not a make or break. My parents are willing to pay the extra money if BC is where I end up wanting to go.

Thanks in advance for your responses

28 Comments
 

I feel like it may be unwise to choose iu solely based on the ib workshop, simply because it is very competitive. Do you guys think otherwise? If anyone has admission info on the workshop it would be much appreciated.

 

Couple things to take into account:

  1. If you don't get into the workshop, there is another similar group that you can go for (don't remember what it's called, but I think it places pretty well too).

  2. I think it's pretty likely that a student who had a good chance of getting into IB from BC would have a similar (if not better) chance of getting into the workshop/IB from IU. Yes, it's competitive to get into the workshop, but it's not like it's easy to get into IB from anywhere.

 

Definitely Kelley if you can get into the workshop, but probably BC would be better if you couldn't get in. This is tough because it's uncertain if you'll get into the workshop or not, but the placement from it is solid. I've seen a decent amount of BC kids on the street as well.

 

IU grad here. Agree with the advice. Also, IU will have more of a collegiate atmosphere if you want it. I know people who transferred to Kelley from Carroll and not the other way around. PM me if you want any details.

 

I hate these threads, but feel compelled to chime in given that I happened to read this and see that the debate has been really one sided.

The best thing you can do is go somewhere you will be happy and have the opportunity to get a great education. Perhaps that place is IU for you. It certainly is for a lot of people. I do think you have to consider how different the two schools are as far as size and geography. A couple of people have said that IU would be a "better college experience" but that's highly subjective. Personally, I know I would have enjoyed the experience that BC offers infinitely more.

Don't make a decision like this based solely on i-banking placement. You have no idea what you'll want to do in 4 years. If you end up not doing this mythical i-banking workshop at IU, what kind of options will you be left with?

Additionally, would love to know what street the guy who said "you don't really hear about BC people on the street" works on. Not going to bother getting into rankings because a simple google search settles that matter.

Not trying to say that one school or the other is the best place for you, just pointing out some additional considerations.

 

I have no idea why there is almost unanimity about Kelley. I would say, for IB, BC is the clear-cut top choice. Barclays, UBS, Citi, Jefferies, DB, Cowen, and some smaller banks all recruit on campus. They have also put people into BX, Goldman, and MS over the last few years. I worked at a BB this summer and am going back and only met 2 IU grads, while there were dozens of people from BC. I'm not advocating making a decision purely based on IB recruiting, but Carroll has also climbed the rankings and is at #4 now, so clearly may offer better options than Kelley in other industries as well.

"Money is a scoreboard where you can rank how you're doing against other people." -Mark Cuban
 

Well, not to beat a dead horse but if you go by BusinessWeek rankings where BC is 4th and Wharton is like 7th or 8th then there is something seriously wrong.

 

Kelley, they have the workshop, and then the seminar if you don't get into the workshop, and then they have something else. And if you don't get in to those, I'm pretty sure IU Kelley is a target for Chicago banks. Also, if you got into Hutton Honors, you can probably maintain a great college GPA, granted you don't party all the time and take your studies seriously.

 

Can confirm that of the most recent full-time analyst class at the NY office of one of GS / MS, there is not a single analyst from IU. There are two BC analysts.

Seems like there is a lot of IU support on this thread, but I would not take that for gospel. It's a great school and I'd imagine places very well into Chicago. But if we're speaking about NY IBD, particularly the top shops, BC is likely the better choice.

 
"new_analyst1"

Can confirm that of the most recent full-time analyst class at the NY office of one of GS / MS, there is not a single analyst from IU. There are two BC analysts.

Seems like there is a lot of IU support on this thread, but I would not take that for gospel. It's a great school and I'd imagine places very well into Chicago. But if we're speaking about NY IBD, particularly the top shops, BC is likely the better choice.

Funny, I work at one of those firms and there are multiple Indiana kids, so I know which firm you're at. Your head of M&A is an Indiana guy.
 

Boston college is a great school. We don't have as many alumni on the street as IU but I've seen that the ones we do have really push for us. I have a 1st round coming up with a great boutique all through networking with only one BC alum at the firm. Can't go wrong either way though

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