Indiana University-Bloomington

IU’s academic identity orbits around three crown jewels: the Kelley School of Business (a top-10 undergraduate business program), the Jacobs School of Music (a Juilliard-level conservatory), and the Luddy School of Informatics (a tech powerhouse). Over 550+ degree programs span from environmental science to avant-garde ballet, with particularly strong clusters in:

• Business (25% of undergrads)
• Biological sciences
• Public administration
• Journalism/media

Reddit threads praise the "big school resources with small-college attention" in honors tracks, while noting gen-ed lectures can feel impersonal.

Bloomington is the platonic ideal of a Big Ten college town—think brick-lined streets packed with indie coffee shops, a thriving music scene (thanks to Jacobs School spillover), and 30,000+ undergrads painting the town crimson. Key vibes:

• Sports mania: Basketball games at Assembly Hall are near-religious experiences
• Greek life: 20% of students join frats/sororities
• Outdoorsy escapes: Hoosier National Forest and Lake Monroe are 15 minutes away

Redditors call it "a bubble of blue in a red state" with progressive politics, while Instagram shows 800+ student orgs—from Quidditch teams to a student-run record label.

IU delivers shockingly strong ROI for a public university:

• 81% graduation rate (vs. 59% national avg)
• $48,621 median early-career earnings ($66,705 by mid-career)
• 91% of grads employed or in grad school within 6 months

Kelley School grads dominate Chicago/Midwest finance jobs, while Jacobs alumni permeate global orchestras. The gender gap is notable—women graduate at 84% vs. men’s 78%—and health majors see the fastest salary growth.

At $16,234 net price (after aid), IU undercuts many Midwestern peers. Key details:

• 35% of students receive aid, averaging $11k/year
• Merit scholarships require November 1 applications
• In-state tuition: $11,790
• Out-of-state: $40,482

The Luddy School offers competitive tech scholarships, but Reddit threads warn that aid packages often shrink after freshman year.

IU Bloomington is the ultimate "hidden gem" state school—a place where you can:

1. Party like a Big Ten school (see: Little 500 bike race) 2. Study like an Ivy (in Kelley/Jacobs) 3. Pay like a public university

Its music-business-education trinity has no peer among publics, and the limestone-campus beauty ("Harvard of the Midwest" looks) belies its down-to-earth vibe. As one Redditor put it: "You get out what you put in—the opportunities are all here, but no one will hand them to you."