Chance Me: IU Kelley, too competitive now? [IN resident, 3.8 GPA, top 10% rank, 1320 SAT]

Chance Me / Match Me
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chance-me
Hey all, high school senior here. Pretty dead set on the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.

I am a US Citizen, in-state from Indiana. I am at a public high school of about 1,300. I am not a first-gen college student, nor an IU legacy student. I could afford IU if I don’t get any scholarships, but I have applied to a few.

I plan to study finance with a double major or minor in economics or a new dual degree that is going to be hosted by Kelley and the Luddy School of Informatics for business data analytics.

I have a 3.8 (4.0 scale) unweighted GPA with a 4.2 weighted. 1320 SAT (second take, not superscored, 620M/700RW). I will start with a 3.977 undergraduate GPA with my dual credit classes, awarded through IU Bloomington, IU East, and Ivy Tech Community College. I am ranked 30/308 in my high school.

I was chosen for a 1-year term as a youth advocate with the Indiana Department of Health (about 50 out of 500 applicants selected). Unpaid county Chamber of Commerce intern. Chair of a youth voting engagement program for the 2024 election. High-ranking planning committee board member for county-wide mental health and school safety youth advocacy conferences, currently trying to raise $10,000 to fund improvements in schools around my county. Member of my high school’s mentorship program to help underclassmen and to help run blood drives. Four-year varsity football player, two years on our team-elected leadership committee, and team captain as a senior. Swimming and diving manager, track & field/baseball JV player earlier in high school (9th-10th). I have owned and operated a lawn care business for 6 years, and have worked a few part-time jobs (Menards, local orchard, local deli). Last summer, I was paid to attend a program at IU East focused on entrepreneurship, and received a full-ride scholarship to a 2-week IU Bloomington Kelley School summer program that accepted about 40 of 500 applicants.

AP Scholar Award, “Game Changer” Award for speaking out about school safety and mental health at my first youth advocacy conference of about 200 people.

As a freshman and sophomore, I took Algebra 1 honors and Geometry 1 honors for each of my first semesters and chose to drop to standard for each second semester. I took standard Algebra 2 in both semesters of my junior year. Last summer, I took Ivy Tech’s college algebra/pre-calculus with an A, and am taking Calc 1 through Ivy Tech, which I currently have an A in. AP Computer Science, AP Environmental Science, and AP Language and Composition, got 3s on all. Three years of dual credit engineering (6 classes) through Ivy Tech. Science, History, and English were all honors, AP, or dual-credit. 1 year of Spanish and 2 of French.

One letter of rec from my French teacher was probably pretty well written, the other was from the founder of that local youth advocacy group as he is one of my mentors. His letter was probably not written as well, but likely covered my personal development through some difficult times and how I have used those experiences to help my community.

My Common App essay is probably an 8/10, I am just tired of reading it as I have probably read it 100 times lol. My Kelley Petition essays were some of the best I have ever written. I included many personal experiences in the 250-word limit; (my family’s small business closing, noticing other businesses struggling through my Chamber internship, and how I could help these businesses and communities with a Kelley degree).

IU is my top choice as my test score is lackluster and in-state is about all I could afford. I am trying to gauge my chances of getting direct admission to Kelley considering it is becoming more and more difficult year-over-year. I applied to IU and submitted my Kelley petition for DA a couple of weeks before the EA deadline.

I have also applied to UMich, UT Austin, NYU, and UPenn. I won’t be able to afford any of these without a huge scholarship, which is unlikely. I have applied to a few other safeties and have been accepted to Ball State, IU Indianapolis, and a few other small in-state schools with some pretty good scholarships, but I want to go to IU for a possible gateway into IB or a T-10 MBA.

I applied to the Wells Scholarship for a full ride to Bloomington. Low probability.

Thanks, everyone! Wish me luck & GO HOOSIERS!

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I mean, you will not be direct admit.

It’s not too competitive - it’s what it is - they have a standard of admission which is actually lower than other similarly ranked schools - and you don’t meet it.

It doesn’t mean you can’t petition or get in later - but it is a high reach for first year admission.

If you can only afford IU, then why did you apply to UMICH and UT Austin - you have no chance of achieving $$.

Given you are in state, you should also throw in an app to Purdue - which has a very good b school - as well as Miami Ohio where you might get big merit - but that also depends on your overall budget (for OOS) schools. There may be other OOS schools, depending on budget, that can work for you too - but it won’t be UMICH or UT - even if you got in (which I wouldn’t expect). You will get into IU, of course, but not Kelley.

Good luck.

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Thanks for replying.
I know I won’t get automatic direct admission based on the GPA and SAT requirements (3.8 & 1370), I am mainly trying to see my chances of getting in from the petition, which I have submitted as I am pretty close to the test score requirement with good extracurriculars and essays. Maybe I am misunderstanding how the petition works.

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@spilt Zero chance of getting into UT Austin.

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Yeah, probably not getting into UMich or UPenn or NYU either. Why not try :person_shrugging:

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I think the point trying to be made as helpful advice is unaffordable is same as not being admitted. Unless the Ive been admitted but cant afford it Olympics are important. Thats a you decision.

You will be unlikely admitted on petition to Kelley unless for some reason their auto admit numbers are way down. They would prefer to see your academics at IUB for direct admission. You won’t know this until probably May 2025. Good luck.

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Because you can’t afford - at least Michigan or Texas. At least, that’s what I took this to mean. Penn meets need as does NYU so run the net price calculators to see if affordable.

I could afford IU if I don’t get any scholarships, but I have applied to a few.

What is your career goal?

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I am just asking about my chances of getting into Kelley on petition.

I will not be able to afford Penn or NYU due to what my parents make and have saved, as opposed to what they and I have saved for myself. They want me to graduate debt-free with what we have saved without going over. They both went to regional state schools.

I want to get into IB.

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Then why apply - nothing worse than getting in somewhere and not being able to afford to go. .

You should apply to Arizona State. Maybe you have a shot at this.

While it’s tougher at non targets, there are loads of examples from many schools where kids got into IB.

I’d say IU Is a high reach but you’ll try and see if you don’t get in (Kelley), maybe next year.

Applying to schools you knowingly can’t afford though is a time waste and depressing if you do get in. It’s flatly inefficient.

Spend your time identifying schools - like ASU, Miami, Rutgers, Ohio State, if affordable. Look on their careeer sites and linkedins. They place in banks and some show the title IB analyst.

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On the off chance, I get in and can convince my parents of the return on investment to let me take out a student loan. I’ve already applied to Miami and Ohio State. Not asking for advice on where else to apply.

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There’s no assured ROI.

Sounds like you have a good plan outside of those unaffordable.

In my opinion, you will have a choice of IU, trying to get in year two or an alternative school you get into which won’t be UT, UMICH, Penn or NYU.

In the end, only AOs know the answer, not anyone here.

But ASU is on the target lists now (low but on) so why you don’t want any more, if you’re unfamiliar with that program (not easy to get selected), there’s another to think about.

Good luck with your apps.

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Don’t want to take you off topic but I am a career investment banker. Happy to answer any questions you might have based on first hand experience.

FYI I wouldn’t put much weight in searches using the job title of “IB analyst”. At I banks all new hires typically are hired as analysts. This includes areas like operations, compliance, credit, risk, legal, HR, communications, etc. Generally less than half of investment banks employees have jobs in financial or capital markets and or I banking functions. Consequently such searches serve to offer an inaccurate representation.

Good luck and here to help.

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I can’t chance you for the Kelley petition. But, you will likely get into IU. If you don’t get Kelley direct admit, you can pursue standard admission after your first year.

Applying to Purdue B school could also make sense as it sounds like your in-state options will be you best options affordability wise. Good luck.

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Hey, I’d appreciate your insight as I pursue this field! Despite my low test scores I hope that thinking ahead as I apply to different schools might give me more opportunities toward getting in regardless of where I am able to.

And thanks for the reminder that “IB analyst” can mean many things lol. An alum from my high school got a job at GS as an IB analyst but she is in information systems. I haven’t been placing much weight on individuals titles, because I feel that instead of searching for random people on linkedin I should build those relationships myself out of any school.

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Just FYI, you can take out a max of $27K in student loans for undergrad, $5.5K of that in the first year. Any loans above that will be on your parents either directly or as co-signers.

Even with a marketable business major, taking more than the $27K in loans often doesn’t make financial sense, but of course every student’s situation is unique.

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I am considering standard admission. I am already enrolled in a couple of the prerequisites as an in-state high school student and am doing well with them (all As). I have a few helpful friends in Kelley right now as well for the weed-outs like K201.

My mom is a graduate professor at Purdue, so I considering it as well. My tuition would be very cheap and it is my second choice, despite the terrible housing situation. There are definitely things coming for Daniels. I have already applied.

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Thanks for that, I haven’t looked into the finances too much yet. Just waiting to hear back from everywhere and decide! :crossed_fingers:

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If you don’t get direct you will be able to apply standard. There is another way!

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Definitely considering this, getting ahead with my IU prereqs as mentioned! Thanks for the kind advice

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I would share the following. Kelley is definitely a school that has gathered momentum as a target school for IB over the last few cycles. The alumni network is expanding and CIBs like mine will continue to recruit on campus.

This is however a double edged sword as we tend not to interview non Kelley IU students. Our first resume screen is automated and we look for course work, GPA, business school name, etc as screens. Consequently, as Kelley’s reputation has gone up the likelihood of getting an IB bid as a non Kelley IU student has likely suffered.

Most non business background IB bids are allocated to the 6 Ivies without separate B schools curriculums and the top tier LACs. Not trying to be cynical but offering the reality of how things work.

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