Chance or Match a Supply Chain Major. Looking around Midwest (3.85 GPA 1480 SAT)

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

Male, Indiana resident, large public high school, no major hooks

Intended Major(s)

Supply Chain Management, possibly Finance / Real Estate / Business Analytics

GPA and Test Scores

3.85 UW, 4.20 W
(My school calculates weighted GPA somewhat unusually, so the 4.2 may not be directly comparable to other schools.)

SAT: 1480

HS Coursework

AP Human Geography, AP Precalculus, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, AP English Language, APUSH, AP Government, AP Macroeconomics, plus dual-credit / college coursework

All 5s except one 4 in Precalc. Need to still take BC, Stats, Macro, and Gov

Awards

  • BPA National Leadership Conference Qualifier
  • National Honor Society
  • Academic honors through my high school
  • BPA competition recognition

Extracurriculars

  • Business Professionals of America: Multiple years of involvement and leadership, currently General Vice President. Help with chapter operations, recruitment, events, fundraising, promotion, and competitions.
  • AI / Business Internship – Daybreak AI: Worked on business applications of AI involving supply chain forecasting, demand planning, lead scoring, customer segmentation, tariff/risk analysis, and AI agents.
  • Business / Technology Projects: Website development and independent projects involving AI, automation, and business applications.
  • Employment: Part-time restaurant work involving customer service, POS, online orders, teamwork, and working in a fast-paced environment.
  • National Honor Society

Essays/LORs/Other

Main essay focuses on the value of connections with other people and how those relationships have shaped my leadership and personal growth.

Expecting a strong LOR from my business teacher/BPA advisor who has known me for several years and has seen my growth and leadership firsthand.

School

My main goal is IU Kelley Direct Admission for Fall 2027. Planning to apply Early Action.

Since Kelley got rid of the old automatic direct-admit GPA/SAT criteria and is now doing holistic review, I’m curious how competitive my profile is.

Would you consider Kelley DA a likely, target, or reach with a 3.85 UW / 4.20 W, 1480 SAT, strong course rigor, BPA leadership, and a business/AI internship?

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Worth a look…

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Check out the Bruce White Undergraduate Institute for Supply Chain & Operations Management.

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You are over the old threshold for auto admit and you are in instate, so I think Kelley is at least a target if not a likely.

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I would rate Kelley a target because of what you mentioned - no auto admission But frankly, I’d apply to the top program in the country - Michigan State. And then the next three - ASU, UTK, Penn State - depending on your geography and budget - might be my next grouping.

That said, it’s a highly employable major from most any school. Good luck at IU. My guess is it happens but have a safety or two just in case.

Good luck.

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You didn’t list your math SAT score but maybe consider Industrial Engineering. Penn State should also be on your list.

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Kelley is either target or likely.
Seconding all the Universities listed on your thread so far - run the NPC with your parents and cross out any that’s out of budget.
Michigan State should offer some merit and it’s a nationally known program so look into it carefully :grin:

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Yes, industrial engineering or operations research would be a more math / statistics heavy way into supply chain optimization. But the OP appears to be more focused on a business based view.

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Do you any your parents have a budget limit?

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You will get into Kelley.

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Surprised to see you cite a college ranking…USNWR nonetheless.

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Not sure why ? I cite regularly. I just notice the stupidity of them, especially this one. But others use them so.

Mich State will be an easier admit.

My son’s roommate in his job when he started was a Mich State Supply Chain. She said they are heavily recruited - and when I was in grad school at ASU, it was similar. I had one supply chain elective and Fed Ex offered me a job.

It may simply be a great major anywhere though.

But here’s another :slight_smile: and another.

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The Inbound ranking at least for Northwestern, is for their MBA or exec-MBA program. MSU is 3rd on that list and does have an undergraduate program. For the Gartner one, IU is 19, didn’t see MSU on the list. The third one from College Transitions has MSU on the list as 3rd as well.

If IU is your first choice, and you do get in as others have suggested, you can still apply to MSU EA if that’s of interest and then maybe a reach like CMU, where there is a minor in SCM and it would be more quantitative and analytical than others, if that’s something worth exploring.

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Not necessarily. But Purdue being in state and also good business program, I don’t see why I would pay out of state tuition unless I’m receiving scholarship money or the program is much more prestigious.

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But many programs do provide merit - but nothing wrong with Purdue as a backup to IU.

Michigan State, #1 in Supply Chain in many accounts, would be $58K for tuition, room and board - if you were to get the Presidential, it looks like you’d be $43K - so much more than Purdue.

Career outcome wise -

MSU shows 92.5% employed and 6.5% in grad school - with a $71,690 average salary and $70K median. They don’t show a knowledge rate - i.e. what % of kids data is included.

IU shows an average starting salary of $75,911. They note a knowledge rate of 76% for Kelley - don’t know about the major or what % of kids are employed.

Purdue shows $71,625.

So it’s reasonable to have IU as a target (I think you get in) and Purdue has a likely.

If somehow that 1/2 didn’t work, there’d still be time to apply to other schools - although maybe not the ones you’d want.

If you didn’t like Michigan State and wanted to stay close to home, Miami of Ohio would be a “safe” choice - not far - as a back up safety that gets aggressive with merit.

You said Chance or Match me - so folks giving out of states suggestion are matching as you requested and yeah, they might be a bit more expensive than in-state. But then, if you’re looking for back ups, would you rather have a Michigan State/Penn State/Miami or a Ball State if looking for a 3rd?

I’m guessing IU and Purdue will be enough. But if you want a third, there are some names - just decide if you want that other name to be a major or regional schools.

You could go South with your stats for $25K-ish - but staying in the midwest, perhaps your “cheapest” out of state type school would be a U Kansas.

But again, you’ll be fine in state - and there are options close to home that would work too.

Good luck.