It’s no different fundamentally than hiring an employee from thousands of applications. Kelley has its inputs it cares about and apps are all screened and given an initial score and sorted into accept, maybe, deny. There’s a small failsafe read there but difficult to get out of that sorting - again just like a job application.
If making it through the initial tranche, IU and Kelley will self-adjust the GPA in part based on prior high school students sent, Kelley does not do that independently. Rigor is more about certain classes not whole transcript and they frankly don’t care all that much on the grades in those non-rigor classes. If you get through the academic scoring part the personal score will take into account the essays and ECs. True “holistic” reads are really only the very maybe lines. Every school has its process of scoring, first and second reads, committees but the scoring is the scoring and trumps pretty much anything other than something the school wants to really focus on like first generation college (for example).
In general, the big universities track student performance, such that they can say with confidence “students from xyz high school with a GPA in the 3.xx range do very well at this university.” Also in general, all schools do look backs and try to figure out if there is a way to spot kids that don’t do well at the university (so as to avoid enrolling such students in the future). Big data is a huge game changer for colleges.
I heard a Michigan State rep that was visiting our school say something along the lines of … “when we first accepted students from your school, we would only take kids in the top 25%, and those kids performed so well at MSU that we decided to go lower in the class, and we did that repeatedly trying to figure out where the bottom was. And we never hit bottom. All the students we accepted from here performed very well at MSU.”
That is not to say they take everyone from our school, but I’m sure they are pulling from the bottom half of our class (a large very well resourced public).
So if your kid has stats that are in line with other kids from your HS that were accepted and are attending IU (and presumably doing well in classes) that is very helpful for your admission.
This sounds right. But then, for those that were deferred, does an additional essay really help? Or S1 senior year grades? The essay feels like yield protection to me, more than trying to judge the kids on the bubble.
Great insight and very much appreciated. I would also assume the career plans as part of essay question allows for some finding some sort of balance among the admitted students across the various majors to prevent 90% of student majoring in the top 3-4 majors offered by Kelley.
No. Kelley doesn’t care what you put as a major. Lots of change in majors once enrolled. Kelley is pretty stat focused. Wait list is where a lot of great stories wind up. And usually get in.
I don’t know if it is yield protection or just trying to figure out who would be a good fit. There are probably lots of kids that are great for Kelley, but their high school transcript and ECs aren’t screaming business and their common app essay is something quirky. Kelley wants to know what those kids are going to do with the Kelley resources. Did the kid apply to business because she likes IU in general and Kelley seems presigous and she didn’t know what else to pick as a major? Or did the kid load up on science classes because she wants to go into finance and specialize in the biotech sector. Kelley is trying to find motivation and goals (which will tell them fit, but may or may not affect yield).
Honestly, if Indiana wanted to increase yield (but potentially lower the number of Common Apps in the door) it would make the essay mandatory for everyone. S24 wrote the “why [this college]” and “why your major” essay for multiple schools. And I have to say, after he wrote each one, he was like “wow, this school really is a good fit for what I want to do!” So the essays have a way of helping clarify the college choice for the kid and also allow the AOs to see who did the research and knows why they want to go to this school. Of course there are many schools that like the high application numbers that come from being a common app school with no extra essays.
Can you explain a bit. Are you saying they aren’t concerned with fit? Or that the volume of applicants is so high they don’t have the luxury of fit?
Do you think the “why us?” and “why your major?” essays at IL and WI are just for show? I thought they were really trying to find fit (particularly Illinois because it is so small). Maybe I’m naive – my D22 is at a LAC that really is about fit, so maybe I’m inappropriately projecting fit onto a large university.
If I could write it, then sure, instead of being on CC. But my senior is swamped in homework and varsity sports, with midterms in 2 weeks, and he just finished writing essays for local scholarships. I doubt he wants to write another one for a school he hasn’t visited, while he has a few good offers in hand. I say this to put myself in the mindset of a 17 year old with lots to do and little time vs a 50+ year old at the tail end of a successful career who’s thinking about where to retire
If I write - I’m interested because of breadth of majors or strong job prospects - that essay goes to anyone. You just keep using it.
If you write about a prof you want to do research with or there’s a class that’s fascinating that you’re a bowler and you’ll be living in the student Union, etc - it may all be bs - but at least you made an effort.
But can someone really, truly see fit via an essay ??
These stats are eye opening… current enrolled class by major and who is hiring the graduates and where they will likely work!.. SCM < 200 students compared to > 1200 Finance/ Real Estate.
I think different schools are known for different things.
Many companies hire for supply chain. I see it at my daughter’s school - not known for a b school - but the major is hot.
But if you really want to be in SCM, you’re going to ASU, UTK, Michigan State, etc. vs. an IU which is known for finance, marketing, accounting, MIS, etc.
I agree - I was just pointing out based on the #s. But I would say - many who start in one major (especially CS and engineering) end up in other schools, not just majors.
Kids often will devolve to the strength of the school - they become followers.
When I was at ASU for my MBA, kids majored in supply chain, after showing up and not even having ever heard of it.
But they had a high multiple of supply chain recruiters vs. students…so kids saw those students easily getting jobs…so they gravitated to the major.
Excellent point! My son switched from Finance to Accounting after learning more about career path and job opportunities and being put off by the intensity and competitiveness in the Finance major. Although now he will likely stay for a 5th year to get the required hours to sit for CPA.
