My son, a 2023 HS graduate from NY, applied test optional and appealed to get into Kelley (great grades, SAT scores just below their standard). He was accepted into Hutton Honors pretty early and was given a nice amount of merit aid.
Nevertheless he didn’t get accepted until mid April. We quickly visited and figured he’d love it (my wife and I did) and attend. He felt it was too much of a fraternity school, too overwhelming and although the IY network and Kelley job placement in the northeast is good he chose a school closer to home.
I know every year is different but if you haven’t heard yet understand that there’s a good chance you can be accepted in mid April or after.
We’re going through the same motions for Kelley.
Started out as the top choice (after Ross, which is a big reach for us), but now as we’ve been waiting for petition, having serious doubts if it’s indeed a good fit given its massive size and associated problems.
You mentioned your daughter isn’t excited about Isenberg? DD also got admitted to Isenberg with honors and good merit. Anything to be wary about as we consider it?
Things have changed a lot in last 2 years due to the US news ranking. There’s now a mad rush of applicants to Kelley. The general consensus is that this year Auto DA applicants itself will fill the bucket; if at all any limited slots remain open, they might be used for institutional priorities. Net-net, very low chance for petitioners, with most expected to receive WL/rejections in Mar/Apr.
Everything I’ve heard about Isenberg is great! It’s close to home and lacks a bit of the rah rah she is looking for. I think she wants to go away to college. Boston College is down the street and we weighed ED sooo much. Ultimately she just didn’t want to commit to going to school 5 miles away.
Last year DA days were a couple of weeks earlier than this year and the belief was Kelley would release petitions right after DA days but waited a couple of more weeks. While Apr 1 is a good target date based on history it wouldn’t be surprising to see this year closer to Apr 14. TO for the last few years has been viewed by colleges including Kelley as an equity thing in part. Hard to know who was TO by bias inherent in the tests or had a subpar score. So it was mostly ignored. That’s moving now to an assumption that TO was subpar (meaning below auto DA here) and an attempt at apples to applies petition comparison with those who submit a score but below auto-DA.
Everything I know it will be pretty much the same as last year in petition spots, just a bit more competitive as apps are up mostly due to common app not Kelley reputation. And app decline percent is a huge part of rankings so they also market more to get more apps to decline more.
I think first gen and ethnic basis must be on common app but I don’t really know. Geography does matter! Grades are overrated as is undergrad degree. College is about time management skills and growing as an adult.
My son was also admitted to Smeal - admittance to your major is the end of Sophmore year, not Freshman and Finance must have a 3.5. Credits for AP classes do not count. So you can be admitted to Smeal as a freshman (no major defined) but still not be allowed to proceed as a junior if you do not have the GPA.
Hi - I popped in here bc a good friend’s kid is waiting for a decision on a Kelley petition. Mine is a DA but I’m wondering what problems u r referring to? Do u mind sharing? I think mine will prob choose Kelley.
FWIW - psu has one of the strongest and most loyal alumni groups around. That is def a plus, as is its reach into the NE if ur kid wants to pursue a career there. For us, the 3.5 required to officially be in Smeal for finance was a huge negative, especially with weed out classes. We liked fisher a lot but my kid wasn’t a huge fan of Columbus and the crime surrounding the campus. I’m not sure how exaggerated it is (there are probably issues at most campuses) but it is enough to give us pause. Loved A2 but my kid likely isn’t getting in to Ross.
Pretty much on the same page with Smeal. Love everything about the school, but too much of a risk for someone like my DD committed to majoring in finance. I’m sure she’d study hard and likely cross 3.5 GPA, but if not. She’s not willing to take that risk.
Regarding Kelley, I’d recommend joining this FB group with Kelley parents. Very insightful with both positives and not so positive aspects directly from horses mouth (and horses from different breeds, not just over achievers).
I generally steer clear of FB groups (they are way too hostile for someone like me to feel comfortable), but this one is surprisingly nice. Moderated by an amazing Kelley parent:-
Edit to add: we’ve withdrawn our PSU Smeal application, among 7 others she’s accepted to. Was getting overwhelming already. Sat down with my DD over the weekend and kept only her top-3.
Kelley finishes at the tippy top of the P&Q surveys on satisfaction at the school directly from students, that’s something.
All resources are great, college is the kid’s journey and any Facebook (Kelley’s is one of the better ones I’ve read) group of parents should be read IMO with some filter when it’s not just about logistics. Parents are often not very objective. The very best is seeing campus and talking to students and feeling your fit or not. It’s not like Finance at Kelley classes are different than Finance somewhere else, accounting is accounting. And people hire math and stats majors over finance majors too. You have to run your own race on what feels best. And money is a usually later topic but what does it cost.
If it was up to the kid everyone would attend the University of San Diego and if it was up to parents it would be Stanford or the cheap in-state school. It works out in May. IU is on the early side - you choose in early May and move in 3 months or less to start. It goes fast. Embrace the time with your kids, it doesn’t come back
Yup, not saying the parents should be the only source of information, but everything helps to build a rounded perspective.
As for us personally, we’ve done a lot of ground work. Kid spent a week at Kelley in person last summer—so knows the vibe, knows quite a few students there from her HS and in touch with them.
Not a huge fan of rankings, but will not get into an argument about it. I’d pick a few schools lower than Kelley in these rankings if my DD gets admitted which are much more selective (for a reason), but to each his own.
Thank u so much for the FB page! I am grateful for all perspectives given that this is such a big decision. And we r also going back for another visit. What did ur daughter narrow it down to?
My son - applied EA, international, already submitted Request Review because he applied TO - just received amazing news that he’s been accepted to Finance. Now we cross fingers and wait to hear about Kelley.
For a moment I got excited that Kelley has started to release petition decisions… lol…
Many congratulations to you on the IU admit, and best wishes for Kelley.
That would have been GREAT news! In the meantime, he’s been accepted to Herbert Business so he’s thrilled, and now he can breathe more easily as we cross our fingers for good news on Kelley!
That’s really good to hear–Herbert is an amazing B-school. Having some good options in the bag is such a relief, isn’t it?
It will be surreal when this process ends in a few months, but it’s also possible I’ll miss being this stressed; this is an exciting time too… lol!
It’s not just Kelley. Even Harvard and Wharton have competitive finance and consulting clubs for undergraduates. It’s just the way things have gone post-covid, when companies in certain industries (mostly the so-called “prestigious” ones, like IB and MBB Consulting etc.) have shifted their recruiting timelines to hire sophomores, which is why these clubs have grown in prominence.
Have to note that these clubs only matter for a VERY small amount of students; those that want Investment Banking AT NYC/Chicago AT Goldman/JPMorgan/Moelis etc. that pay 200k off the bat (while working 90 hours a week and dying). For Corporate Finance at P&G or Audit at EY, or basically any other job out of college, all these frats and workshops and honors programs are ‘nice-to-haves’ but not necessary at all.