Hey everyone, I’m a current freshman at Kelley and went through this process last year. I enjoy helping people navigate IU admissions, so feel free to ask anything about applications, the SSA, Hutton, classes, or Bloomington in general.
How does IU attract 17k fans at Assembly Hall on a weeknight? How much do students have to pay for tickets?
How many people are in your classes?
What’s the best thing about your experience in Kelley?
- Basketball is the lifeblood of this state. It doesn’t matter if it’s a weekday or a weekend - we have one of the most storied basketball programs in the country and our fans reflect that. Games are usually later in the night, so students usually get all their work done beforehand and then head over. It also helps that we’re only around an hour from Indianapolis, so it’s easy for fans there to come.
I bought a ticket package for $450 that gives you nearly every home football game and a selection of 11 home basketball games. I think they offer a package for one or the other as well, but for most students I think the football + basketball combo is worth it. If you don’t end up going to the game you can always sell your ticket to another student, and I’ve seen big ticket football games go for $70+. On the flip side of course, most people are usually able to find a student selling their ticket for a game if they don’t plan on going to many games.
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My largest class is lecture-style with 70 students (Econ) and my smallest is an elective with around 15, with the rest having around 30 kids. I will say that many of my friends are in econ, calculus, and finite classes with 300+ people, but I was able to cover the math classes with AP and dual credit. The more prerequisites you’ve knocked out before you’re on campus, the better off you’ll be.
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Cliché answer to this, but definitely the people. You get a top business school experience without the overbearing competition and elitism that’s prevalent at other schools. Nearly every student and faculty member is genuinely friendly and wants you to succeed - one of my profs even gave us her personal phone number in case we ever needed anything. Mentors and advisors have been plentiful. Hoosier Hospitality definitely rings true here!
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Awesome, thanks for all the detail.
What about housing? Are you in honors specific housing or another dorm? Do most people move off campus into apartments, houses or Greek housing after the first or second year? My son is out of state and we haven’t been able to visit yet.
- How is the rigor in the first year? Any weed out classes? Do you need a minimum GPA in the first year to continue in Kelley?
- How hard is it join the academic clubs like IBW?
What other business schools did you consider & what clinched it for you with Kelley?
Are you in the ACE program? Any insights into that?
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Overall my experience in IU housing has been good. Bathrooms are cleaned daily, the furniture is nice, and the rooms are nice and cool. I can’t complain.
I live in the Northwest neighborhood (Foster) and not in a special floor/community since I wanted to meet people from a variety of majors. It’s been a great decision for me. Northwest is generally considered the “social” neighborhood so it’s been easy to meet a lot of people, plus Foster is super close to the Kelley building. I have some friends in the honors floors of Briscoe and Forest and they like it too. It’s what you’d expect, a more quiet + academic experience. There’s really something for everyone in housing.
After freshman year nearly everyone moves into Greek housing, apartments, or houses. I will warn you that the search + lease cycle is very early on in the school year. I signed a lease in October but I know some people who are looking for housing now and having trouble, so keep that in mind.
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- Classes have been rigorous, notably C106 (business presentations) and K204 (the computer in business). These classes aren’t necessarily difficult because of the concepts, but rather because of the quality and amount of work that is demanded from you. If you go to class, read the textbook, do practice problems, practice your lines for a presentation, etc. then you’ll be fine. The non-business requisites like Calc and Finite are also considered difficult by most people. With that being said, most people consider M118 (finite), M119 (calc), A100 (accounting), and K204 (computers in business) to be the “weed-out” classes. If you’re a direct admit, you need all C’s to continue on in Kelley, and if you’re a standard admit you need all B’s your first year, along with some other criteria that you can find on their website.
My one biggest recommendation for choosing classes is to use the IU Grade Distribution Database and Rate My Professor to pick what professors to take. The rigor of some classes can vary drastically depending on what professor you have, and it paid off to leverage these two resources with my schedule
- The IBW is a “workshop” which is different than a normal club (more info here: Investment Banking Workshop | Bachelor's Degree in Business | Indiana Kelley). In terms of other academic clubs, most of the finance-related clubs are pretty cutthroat and have an application + 1-2 interviews. Besides Financial Services Club, most of the finance clubs (TAMID, FIR, ECMG, and PMC) only take a handful of students each semester and expect you to come in with knowledge about finance and the markets. These are by no means required to land you in a workshop like the IBW, but they help you develop a network within the school and equip you with important skills.
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Thanks for your reply. It was helpful.
I have another question. How diverse is the student population at kelley/IU compared to other schools which are engineering heavy like purdue?
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I considered schools like Michigan and Penn, but IU offered me a full scholarship so it made the decision fairly easy. Aside from cost, I thought Kelley and IU had a good balance of academics, high-profile sports, social scene, and proximity to home. Kelley’s resources truly give you the opportunity to land the same jobs that other top schools do, alongside with all of the benefits of being at a large big 10 school.
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Yes, I am in the ACE program. The main benefit is that you automatically get into Business Honors, which otherwise would have an application + review process that only takes ~15% of applicants. There are also some ACE-only lunches and events which are nice. They talk about the “rigorous honors coursework” that ACE kids take, but C106/K204 are very similar, if not easier than their C104/K201 counterparts. I’ve become close with many of the ACE kids, it was a great way to meet people who are academically motivated like myself. Definitely apply for ACE if you’re invited.
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I can’t really speak to Purdue, but Kelley attracts people from all over the world for the business school. I’m Hispanic and there’s plenty of other minorities and international students in my classes. I think we are around 12-15% minorities and 12-15% international students within Kelley.
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Awesome! Thank you!
Hi, Thanks for answering so many questions. It’s a big help.
- Is it possible to be in HHC and Kelley Honors, and would someone even want to be in both?
- What stats (if you know) are typically required to get invited to apply for ACE?
- Location-wise, is the NW neighborhood a really far walk to most academic buildings on campus compared to Central neighborhood?
- Is the food/dining situation as bad as many have said, with regard to dining closures and huge lines, etc?
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Yes absolutely. They’re 2 independent programs, HHC has honors classes and funding + leadership opportunities and business honors has even more honors classes plus extra events. Both good resume points to have.
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Website states 3.9+ UW and 1520+/34+ but many of my peers in my ACE class had GPAs in the 3.6-3.7 range with a high test score to accompany. If you meet both criteria I’d expect an invitation to apply, but you may get one even if one stat is a little lower than what they ask for
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Central is definitely the best location for everything, it’s about the same distance to Kelley as NW if you’re in Wright/Teter as well as closer to the other schools. It’s definitely a hike to some of the buildings like Swain if you have a class like Econ there, probably around a 25 minute walk so when you sign up for classes I would be cognizant of buildings that you choose.
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If you’re used to the variety of food that a city like NYC or LA has then it will definitely be an adjustment. Not many healthy options other than a salad bar. Lines are less of an issue than they were before as dining halls slowly switch back to in person, but it’s still a bit of a drag. Overall the dining experience is getting better, partly because IU is getting a hold of things and partly because people are finding their reliable food spots and sticking to them.
Thanks so much!
Do most who get invited to apply for ACE get accepted? And do you recommend doing it if accepted (any real negatives to consider) ?
I think a handful of kids were waitlisted and then either accepted/rejected from there, but I’m not sure if there were any flat out rejections. No downsides to the program either, you get better advisors, professors, classmates, and auto admission to Business Honors.
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Only the top 4% of freshmen direct admits to the Kelley School of Business get accepted by ACE.
Any thoughts on what laptop Is best for Kelley? Does it matter if it’s an HP or a Mac?
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Student body is usually split between Mac and PC. I used a Mac throughout high school but I opted for a PC since it’s what is used in the business world, and because K201/204 requires Windows versions of Access/Excel.
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