Help Me with My College Search

College Search & Selection
1

Hello, I recently got back the results of my first SAT attempt and am wondering really what colleges I should begin to look at with my qualifications and my interests in mind. In order to get that picture here’s a little bit about me:

Current 11th Grader, White Male, From Indiana, Roman Catholic

Interests: Business and Law

UW GPA: 3.769

W GPA: 4.046

SAT (first attempt): 1250
-680 Math
-570 English

PSAT Attempts:
10th Grade: 1130
11th Grade: 1210

*I included all these scores to show upward trend and room for improvement. I have really yet to study for any of these tests and believe I still have a lot of room for growth.

ACT: (will take for first time in February)

Current IB Diploma Candidate

Extracurrriculars (Current):
-Baseball (entering 3rd year)
-Refereeing (Job, will be 2nd year)
-Job as Busser (working there for half a year)
-Altar Boy (5th-8th Grades)

Extracurriculars (Planning to Add/Will Add)
-Should have at least 100+ service hours by end of 11th grade
-DECA (will be first year)
-Wabash OLAB (will apply)
-Possibly considering XC for 12th grade (more on this as a side note later

Basically my main goal as of recent is to get my qualifications up to the level of direct admit to the Kelley School of Business at IU. Other suggestions would be helpful as well though. I would like to stay in the Midwest if at all possible and for now, price does not matter. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank You.

OPTIONAL SIDE QUESTION:
So as mentioned above, I have considered possibly running cross country in the Fall of my senior year. A friend of mine is really big into running and believes I could solidify myself as a solid middle of the pack runner for the team if I joined. I believe this could be probable. Currently I only play baseball for my high school and am not very good at that, but it keeps me busy, in shape, and overall I enjoy the experience. That being said, I have virtually no chance at being recruited for this because of my skill level and lack of club experience which I am fine with and have come to accept. One advantageous side to all this though is it surprisingly keeps me in good shape, Conditioning for the sport often goes beyond expectation and that couple with my generally active lifestyle keeps me in good shape. Which leads me back to my position on joining the team. My question becomes this, would there be any chance at recruitment this late in the game or no. I’ve heard of mild athletes with pretty good but not exactly Ivy level scores getting into Ivy level schools to fill spots on their teams. I understand I would likely need to raise my scores further, but I doubt that it is really out of my hands. Generally throughout my life, when I apply myself I rarely fail to meet my goals whether that be academically or in other areas. Before getting away from the point, I’d just like to conclude by asking whether or not this is worth pursuing and if there’s a chance for recruitment.

2

I tried to include as much info as possible for your benefit, but if I missed anything feel free to ask away.

3

I U business is tough to get into. If money is really not an issue, you might consider other nearby business programs that aren’t quite as difficult to get into, like U of Iowa, U of Kentucky, Michigan State, Miami of Ohio, Iowa State.

If money is a concern check out Kansas State & U of Nebraska-Lincoln, where u would probably get a good deal due to this program: https://msep.mhec.org/institutions?field_state_term_tid=2&field_program_type_term_tid=12&field_sector_term_tid=10

4

Please clarify. Are you saying that your parents will pay all costs for any school? Or are you saying that you’re investigating schools regardless of cost…even tho some/many may not be affordable for your family?

Do yourself a big favor…talk to your parents now about how much they will spend each year on your college. I don’t think you understand how defeating it can be for students to spend hours and hours, months and months researching colleges, finding FAVORITES only to learn much later that those favorites aren’t affordable.

Just this week a student posted about getting into his EA school. This is a school that he’s been posting and posting and posting about, he’d been diligently waiting and waiting for EA results to come out, posting and posting as if getting accepted was all that mattered. Wrong. He was accepted…and happily posted about that. But a short time later FA was posted. The school is not anywhere close to being affordable for his family. And frankly, his other choices probably aren’t affordable either.

5

@mom2collegekids I understand the concern there. I have talked with my parents about the cost of schools and they have always said to look for schools first and worry about money later. There’s enough money put away to where I could go in-state and graduate with minimal debt and this may not always be the maximum contribution depending on the school. I have affordable options in mind that I can always go back to and am purely looking for recommendations now. If I get to be serious with any suggestions, I will certainly take money into account more seriously at that time, but for now it’s not much concern. Thanks for asking though.

6

@mooop I don’t believe it’s that far out of my reach. According to the Kelley School of Business website, the qualifications for automatic direct admission are as follows: a chosen major, a 30 ACT or 1380 SAT, and a 3.8 GPA or higher (according to IU’s weighting rules). If the student meets either qualifications of test scores or GPA, they will be up for consideratin for direct admission. As for GPA, my school uses an elevated grading scale and some schools take that into consideration when determining GPA, I can not honestly say that IU is one of those schools. As for my chances, I don’t think they are that far off. A girl that is a senior at my school got direct admission this year with a similar GPA and a 28 on the ACT. I would think there’s certainly a chance there. If you would like reference, here is the website: https://kelley.iu.edu/programs/undergrad/admissions/future-freshman.cshtml

Three more things:
I understand my scores seem far from this now, but I don’t think its anything out of my reach.
I don’t necessarily need direct admission.
I understand admission standards will change, but I doubt it will be that much.