Hi I am a junior in high school and my college counselor suggested I consider applying to Indiana’s Business School. I did some reading about it and am sold on it being a top notch business school. However, I don’t understand the difference between direct admission and regular admission to Kelley, and which one is better. Could someone explain the difference and why they have two admission ways into the business school, thanks.
Direct admission essenstially means you are already in the business school from the day you start freshman year at IU. You get to work with Kelley career advisors from day one. Standard admission means you need to meet certain standards freshman year in order to apply and be accepted to Kelley. I believe the standards are a 3.5 GPA and grades no less than a B in every class. The only real disadvantage of Stanadard admission is that it can become more stressful freshman year to keep your grades up, but once you do get into Kelley it doesn’t make a difference. Hope this helped.
@mjs981 it is a no-brainer to apply direct admission to Kelley. Direct admission is a way Kelley can entice high stat applicants to attend, knowing they are admitted to the business school instead of having to apply freshman year in college. It is not easy to gain regular admission to Kelley, because you will need top grades in all your classes freshman year in college to be competitive for regular admission. Much easier to stay in Kelley once directly admitted based on your high school application instead of trying to get in via regular admission while you are at college.
The application process is the same for direct or standard admit. When you apply, you select a major in the business school. Then if your stats (GPA and ACT/SAT score) meet or exceed the cutoff for direct admission, you are directly admitted to Kelley. If you do not meet the direct admit cutoff but meet the criteria for general IU admission, you are admitted to the university and must apply to Kelley in your spring semester freshman year. If you meet just one of the stats and are close on the other (GPA meets cutoff but ACT is 1 point too low, for example), you can petition for direct admission to Kelley. The biggest advantage of direct admission to Kelley is that you know you’re in. If you don’t get direct admit, there’s a chance your freshman year grades won’t make the cut and you won’t get into Kelley as a sophomore. It’s a risk you must consider. Whatever you do - make sure to have your application to IU completely submitted by November 1 to qualify for maximum scholarship opportunities. Good luck!