Quick advice for freshmen at IU hoping to get into Kelley via Standard Admission. Accounting A100 is the ultimate weed-out class. The average grade in the class is a low B, and that includes all the Direct Admit students who are required to take it as well. That means that many students hoping for Standard Admit get a B- or worse, requiring a petition to get into Kelley versus automatically getting in with (1) nothing worse than a “B” in any class, and (2) a 3.5 GPA for freshman year. Direct Admit students don’t really care that it is graded so tough because it only counts as one credit hour, so GPA isn’t affected very much by a “C”, for example. In short, this one credit-hour class can easily keep you out of Kelley by itself.
Here’s the trick. A100 is not required to earn standard admission. As such, take it first semester sophomore year, after you are accepted into Kelley. It is very risky taking it freshman year even if you think you are smart. While this strategy puts you behind in terms of accounting, just take A201 (Financial Accounting) over the summer at your local community college (most CCs have an equivalent Financial Accounting course that transers to IU-Kelley) before sophomore year (there is no requirement that you take A100 before A201) and you’ll be back on track. You only need four courses from a list of many during freshman year to be eligible for Standard Admission. The other tough freshman courses are Finite Math M118 and Bus K201 (Excel/Access), which is surprisingly busy. It’s hard to avoid K201 (you have to take either K201 or K303), but you can push M118 to first semester sophomore year as well. Note this strategy makes for a busier sophomore year, but at least you’ll be in Kelley to fight that battle, rather than having to petition for admission after freshman year if you get less than a B in either A100 or Finite M118.
Standard Admit is a great program for IU and is generally very fair, although the new requirement for a 3.5 GPA after freshman year makes it tougher to get in automatically. Absent Direct Admission to Kelley, plan on busting your butt freshman year. Take it easy on the social front. The difference in the first job you will get with a Kelley degree versus another degree is likely to be pretty big. So, focus on nothing but grades freshman year. Get into Kelley. It’s worth it. It is an absolutely amazing business school. Once you are in, you can worry about having fun in college. Good luck!!