Questions about IU from an incoming freshman

Colleges and Universities A-Z Indiana University - Bloomington
1

I’ll be attending IU in the fall pursuing business and standard admission to Kelley.
IU was not my first choice school, so I just recently committed and I did not realize that one could petition DA decisions until after the deadline (1350 SAT, 4.2 GPA).

I had a couple questions:

  1. What are the best classes/professors to try and take freshman year to maximize my chances of being admitted into Kelley?
  2. How challenging are the classes and getting to the required 3.5 to get in?
  3. Since I committed to Indiana late and paid the housing deposit March 28, are my chances of getting into Northwest low? If you don't get into Northwest, is the social life really not as good? What is the overall social life at IU like?
  4. KLLC: Is it worth it to send in an application to live in the KLLC, or is it too late? What's life like in KLLC (opportunities, dorm life)? Are there single dorms in the KLLC? I requested single, northwest (in that order) and enhanced, but will change it if it's worthwhile to apply.
  5. Would you recommend rushing a fraternity in spring semester, or is the culture too consuming, especially as someone trying to do well for admission to Kelley and or for transfer applications? I'm a little nervous coming from NJ to a big state school like IU, is the hazing really as bad as people say it is here?
  6. Any good tips for an incoming freshman at IU and life at Kelley.

Any help is really appreciated! THANK YOU!

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  1. There are some required classes for SA (a100 and friends) and I'd recommend taking classes that will help you have a strong gpa going into sophomore year. Here is a link with more info: https://kelley.iu.edu/programs/undergrad/admissions/current-iu/index.cshtml
  2. I found certain classes to be pretty challenging (finite and computers in business) but I definitely think a 3.5 is achievable if you're dedicated to achieving it.
  3. IU is huge so you'll definitely be able to find people who have similar interests to you anywhere on campus. I have no idea about how the housing admissions process works.
  4. There are single dorms in the KLLC. I've personally liked it a lot because there are plenty of people to do hw with and most folks are pretty outgoing (as you might expect with all business majors haha). Deadline is May 1 and more details can be found here: https://kelley.iu.edu/programs/undergrad/why-kelley/living-learning-center.cshtml
  5. I'm not personally involved in greek life, but from friends' experiences it seems like pedgeship can be very taxing. Deciding when to rush would really depend on your academic position. Of course, not being in greek life, I can offer no perspective on your 2nd question haha.
  6. If it's manageable alongside academics, I'd really encourage you to join groups that pertain to 1. your career aspirations and 2. interests (hopefully there's some overlap in these lol). For example, I'm interested in consulting and my faith is really important to me- so I'm a part of 180 Degrees Consulting and Campus Crusade. On the other hand- don't join something just because other people or you think it'd look good on a resume. If you have no real interest in it then the org will probably drain you and won't contribute much to it.

Hope this was helpful; congrats on IU and enjoy your week!

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  1. This depends on lots of things like AP credit you bring in, personal strengths and weaknesses, etc. Here are the requirements for standard admit: https://kelley.iu.edu/programs/undergrad/admissions/current-iu/index.cshtml

Here is a link to the grade distribution database: http://gradedistribution.registrar.indiana.edu/
This allows you to see grade distributions of every class at IU. For example, to search for BUS-K 201, select BUS for department, “K” for course subject, and “201” for catalog number.

  1. All of the classes are somewhat challenging and require significant effort. That said, none of them are so hard that you can't get an A as long as you go to every class, complete all work, and prepare for exams.
  2. I'm not exactly sure how the whole housing process works, but you should be fine and able to find friends in any dorm. I lived in Wright (in central) freshman year, but I made a lot of friends in the KLLC and spent a lot of time there. I would guess you won't get northwest, but it will be fine. The social life is pretty much what you want it to be. If you want to party and drink, there will always be places to go to do that. If you want to do other things, just find a group of people who share your interests. If you like basketball, it's usually pretty easy to find some guys in your dorm that want to go to the gym with you and play pickup.
  3. I would recommend the KLLC. They oversell the opportunities part - you will meet some company representatives and it could be good to get to know them a little bit, but a KLLC event probably won't land you a job/internship. I'm not positive, but I don't think there are singles in the KLLC - could be wrong on that though. The real value is that you get to meet tons of other people in Kelley, and it's super easy to be social and make friends. You can also always find people working on the same assignments as you, and study together too. It's fine if you don't get in, but I think it's good.
  4. I don't know much about fraternities and never tried to rush, but it probably would hurt your chances of getting into Kelley. I've heard plenty of stories about people having to stay out until 4 AM all the time, and if you aren't getting enough sleep or time to study, it certainly won't help. I'm sure people have done it successfully, but you can always rush in the fall of sophomore year if you decide you want to do it.
  5. My #1 tip is to never skip class. It will be tempting sometimes, but going to class is easily the best way to get the highest grade while putting in the least amount of time. Nobody will be there to police you and nobody will say anything if you miss class. You should only skip if you are seriously sick or have an extreme emergency. I think I only missed 2 or 3 total classes freshman year, and that definitely helped me do well.

Let me know if anything I wrote doesn’t make sense, or if you have any other questions. I’m currently a junior in Kelley.

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I can’t speak to the Kelly stuff but on the Greek Life I have some knowledge. My D rushed a sorority this Spring so we’ve been getting more exposure into IU Greek life. One thing you may want to do is look at the GPA report for the Greeks. Not really great for the fraternities. There is also a listing of who is on suspension and for what on the IU Student Life page. From what we have seen, rush is very difficult at IU for both Fraternities and Sororities. Fraternities seems to be a lot more who you know and is not as organized as the Sororities.

Connections seem to be important in the fraternity rush and if you only target top houses then you may be disappointed. From my D’s sorority social calendar, Greek Life is very active so finding balance is key. The Fraternities are under some restrictions so some of the social scene has been slowed some. It also seems like every year some chapter is getting kicked off for some reason. TKE was the latest casualty. I was Greek in college but not at IU. It can be a great time but don’t lose perspective of why you are in school.

Also, IU is big enough and has a lot to do even if you are not Greek. My D is involved in a few other organizations like Dance Marathon and Cru. Even if she wasn’t Greek she would still have a social aspect through these other organizations, although not like Greek Life provides but still there are other outlets.

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@iubaccounting Thank you, your post was extremely helpful.

Just a few quick questions then based on that:

  1. So you would say it is better to try to see which professors have a higher percentage of students with A's and B's in order to enter Kelley (through the database)?
  2. What classes would you highly recommend or what professors did you enjoy? Could even be non-business.
  3. I'll send in my application to KLLC, as that seems to be the consensus, people at the Red Carpet Day wouldn't stop talking about it.

Thank you again for your help! Go hoosiers!

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You’re welcome! Let me know if you have any other questions. Also, root for Romeo Langford to come to IU if you want to see a competent basketball team haha

  1. Yes, but you can also see which classes have the highest grade distributions. You should try to take classes with high grade distributions in your freshman year since you need to get all A's and B's and a 3.5.
  2. I really liked BUS-G202 with Steven Kreft. It's a required class, but it might be best to save it until sophomore year unless you are really good at econ. I have liked the accounting classes for the most part, but they aren't for everyone. I also really liked BUS-D270 with Dave Harrison, but he doesn't teach at Kelley anymore. For gen eds, I took CLAS-C101 Ancient Greek Culture with Margaret Foster and REL-A210 Intro to the Old Testament with Jason Mokhtarian. They both double count for world culture and arts & humanities. They also both grade fairly easily. The Old Testament class was kind of interesting - I learned more about my own faith and it actually helped me answer some deeper religious questions. There were some days when it was really boring, but I'm definitely glad I took the class.