Begin your moment at Indiana University Bloomington as a directly admitted Kelley business student
When you begin at IU Bloomington as a Kelley Direct Admit, you will bypass the admissions requirements current IU students must meet to be accepted into the program. This means you will start working with Kelley academic and career advisors from the first day you arrive.
Direct admission is only offered to first-year students who are entering in the fall semester. Students who matriculate in the spring semester, transfer students, and students not intending to major in a Kelley business degree are not eligible for direct admission.
Earning Kelley direct admission
Step 1: Apply to IU by November 1
Apply to Indiana University, beginning August 1, the fall of your senior year of high school.
Select one of our Kelley undergraduate business majors as your intended major on your IU Bloomington application. This selection isn't permanent—you will likely change your major as you move through the Kelley curriculum.
an SAT score of 1370 (Evidence-Based Reading & Writing and Math)
Earned a cumulative GPA of 3.8 on a 4.0 scale in high school. We will use the highest GPA that is sent to IU Admissions from your official high school transcript. In most cases this is the weighted GPA.
If your record does not meet the criteria above or you wish to apply under test-optional guidelines, you will need to petition through our website to be considered for Kelley direct admission.
Learn more about IU’s test-optional admissions policy and how IU superscores.
Step 3: Receive your admission decision from IU and Kelley
If you submitted all of your application materials by November 1 and meet the admissions criteria, you’ll hear from us four to six weeks after you are admitted to IU. Students will not be notified if they have not been offered direct admission.
Your IU admissions letter will say “Pre-Business” as every student who is admitted to IU is admitted as a “Pre-Major” until their school admits them.
Once you've decided to join Kelley, pay your $100 enrollment deposit—now you’re officially a Kelley. Congratulations!
If you do not meet the admissions criteria or missed the November 1 application deadline, you must request approval for direct admission to Kelley. This is called a petition and we encourage you to make the effort—more than 65% of submitted petitions are approved and the process takes just 10 minutes to complete.
The Kelley Admissions team does not inform students that they did not meet the criteria for direct admission. If you did not meet the requirements, the Kelley School does not know you’re interested in direct admission unless you petition.
Typically most competitive petitions exceed the direct admission criteria in either test scores or GPA. For instance, a student might have a 3.9 GPA or 32 ACT.
The middle 50% of approved petitions for fall 2020 were:
GPA: 3.70 to 4.0
SAT superscore (Math and Evidence-Based Reading & Writing): 1290 to 1390
ACT superscore (Composite): 28 to 32
Important petition dates
September 10 Petition opens You do not need to be admitted to IUB in order to petition.
December 17 Priority deadline Petition by December 17 to receive priority consideration.
January 28, 2022 Priority deadline notification If you petition by December 17, you will receive a direct admission decision by 5 p.m. ET on January 28, 2022.
March 18, 2022 Final consideration deadline Your petition will be reviewed on a case-by-case and space-available basis.
April 15, 2022 Final deadline notification If you petition by March 18, you will receive a direct admission decision by 5 p.m. ET on April 15, 2022.
How to petition
Step 1
Complete application to IUB and select one of our Kelley undergraduate business majors as your intended major. You can change this major later.
Create your IU Computing account with your University ID number. You will receive an email with this ID number after you apply to IU Bloomington. Remember to check spam and junk folders.
Fill out a petition to be considered for Kelley direct admission. The petition will autofill your GPA and test score (if applicable), and allow Kelley to access your transcripts. You will be asked to answer one question in 250 words: What has been your most significant achievement in the past three years?
Note: If you've submitted a petition and received a confirmation email, do not submit a new petition. This will overwrite your original date of submission and cause delays in review and decision.
Kelley direct admission and petition FAQ
IU does not round up GPAs. You must petition for Kelley direct admission.
If you meet all requirements for direct admission, you will need to change your major to become a Direct Admit. You can make changes to your submitted application by visiting Step 3 on the IU Office of Admissions website. This change may take 7 to 10 business days to process. Only once your major changes and Kelley verifies you have met all requirements will you be offered direct admission. If you do not meet all direct admission requirements, you must petition for Kelley direct admission after your major changes.
No. You can petition as soon as your IU username and passphrase is active. In most cases you can petition within a week of applying to IUB. Don’t delay—the deadline to receive priority consideration for petitions is December 17.
No. The Kelley School doesn't know you're interested in direct admission unless you petition. You must take the steps to petition.
If you aren’t 100% sure you meet the direct admission criteria we recommend you petition. The petition takes 10 minutes to complete. If your GPA and test scores end up meeting the automatic direct admission criteria, your petition is simply deleted from our system. If they do not meet the auto criteria, then you already have a petition submitted and nothing else to worry about.
No. Every student who is admitted to IU is admitted as a “Pre-Major” until their school admits them. If you meet the admissions criteria, you’ll hear from us 4 to 6 weeks after you are admitted to IU. If you do not meet the admissions criteria, you must petition for Kelley direct admission.
Yes. The Kelley School of Business does not view any portion of your IU application or Common App. The petition review will include your GPA, test score, transcripts, and answers to the questions on the petition. Your response should be limited to 250 words.
No. The petition review will include your GPA, test score, transcripts, and answers to the questions on the petition.
You may include any information you feel the committee needs to know when reviewing your petition. Examples could include an injury or life event that affected your academic performance or mental well-being. The Additional Comments sections is not for an additional short answer topic or continuation of the short answer.
In your petition, you will be asked to answer one question: What has been your most significant achievement in the past three years? Please limit your response to 250 words.
Any student who is directly admitted to Kelley through the automatic process is considered for Kelley-specific scholarships. These awards are sponsored by private donors who set the selection criteria. Eligibility requirements may include academic merit, financial need, major of study, etc. Due to the highly competitive nature of scholarships for Kelley freshmen, preference is given to Direct Admits who automatically meet the criteria.
Most Kelley scholarship donors choose to support current undergraduate business majors (sophomores, juniors, and seniors). A relatively small number support incoming freshmen and many of those accounts are renewable. This means that we are typically able to make only two to three dozen new general freshman awards each year. If you qualify, you will be invited to apply for eligible scholarships.
No. Kelley Indianapolis and the Kelley School of Business at IU Bloomington offer separate undergraduate programs within the Kelley School with different majors, admissions requirements, and policies. To earn direct admission to Kelley in Bloomington, you must meet the automatic direct admission criteria or petition.
Directly admitted students will work with Kelley advisors at New Student Orientation. Our advisors do not meet with incoming freshmen before summer orientation.
Congratulations! You can submit your intent to enroll and become an official Hoosier and Kelley. You’ll also find next steps to guide you through your first semester.
We are excited that you have completed IU Bloomington’s intent to enroll and paid your enrollment deposit. There is no separate deposit for the Kelley School of Business—you’re good to go. We look forward to seeing you in the fall!
You can still earn a degree from Kelley through standard admission. You will take one year of Kelley I-Core prerequisites—the exact same courses you take as a direct admit—and make degree progress.
