Denied from Kelley. Where do I go from here?

I got denied from Kelley direct admission, although I can still get into it standard admission. My grades obviously weren’t the best due to some mental health issues, but they improved significantly over the past 2 years and I managed to pull off a 1540 SAT score. It took some reflecting, considering how everyone clowns on kelley here for being a school for dumb kids and being rejected from there just hurts so much man. I got offers from Ohio state with a full tuition scholarship, UMass Amherst(my state flagship), Fordham(not much aid tho), Northeastern(not much aid either), and ASU. If anyone can offer any advice on which school I should go to that would be great. I’m leaning Ohio State for right now.

 

Don’t know too much about Ohio state but to my understanding of Kelley, their placement is good only within their IB club/trek and that’s definitely something you should take into consideration (whether you can place into the club by applying into Kelley later etc.) Hope this is helpful

 

If you’re just looking to break in by any means, OSU fisher honors may be a better play (smaller pond and smaller fish). Kelley is by no means the gold standard for undergraduate recruiting and your odds would likely be slightly better from Fordham purely due to location/better networking.
Going to college for cheap is also a huge stress reducer and having the merit scholarship on your resume will make you look good too.

 

All in all, Ohio State would be 60k for the entire degree and Fordham would be 280k. Would u say the NY location is worth the difference. For context I can afford up to 200k and the rest would be loans.

 

Ohio State is a huge school with alumni in many different industries.

If you know prior to starting school what career path you are targeting, you can definitely break in from Ohio. High GPA, network early, and get relevant finance internships when you land on campus.

 

The other posters make some great points but I personally wouldn't count Kelley out. The standard admit process involves taking the same classes as direct admit students and is structured to give both pre-business and direct admit students the same experience. To get into Kelley as a standard admit, you have to get Bs and above in all of your classes, which candidly would be the least of your concerns if you're at all serious about applying to the IBW.

Again, it seems like OSU Fisher is a great opportunity and there's nothing wrong with going in that direction. At the same time, if you were previously dead-set on Kelley, not getting in as a direct admit is not a valid excuse for casting the school aside. 

 

My dad told me to plan for the worst and hope for the best. If something happens and I don’t get the 3.5 I’m forced to transfer or do Econ at IU. Which obviously isn’t ideal, but I think at fisher it’ll be easier to stand out as I’ve heard some stories about the pressure cooker environment at Kelley, and although fisher futures isn’t as great as the IBW, it’ll still be a viable option for me along with the full ride

 

IU alum at a BB here. If you got a 1540 SAT it will be almost impossible for you to NOT get a 3.5 freshman year unless you become a raging alcoholic or something. I was in a similar situation as u - had a 1480 SAT but absolutely abysmal high school GPA for a variety of reasons. IBW is a different story but if you prep a modest amount throughout freshman year and interview well you should have a good shot. They also have something called the Investment Banking Seminar now (ran by the same professor who runs the IBW) for the kids what were close but didn’t quite make the cut, and placement is still very solid among those kids. Maybe not top BB/EB but still IB. Same with the CMBW. Idk shit about OSU but I think if you go to IU you’ll be just fine

 

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