IU Kelley Investment Banking Workshop admission questions

I'm a senior in high school who is going to be attending IU this fall. I hope to join the investment banking workshop one day. I know you apply during your sophomore year, but what can I do during my freshman year to increase my chances to be admitted to the program, besides just hitting the books hard? I know it's best to get to know the members that are in the workshop, so what is the best course of action to go about that? How do I get to know the people in the workshop? Do most of them live in a certain dorm or fraternity? Any and all advice or answers would be greatly appreciated.

 

Just get a 3.7+, join the banking club, do the case competitions and find a club or two that you’re passionate about and do that. Be warned that pledging a frat can/will fuck up your gpa.

 

Kelley alum here (non IBW but had numerous friends in), in regards to the LLC, half of the kids I know from the LLC ended up not even majoring in business/getting into Kelley, so being a direct admit is not a requirement. In the workshop, there's usually a mixture of fraternities, but also a handful of GDIs. My recommendation would be to find other freshman also interested in banking (either through the banking club or just conversations with people) and work together in both preparation for the interviews, and networking strategies.

 
BTbanker:

What do you mean you're at a better ranked non-target?

higher ranked on usnews, but bad ny finance recruiting. Indiana U is ranked low actually for virtually every subject outside of business, but the ib workshop is amazing. However, the website says that it's basically impossible to get into as a transfer, and I don't want to be stuck there not in the ib workshop.

http://kelley.iu.edu/ibn/IBW/workshop.cfm?do=apply

edit: IU is ranked 83rd and 72% acceptance rate

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/indiana-uni…

 

I went to IU. Yah, you only go to IU for Business, Music, a scholarship, and perhaps Journalism/Education.

IU has strong recruiting for the workshop, but a lot of the elite companies just interview the workshop kids only. The gulf between workshop kids and non-workshop kids are huge in terms of recruiting opportunities. GS/Lazard/Blackstone just go to the guy leading the workshop and says "give us 3 resumes." I took the IB class there with that professor and knew several workshop kids.

A lot of the non-workshop placements just come from cold calling/networking. You're better off where you're at IMO if you're not going to be in the workshop.

 
Most Helpful

I posted this on another thread, but I will re-post for reference. Also, feel free to PM me to discuss the IU Program as I am 3-4 years out as an alum.

Going to IU is quite a big gamble on getting into the IB Workshop and much of the recruitment process, aside from GPA (even this can be manipulated based on what classes you take in what order), isn't something you can control considering much of getting in has to do with subjective measurements (Business Frats / Greek Life Connections which is predicated on what high school you went to and who you were friends with). For example, the minimum GPA to even apply for the IB Workshop is a 3.60 GPA and every year multiple candidates will gain admission while being significantly below this threshold mainly if they are a Diversity Candidate, but also through business fraternity / social fraternity connections. Also, a 3.80+ candidate can get axed over a 3.50+ candidate due to being an "optimal social-fit" - I.E. you play lax and got into one of the 4-5 well represented Greek Organizations freshman year.

Furthermore, all the top banks will ask the professor that runs the program for his "recommendations" on which candidates to interview and he will provide "recommendations" based on a few criteria (firm preference / GPA / mock interviews). Do you really think he'll recommend a 'Non-IB Workshop' candidate for the 1 Goldman / 1 Evercore / 1 JPM spot considering he is incentivized to achieve 100% student placement? -Answer: No

Is it possible to get offers without the workshop? - Absolutely, many do it every year, however, it is SIGNIFICANTLY more difficult and your prospects will 100% decrease to the point where if you are able to receive an offer to an MM bank such as a SunTrust / BMO / Piper Sandler / Baird without the Workshop, you would most definitely be guaranteed a spot at a BAML / Barlcays / Citigroup / MoCo etc if you were in the IB Workshop.

With that being said, the TOP job placements at IU are actually on par with the top placements at any Non-Harvard/UPENN schools (UCLA / UVA / Georgetown / Cornell) with a few kids joining the Blackstone / PJT analyst classes. However, much of your fate at IU is unfortunately decided your freshman year based on what fraternity you join and your relationship with the IB Workshop Professor / Upper Classmen.

With all that being said, despite placing ~80+ candidates/year, as an alumni I would have to admit to IU being a 'Non-Target' school because there are so many 'what-ifs' involved when evaluating a candidate from the school (ex: being a straight white/Asian male will make it categorically more difficult to place into the IB Workshop / Finance Societies).

Also ~80 placements in a Kelley class of 2,000+ every single year (when I graduated around 2016-2017, many of the 'average to above average Kelley students' had no clue as to where they would be working post-graduation as an 2nd semester senior) is quite weak. A target school is classified as a place where someone NOT in the top 5-10% of the University can still gain a relatively selective position.

In all, IU Kelley is a GREAT option if you are unable to gain admission to a 'Prestigious-University'

 

Business frats will get you in the workshops. Rush DSP or AKPsi.

 

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