How to Get Into Indiana University Bloomington: Admissions Data and Strategies

March 14, 2022

In 2022, enthusiasm for Indiana University—Bloomington extends well beyond the Hoosier State. In fact, the majority of the record 46,000+ applications received by IU Bloomington came from out-of-staters and international students and only 54% of those who eventually enrolled were state residents. The school’s popularity is further evidenced by the 9,300 freshman enrollments seen for the Class of 2025, a 12% increase over the previous all-time high.

Without a doubt, becoming a Hoosier has never been a more common dream for quality applicants from around the globe. To help you gain an edge in the admissions process, we will provide those considering applying to IU-Bloomington:

An in-depth and realistic understanding of what you are up against.
More data on which to accurately assess your chances of admission.
Advice for how to get your IU-Bloomington application to stand out, even against other qualified students.

To accomplish these goals we will touch on the following topics:

IU-Bloomington’s Class of 2025 acceptance rate
SAT and ACT scores of enrolled IU-Bloomington applicants
Admissions trends from the Class of 2025
IU-Bloomington’s system for rating applicants
A look at the demographics of IU-Bloomington undergraduates
The percent of accepted students that attend the university
Tips for applying to IU-Bloomington
How to assess whether applying to IU-Bloomington is even worth the $65 application fee (for you)

Other Colleges to Consider

Many students applying to Indiana University Bloomington may also find the following blogs to be of interest:

Let’s begin with an examination of the most recent admissions data.

IU-Bloomington Acceptance Rate – Class of 2025

Indiana University–Bloomington has yet to release any official numbers from the Class of 2025. We do know that over 46,000 applications were submitted and 9,300 students enrolled, but an acceptance rate has not yet been made public.

Looking back one cycle, out of 44,129 total applications submitted for a place in the Class of 2024, 80% were accepted. This is slightly higher than the 78% clip for the Class of 2023. In an interesting twist, the out-of-state acceptance rate is typically higher than the in-state acceptance rate. For the Class of 2024, in-staters were accepted at a 72% rate versus 85% for non-residents.

IU-Bloomington Admissions – SAT and ACT Scores, GPA, and Class Rank

The mid-50% SAT score for members of the Class of 2025 was 1200-1400 with a median of 1300; the ACT range was 27-32 with a median score of 29. Students boasted an average high school GPA of 3.90 and 64% placed in the top quarter of their high school class.

Those aiming to study in certain programs need to bring even more impressive credentials to the table. For example, direct admit into the highly-ranked Kelley School of Business is going to require higher grades and test scores than for applicants to the College of Arts and Sciences. In order to be eligible for admission to Kelley (without a petition), applicants must have an ACT score of 30, an SAT score of 1370, and an unweighted 3.8 high school GPA.

Admissions Trends & Notes

IU is now a test-optional school, a policy that will extend beyond the pandemic. Roughly 40% of admitted Class of 2025 students elected not to submit SAT/ACT scores.
The 2021-22 freshman class was expected to contain roughly 1,600 underrepresented students, a 5% increase over the previous year.
There was a projected 19% increase in Pell Grant recipients in the Class of 2025 for a total of 1,650 individuals.
The median SAT (among those that submitted) increased 80 points between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 freshman classes. This was likely aided by the test-optional policy which allows students with lower scores not to submit them to IU.
The average GPA for the Class of 2025 increased to 3.9 from 3.8 the previous year.
54% of incoming 2021-22 first-years hail from Indiana.

How IU-Bloomington Rates Applicants

There are four factors that IU-Bloomington ranks as being “very important” to their admissions process: rigor of secondary school record, GPA, class rank, and standardized test scores (although these are now optional). The application essay is lone factor viewed as being “important”.

Straight from the IU admissions office:

“Admission to IU is selective, and we consider factors that emphasize academic performance and preparation, such as the level and rigor of your coursework, the individual grades and cumulative GPA you have earned through these courses, your SAT and/or ACT scores (if applicable), and the additional insights offered through your application essay.”
“Your cumulative GPA, as well as the grades you have earned in the 34 courses required for admission, will be an important part of the application review process. If your school computes a weighted GPA and includes this GPA on your transcript, we will consider it as part of our review for both the admission and scholarship processes.”
“As part of our holistic review process, we may consider supplemental information—when provided—such as leadership experience, extracurricular activities, community service, work experience, and counselor or teacher recommendations. Please note, however, that letters of recommendation are not required. If you do choose to submit them, we will accept one counselor recommendation and one teacher recommendation.”

Who Gets Into IU-Bloomington?

Let’s look at the demographics of the Class of 2025.

Geographically, the greatest number of current undergrads hailed from the following states (outside of Indiana which was #1):

Maryland
Illinois
New Jersey
California
Ohio
New York
Florida
Michigan

Competition is harshest among those hailing from states with endless streams of qualified applicants (the entire Northeast & the West Coast). If you come from a less populated state like Alaska, North Dakota, or Montana, your location is more likely to provide a boost to your admissions chances.

Looking at ethnic identity, the breakdown for current undergrads is as follows:

White: 69%
Asian: 7%
Hispanic: 8%
African American: 5%
International: 6%
Two or more races: 5%

The countries sending the greatest number of students into IU-Bloomington undergraduate body are:

China
India
South Korea
Taiwan
United Arab Emirates

The breakdown by gender for the Class of 2025 is as follows:

Male: 50%
Female: 50%

IU-Bloomington’s Yield Rate

IU-Bloomington’s yield rate—the percentage of accepted students who elect to enroll, divided by the total number of students who are admitted is 22%. For comparison, other popular public universities sport the following yield rates: UIUC (29%), Purdue (23%), and Ohio State (30%).

Tips for Applying to IU-Bloomington

If you plan on joining the 46,000+ Hoosier hopefuls for the next admissions cycle, you should know the following:

IU offers an early action deadline on November 1 and a regular deadline of February 1.
Recommendation letters are considered in the IU admissions process.
IU-Bloomington does not consider “demonstrated interest” so you will not be judged on whether or not you made a campus visit (in non-pandemic times), contacted an admissions officer, etc. Still, given the school’s lower yield rate (compared to some other comparable schools), it is never a bad idea to reach out to admissions officer with a question, attend a virtual session, or engage with the school on social media.
Make sure to dedicate sufficient time and effort to the supplemental IU section of the Common App which includes the following short answer prompt:

Describe your academic and career plans and any special interest (for example, undergraduate research, academic interests, leadership opportunities, etc.) that you are eager to pursue as an undergraduate at Indiana University. Also, if you encountered any unusual circumstances, challenges, or obstacles in pursuit of your education, share those experiences and how you overcame them. (200-400 words)

Should I Apply to IU-Bloomington?

Those that fare best in gaining acceptance to IU-Bloomington will boast a transcript of mostly A’s and B’s in a fairly rigorous selection of classes. Given their test-optional policy, students with strong transcripts can be successful even without SAT or ACT scores. Still, all college applicants need to develop a balanced college list consisting of multiple “safety” and “target” schools to go along with their “reach”/dream schools.

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Dave Bergman

Dave has over a decade of professional experience that includes work as a teacher, high school administrator, college professor, and independent educational consultant. He is a co-author of the books The Enlightened College Applicant (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016) and Colleges Worth Your Money (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020).