Featured Supplemental Essay Prompt For IU Bloomington Applicants:

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. 400 Word Maximum.

Successful Supplemental Essay Example From Our Accepted Alumni Student:

“I’ll trade you my LeBron for your Kobe,” I told my friend, thinking nothing of it. We were simply untroubled kids in my parents’ basement, completely content with ripping through packs of Topps sports cards.

As I delved into the art of bargaining and negotiating with these cards, my introverted nature melted away, and I felt unexpectedly comfortable—I found comfort in amassing knowledge of nearly every card’s value.

Then, in seventh grade, I began buying the cards I could with small pockets of change that my parents would grant me. As I became more adept at the art of trading sports cards, the more I loved it.

With time, I became a real investor in buying and selling sports cards. Though my market was still limited to my close friends, I learned about margins, balance sheets, cash flow, and risk management.

Those early lessons grew into a passion for religiously following the stock market and dreaming of business and entrepreneurship. As I worked to develop my invention, [Redacted], during junior year, I concurrently researched colleges that would allow me to meet and collaborate with other creators and entrepreneurs.

I found that in Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.

With an globally-focused approach, Indiana University’s Entrepreneurship and Corporate Innovation program would be an unparalleled experience for me. During my years at Indiana University, I hope to further develop [Redacted] and launch it into an entrepreneurial venture. Specifically, I dream of taking the Venture Models course to understand how to scale a business upward and to create solutions with real-world impact. The Best Business Model competition sounds like it would be an incredible experience.

Further, the course Leadership, Teamwork, and Diversity would allow me to learn more about collaboration and working with people of all backgrounds. One of my main missions is to make innovations affordable and accessible—I hope to learn how to do so through the morals and missions within the Kelley School.

Along with these courses and many more, I hope to meet like-minded students through Indiana University’s Innovators Club and collaborate—if they have greater ideas than mine, I would be happy to run with them.

Further, I aspire to give back through service opportunities, especially Indiana University’s College Mentors for Kids program. I am grateful that I was able to receive guidance from my teachers, which fostered my love for STEM subjects. If I am able to help other young innovators spark their intellectual passions, I know I will have done my job.

Indiana University’s passion for entrepreneurship and technology, along with social outreach and social responsibility, makes me know it would be a place to shape the leader I dream of becoming. Since I was that little kid trading sports cards, I have learned that business is less about what you get—it’s about what you give.