direct-admission

Scholarships and special opportunities for freshmen who qualify

Newly Admitted Undergraduates

Admitted to IU?
Luddy bound?

Select incoming freshmen may qualify for direct admission to the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering. Other students may be offered direct admission following a case-by-case review of their applications for admission.

Questions? Write to luddyrec@indiana.edu.

Criteria for automatic direct admission

You’ll be offered automatic direct admission to the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering if you meet all of these requirements:

Apply for admission to IU Bloomington by November 1.
List your intended major as the B.S. in Computer Science, B.S. in Cybersecurity and Global Policy, B.S. in Data Science, B.S. in Informatics, or B.S. in Intelligent Systems Engineering. (The B.A. in Computer Science is a degree in the College of Arts and Sciences. B.A. students won’t be offered direct admission to Luddy.)
Receive admission to IU Bloomington.
Earn a minimum new SAT score of 1310 (reading/writing and math only) or minimum ACT score of 28. We accept superscores.
- Intelligent systems engineering majors only: You have an SAT math score of at least 620 or an ACT math score of at least 26.
IU is now test optional. To find out if this is the right path for you, learn more about our test-optional admissions policy. Read more below about directly admitting to Luddy as test optional. *
Own a cumulative grade point average of 3.75 or higher on a 4.0 scale. Weighted GPAs will be converted to a 4.0 scale.
- Cybersecurity and global policy majors must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.70 or higher on a 4.0 scale.

You’ll learn if you’ve been offered direct admission within four weeks of being admitted to IU Bloomington.

Direct admission to Luddy has a lot of benefits:

Consideration for direct-admit scholarships
Special opportunities like programs to help you start strong at IU and network with faculty and industry leaders
Immediate access to your permanent Luddy academic advisor, who will help you plan your education and take full advantage of the opportunities here
Immediate access to our career services—and the earlier you can start preparing for your career, the better

Case-by-case reviews

All applications that do not meet all the criteria for automatic direct admission will receive a second review in January. We may offer direct admission to students in these three situations:

Students who apply to IU Bloomington after November 1 but meet the other criteria for automatic direct admission
Students who meet the criteria for either the SAT/ACT or GPA, and are very close to meeting the criteria for the other one
Students who apply to IU Bloomington by November 1 indicating a non-Luddy major and then switch to a Luddy major

*If you choose to apply to IU without ACT/SAT scores under the test-optional guidelines you will be reviewed on other aspects of your application, including performance in academic coursework, quality of application essay(s), and additional activities and achievements.

Direct-admit scholarships

If you’re offered automatic direct admission, you’ll be invited to complete a Selective Scholarship Application (SSA). The SSA is the application for a variety of IU scholarships, including Luddy’s direct-admit scholarships.

Complete the SSA by the deadline, and we’ll give you details about which scholarship(s) you received by February.

Please note: Students who do not submit their completed IU application by November 1 or who are selected as a direct admit via a case-by-case review are not eligible for the SSA.

If you have questions about the SSA process, write to luddyrec@indiana.edu or contact the Office of Scholarships.

See our direct-admit scholarships

If you don’t qualify for direct admission . . .

Don’t worry. You’ll start your IU education in University Division like most Luddy students do. You can still take classes in your intended Luddy major, participate in our student organizations, attend our events, and talk with our advisors. You’ll enter our school when you meet the certification requirements.