Purdue has released the stats for this year’s class and your stats are right there! I think with your course rigor and stats you are a match for Purdue CS. Interestingly the acceptance rate for engineering was actually more competitive this past cycle but again your stats are right there.
I like your chances, too. Also, thank you for formatting your post so clearly!
Did you want to discuss any other schools you are applying to, or get suggestions? As @momofboiler1 mentioned, EA deadlines are coming up and this is the perfect time to finish getting those applications in.
Sure - the reason I made this post about Purdue is I believed I had fairly decent chances of getting in (but I wanted to be sure), and I did a tour of Purdue and loved it. The tuition is also really reasonable for a program ranked so highly.
I have also been interested in these schools:
Reach schools:
Georgia Tech
Illinois Urbana Champaign
Michigan Ann Arbor
University of Texas- Austin
University of Washington
UChicago
Semi-reach but more likely:
University of Wisconsin Madison
University of Maryland College Park
Northwestern
The only safeties I’ve looked at are University of Illinois In Chicago (UIC) and Indiana University, and I think I should look into more safeties so any suggestions would be appreciated.
Any suggestions for more reach, semi reach, or safeties would be greatly appreciated.
Also quick question about Purdue. How much do they take AP Scores into consideration? Also, I did a tour at Purdue and they said they do not ask for/consider GPA. How true is this? It seems strange as they still look at HS Grades which your GPA is directly determined by.
Purdue most certainly considers GPA! I don’t know who said that on your tour but that is false.
Per the common data set - GPA (HS transcript), Class Rigor, and Essay are the three most considered data points. https://www.purdue.edu/idata/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/CDS_2024-2025.pdf Section C7
Standardize test scores, APs included, are “Important”.
Northwestern should be moved into your reach category!
Any other decent safety schools I should look into? Also, I’ve heard Purdue’s courses are much harder than other schools around the same rankings. Is this true?
Also, aside from academics and test scores, what are the parts or things I’ve listed (like the awards or extracurriculars) that matter the most for my application
U.Mass Amherst is also very good for computer science. It is quite a bit more selective for computer science compared to other majors, but to me your stats still look quite good for U.Mass.
I don’t think you need any more. I like the UMass suggestion. That and Wisconsin should do - they have strong CS programs and you’re likely to be accepted by both schools.
Other “top 20” CS programs are hard too. So I don’t believe Purdue is necessarily harder - but it certainly won’t be a cakewalk.