Bumping this up one more time, because of no replies last time around (very likely due to heavy traffic around admissions decisions caused the question to be buried in an avalanche!).
Can someone share their experiences and advise with the Purdue Lilly scholars program? Is the program rigid in terms of requirements and expectations, or do scholars have sufficient autonomy to decide their academic course plans? E.g., is adding a minor or major allowed? There have been only 3 cohorts prior to fall 2026, so that means that post-graduation outcomes aren’t available yet. But what are the vibes of those in the program? It would be helpful to get a feel for that, thanks.
(unwittingly, ended up directing the question to myself. Not sure how to change this. Anyway, would appreciate a response very much!)
This is such a new and small cohort that we may not have anyone here with direct experience to share. I’d recommend that your child call Purdue and ask to speak with a student currently in the program.
Congrats to your child though! Sounds like an amazing opportunity if they are interested in pharmaceutical manufacturing!
I know of someone in Cohort 2.0 from my D24’s graduating class, it is not a friend of hers but I can PM you the name if you need someone specific to reach out to (you would have to message her on linkedin).
It does say on the site Note: Scholars must maintain studies in an eligible major and follow change of major policy.
Thanks to you, and to “momofboiler1” for helpful replies. Will ask DS26 to reach out to Purdue advisors during the Purdue’s For Me visit day. Hopefully they will provide answers to queries that have emerged (or perhaps, provide the ability to speak to current students for their point of view).
My daughter was disappointed that she was deferred (Mech Engineering) in EA. In fact, she knows 6 others who applied who were also all deferred. The odd thing is, in her letter, they strongly pushed her to change her location to the Indianapolis site and said that doing so would qualify her for “expedited review” of her EA application.
Anyone know what might be behind this? It seems like they need more students in Indianapolis and that she obviously has the qualifications to be admitted to Purdue or they wouldn’t have made the statements they did in her letter. It just seemed odd to us.
The Indy campus is not only new, it’s a completely different experience than main campus and I’m not surprised that they are trying to entice students to switch to Indy.
Ah, ok. Our impression is that the WL campus is more of the traditional college environment. Any info on how different Indy is from that or if it is worth a look. My daughter isn’t really interested in a “city” school but we haven’t researched that campus, TBH, as it was never really a consideration for her. Seemed like more of the automotive engineering students would want to be there and she didn’t want to miss out on the main campus experience.
Yes, WL is the traditional college experience. The Indy campus is an hour away, and definitely in the city. It’s the old IUPUI campus. Purdue is making investments there but I know my D would never have considered that campus. She would have gone somewhere else if she wasn’t accepted to WL.
If your child was deferred, check email/portal. My daughter was JUST (like an hour ago) accepted into FYE (intended MechE)! We’re OOS!
Good luck to everyone and definitely don’t sweat it if you don’t hear something. I just wanted to post so you all can know they’re rolling decisions out. (And so when someone looks next year, they’ll have the info)
My daughter was just accepted into the Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences program at Purdue! She was originally deferred and just notified today of acceptance. Very cool accomplishment for her, but I still think she may be sold on Penn State at this point.
Who knows, maybe the admission will get her to think about a attending a Purdue for Me day on campus, but either way very proud of her.
Here are the details from her application posted earlier:
GPA: 3.82 UW
SAT: 1200
EC’s: Competitive Dance 12+ years, Dance Teacher/Choreographer Senior year, Teaching Assistant (Soph, Junior), Summer Dance Camp Counselor 3 Summers, part-time Host at restaurant since 15, Wink 4 Pink officer, NHS, Summer internship at private Speech Therapy clinic
Coursework: 3 AP’s, 9 Honors, 2 DE, Education Training (includes in school placement with District SLP Senior year). Math completed through Calculus. Intro to Psych at CC over the Summer.
Compelling essay about the situation that inspired her search for a career helping others “find their voice” ie, speech therapy.
I think our daughter, and her parents, are grateful her academic path is a little bit less selective and providing her opportunities at wonderful schools she may not have otherwise been able to attend.
I am very proud of her decision to pursue a path where as she put it to me, she can “help other people”. That can be done in many, many ways, but she is excited to be able to directly support children with difficulties finding their voice.
Anyone here with kids in pure sciences major at Purdue? How tough are the introductory classes? I have friends with kids in Purdue engg and have heard a lot about the tough weed out classes for engg. Is it the same for all STEM majors? We are very grateful for the Purdue acceptance because it was a major reach for my kid. But at the same time I am apprehensive if Purdue is the right fit for him. I wonder if the academics might be too intense for him. Would really appreciate if anyone can share any input here.
I had applied for Aerospace (FYE) to Purdue West Lafayette. I was deferred during the early action wave. I had submitted my LOCI on January 18th, but I don’t see any change in my portal. Also, when I went through CC Purdue 2030 and Reddit posts, I noticed that many who got accepted today had applied for Mechanical Engineering, and some of them even submitted their LOCI way later than me. Does that mean that my chances of being admitted are lower? Does Purdue release RD decisions in waves? Are these waves major-specific? Any information would help.
The graduate speech pathology program at Purdue is elite. The undergrad experience will set your student up for grad school anywhere. The clinic is a wonderful facility. The only caveat is that majoring in speech pathology really confines you to following through on grad school in speech pathology. The courses don’t set you up for anything else like some other majors.
My student minored in a pure science discipline. The labs are time consuming and the courses are challenging but Purdue wouldn’t admit your student if it didn’t think your student was capable of being successful there. The Purdue advice to my student was to attend the supplemental instructionsessions to reinforce topics from lecture. Go to office hours. The intro courses are huge (1,200+ kids need intro to whatever in a range of majors). My student agreed that not going it alone is the way at Purdue. Congratulations to your student!
Totally understood on the limitations of the undergrad degree, that is a concern, but that is also the reason she focused on large schools. Lots of options if she changes her mind early enough.
She completed an SLP internship over the Summer at a private speech clinic (which increased her desire to pursue the career) and this semester, she has a dual enrollement class through her high school tailored to kids pursuing Education in college, but with the option to be placed with a district SLP. Small town that it is (even though it is a large District High School) she was placed with the 2 SLP’s at the Elementary School she attended, and she will spend 4 days a week between the 2. She will get exposure to both Push-in engagements and Pull-out engagements at the Elementary level.
This summer she will have the opportunity to shadow another friend-of-a-friend that works in Geriatric Speech intervention with in-home visits. So, she will have seen a lot of options for the field before she even steps foot on campus.
Again, things can change, but she will have quite a bit of exposure to the profession at an early age.