The admitted student weekends are really good (best of the 5 schools we visited), but if you can’t make those, I think any week other than Spring Break (Mar 9-17) would have students around to get a feel for the spaces. If possible, visit on a week day if you want to drop in and talk to any of the university offices.
Not going to lie on housing, Purdue has more students who want housing than they have space. They make sure that Freshmen get housing, but some of it is overloading rooms (3 people in a 2 person space), so they say to get your deposit in early. That said, since my son was admitted after deferral, we thought we were really late, but then he ended up in a really nice 4 person semi-suite (associated with the Honors College). So your mileage may vary (by a lot)!
Were you rejected? If yeah, don’t worry – you’ll do great with your other decisions. Just a quick question though, can you see the “Next Steps”, “Visit Campus”, and “Decision Letters & Documents” buttons in your portal?
OOS
1460 SAT
School doesn’t do GPA but her grades are almost entirely high A’s
IB Diploma Candidate + 5 AP’s
Varsity athlete
Lots of EC’s and volunteer hours
There isn’t a single format for all (and there are differences per major as well), but here’s some of the do’s/don’ts we received talking to folks in Admissions and from various online forums. Obviously you can’t do all of these, but use them to help steer your info.
Don’t reiterate information you already put in your existing essays, write this one “fresh”. This is an extra opportunity to give them information, so don’t rehash old things. Your stats were good enough to keep you in consideration, so don’t spend time on them
Don’t spend any time on talking about the ranking of the university, or why Purdue is a great school. “I want to join Purdue AAE because it is #3” isn’t meaningful. They know their own information
Do make the essay very personal for why you want to be there (this shouldn’t be ChatGPT output). Do you like more rural settings? Is there something unique about the campus or activities you really think aligns with your personality? Did you visit and something made you feel very comfortable/at-home?
If you have specific ways you think you’ll contribute to the campus community, put those in. Want to be a part of AAMB? Plan to apply to a particular learning community because of its focus?
If Purdue really is your top school, say it boldly! Let them know that Purdue is your #1 (assuming it is).
Add any significant awards/achievements you’ve received since the end of October. Don’t just rattle off a new list, but if something is big, let them know. State champion in a fall sport? Made an Honor Band/Choir? Started a new job/volunteer/research position?
(Edit: We were also able to attach an additional document last year, so included a Letter of Recommendation from someone outside our son’s high school, to discuss more of his community engagement and personality)
On their scholarship page they say: " Only domestic students are eligible for the scholarships described above. Domestic students include U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, permanent resident aliens, and aliens lawfully present in and able to establish domicile in the United States per federal immigration laws. International students who hold F, J, and some other visa types are not eligible."
I would argue that if they were to give merit for the honors college, it shouldn’t be disbursed until senior year. Many students use it for housing and drop it, which isn’t fair to those who want to be part of the community and will stick with it.
Housing is not “first come, first served”. As long as you have a deposit in by early April, you’ll get a bed (Purdue will warn you to do it a few days before the deadline because it takes time to process the information and route it to the correct departments). That said, if you want to be in one of the learning communities, apply for that as soon as you can (you might have to deposit first) in order to show enthusiasm.
1550, 95%, 3 Self Studied AP 5s: Calc BC, Phy C Mech, APCSA. Indian International Accepted to FYE. Yale Summer Program, Founded my own media hub w/ 150k reach, Patent Pending, Varsity Athlete, Music (2 instruments). Various Engineering ECs.
Son accepted to Honors College
FYE, Aerospace
OOS
Private pilots license, 70 flight hours
15 APs, 13 of which were 4 or 5s
3.97 UW, small charter school
35 on ACT
No merit!
I would take it as a rejection from West Lafayette, yes. Somewhere it was stated that students would not be able to transfer campuses BUT the degree will say “Purdue University” and you would have access to clubs, activities and amenities in West Lafayette. The problem is that the campuses are 45-60 minutes apart, so I don’t know how practical that really is. My daughter said they were trying to recruit TAs for Indianapolis, but due to the cost and time lost commuting, she didn’t know of anyone interested. The good thing about the Indianapolis campus is that there would be more opportunities for internships.
Son accepted to Integrated Business and Engineering at Daniels School of Business. No merit scholarship.
OOS
I am thrilled given that he’s SAT is less than ideal (1300) – we apply all other schools TO, but Purdue requires test score. So far son is getting into all EA schools he applied.
What Bookishmom said is my understanding. And nursing is tagged as ‘full’ for fall 2024 admittance on the website, so there is no hope if the admit does not explicitly say nursing.
Pros/Cons of the learning communities? This is the first I’ve heard of them. I heard from an Honors College student elsewhere that she didn’t want the Honors dorms – too many ultra competitive students in one place. Not sure if that applies to these learning communities? TIA.
My son was deferred. OOS. 3.9 UW GPA, strong accompanying stats and EC’s. He applied Landscape Architecture and his letter states it is a highly impacted major. The no transfer entry post somewhere above also confirms that. He’s disappointed; I’m disappointed. He was hoping to be with his brother at Purdue and in Det. 220. He will submit the LOCI and semester grades. His deferment letter did state a decision by March 31 and automatic consideration for Spring 2024 entry (which would mean he would have Fall 2024 off, but they would offer him programs within the college during that semester. He would not be a student for Fall 2024, instead he would start in Spring 2024). I think it’s worth asking someone to give a better explanation of what that would actually be like. It doesn’t really sound good to me.
