This is the official thread for those applying EA to Purdue University.
List your unweighted GPA, any SAT /ACT scores, and ECs. What majors are you going into?
Ask your questions, the CC community is here to help!
This is the official thread for those applying EA to Purdue University.
List your unweighted GPA, any SAT /ACT scores, and ECs. What majors are you going into?
Ask your questions, the CC community is here to help!
First reply here, hope it accords with the rules.
I am a Chinese high school student whose school owns no AP related courses. My unweighted GPA is around 3.9-4.0(depends on how the school calculates. I haven’t received a sure reply yet), while I am expected to achieve around 1550 in SAT and have gotten a band 8.0 ilelts already (minimal: 7.0). My preferred major would be EE or ME.
My activities and awards are basically in China so I guess it would be confusing for you to evaluate, therefore dismissing them here in this reply. Do I look promising?
Purdue will evaluate your application in the context of opportunities available to you and your initiative to make the best use of what’s available. Do not worry about things not in your control such as school not offering AP classes or extra-curriculars that may be very different in your school / community where you live. Take rigourous courses that are available in your school, take part in extra-curriculars that interest you (Does not have to be only in the school. Can be in your community such as volunteering as well).
When applying to Purdue, mention your grades, awards, extra-curriculars, SAT scores and other significant information that showcases your accomplishments. Remember that Purdue looks at all parts of your application and not just SAT scores and grades. Your personal statement and Purdue specific questions (why Purdue, why your major) are important as well.
Assuming your school supports students applying to universities in USA, they will send school profile, grading system, student transcripts, teacher recommendations and other relevant details to Purdue.
In short, put in your best efforts and trust the process. Good luck.
Hello hopeful future Boilers! My daughter is yet to start her college applications, but we are discussing them. Regarding SAT tests for Purdue. It seems Purdue is no longer test-optional, is this correct? According to their site scores seem required unless testing was not possible? My daughter had a school day test and performed fairly well so I am assuming we submit?
Yes Purdue is back to test required and yes, you need to submit her score.
Thanks so much! Too bad they are no longer test optional. She has a 3.95 uw and 4.32 weighted… and it is in top 1% of class of 500 with full IBDP. She may retest to try to pull the score up a bit. I’m thrilled she is interested in CS, but sadly a 1430 won’t cut it for Purdue. We saw the middle 50% for CS is 1490 to 1560! Does anyone know much about Business Analytics and Information Managment BS major? She wants to keep her options open in tech for future masters in software engineering. Thanks again!
FWIW, I think a 1430 is in the ball park even for CS, especially with high rigor. Remember that last few year’s scores are skewed because Purdue was test “preferred” so students with lower scores weren’t submitting. But, if she can test again, that’s a good plan.
Sorry I don’t have any specifics about the BAIM undergrad major but hopefully someone else chimes in.
Thank you so much for giving us hope but in all honestly think it is waaaaay too low. She didn’t even want to submit it. You are genius… I hadn’t thought of the bias of submitting scores in recent years as a self-selecting pool! Very fascinating indeed! Mainly my daughter is afraid of putting CS as her major and getting denied and wonders if going with a lesser major might be more prudent. Do you know how it works? I recall they could put a second choice? Is it possible to also apply to the Indy campus in addition to the WL campus? Thanks again!
Yes, your student can put a second choice major! Purdue encourages that.
I also believe you can indicate on the application that you would be open to the Indy campus but I’m not sure how that works.
@Dad_SG - Do you know how that works in terms of applying to the Indy campus?
Thanks so much! So if they aren’t accepted into their first choice then it defaults to 2nd choice? I know at McGill where my eldest applied they give answers to both choices. I would love to hear about Indy just for the sake of knowing. (She might consider some Polytechnic majors or BAIM.) Thx so much again and have a great holiday weekend!
Here is the data from years before test optional. On the flip side, purdue cs is a lot more competitive now and I don’t want to give false hope.
@sfogooner this is fabulous! And trust me we are not getting our hopes up. My daughter completely understands the level of competition at Purdue in the CS program. She will try the October SAT test to see if it can be topped. We are expats and she was born and raised in Europe for 16 years and I’m just impressed she could step in cold and get an okay score. Her primary language of study wasn’t even English until last year and she did manage a 740 on RW. The maths is worlds apart from what she is used to, and she really didn’t perform well, but she does fine in her American classes. Thanks again for this chart. It is very interesting! The BAIM might be a great second choice!
Purdue application encourages indicating 2 majors and there are 2 separate supplementary questions asking to explain why primary major and why secondary major. In Fall 2024 cycle, my son indicated 2 majors and explained in the supplementary questions why he is willing to take either of the majors should he be offered admission. He did not select Indy as a second choice campus as he was clear about only joining West Lafayette main campus. In Fall 2025, it will be the second batch of students being admitted to Indy campus by Purdue. I would expect that Purdue admissions website would have a fair bit of information available for people to review specific to Indy campus. The Purdue degree is the same whether Indy or WL campus though the entire student experience will be different as the 2 campuses are quite different.
CS is competitive in Purdue and it is good that your daughter is planning to take SAT again. Purdue will also look at other parts of the application (e.g. high school course rigor and grades, essays). Consider alternative majors like Data Science, AI, BAIM as well. However if she is clear about CS as a major, then would suggest considering a few other schools as well. For e.g. UW Madison, U Maryland College Park, UMass Amherst, Rutgers New Brunswick, Ohio State Columbus to name a few. However, all of these schools have competitive CS programs and have become selective over the last few years. Good luck to your daughter as she decides her major and schools to apply
@Dad_SG you are so kind to offer all of this information and help! She is happily considering other options and is very open-minded. Ideally she wants to be back in Europe for her adult life and would love to do a Masters in software engineering. The CS seems like the logical choice of major but Purdue’s might be too big of an ask. Her HS only offers SL IB maths so she is already at a bit of a disadvantage. Do you think the new AI degree in BA could lead to further studies in SE later? Or would BAIM or CIT be better? She is in top 1% of her class of 490 kids…she was 5th I believe. At any rate her interest is tech, loves to code and is inspired by the topics…In planning for long term what major would be best in your opinion IF we decide on Purdue? Thanks a MILLION! You seem to be so well versed in this!!
Full disclosure - my son joined Purdue in the Daniels Business School in Fall 2024. I do know a few other kids who joined CS major in Purdue in 2024 and 2023. My elder son graduated from UW Madison in 2024 with a double major in CE and CS.
I would suggest your daughter reviews the course catalog of CS as well as other majors like DS and AI. She can see the extent of overlap and common / different courses.
https://www.cs.purdue.edu/undergraduate/curriculum/bachelor.html
There is a lot of flexibility to take different electives in junior and senior years depending upon her interest. Purdue also offers options like Minors, concentrations and certificates. If she decides to pursue Masters later in Software Engineering, she can decide which undergraduate major best aligns to her interest.
I hope I am with in the rules to ask about my son. He is looking to apply to exploratory studies. Data digest showed an acceptance rate of 76%for this major. We are so nervous all majors will be much more competitive due to the past over enrollment.
He has an uw gpa of 3.2 and an ACT score of 24. He has taken 4 AP classes.
He is a 3 sport varsity athlete. He has met with the hockey coach (it’s a club sport so he’s not being recruited or anything) and had a couple official tours (his sister is a sophomore) I feel like we are strong in the EC and demonstrated interest department.
I’m most worried about his low gpa. On a tour one of the admission counselors said they don’t consider actual gpa but look more at grades in core class and upward trends throughout high school. Can this really be true? I’ve heard you need at least a gpa of 3.0 to even get to a point where you get a holistic review (I did not hear this from an admission counselor however) . If this is true, do you think they will lower this cut off? How much do you really think acceptance rates will drop? He will apply other places but won’t commit to a good back up plan if he doesn’t get in so I’m constantly worried.
Per Purdue’s data from the last class:
EXPLORATORY STUDIES: The middle 50% ACT range was: 25 - 31 and GPA 3.47 - 3.95
Source: Freshman Class Profile - Undergraduate Admissions - Purdue University
So unfortunately both the ACT (now required) and his GPA are lower. That said, I’ve also heard admissions counselors from Purdue directly say they look at rigor, grades in key classes, and upward trends.
Acceptance rates have been trending down for years now so I think it’s reasonable to expect they will be slightly lower again next year. There was a 3% drop in acceptance rate in '23 (they haven’t released the '24 stats yet). There was also an article earlier this summer about housing and that Purdue miscalculated yield again this cycle even after purposefully admitting a smaller class. So, I would expect that trend to continue.
I hope your son can fall in love with one of the back up plans just in case Purdue doesn’t come through for him. I wish him the best of luck!
Purdue has pretty much established that they will be more selective in this application season. They really can’t afford another unexpectedly large incoming class like this one. It has affected everything from housing to parking to available seats at the dining halls, and all of that has, in turn, affected student morale. The good news is that they’re actively coming up with ways to fix this going forward, and they have two new dorms opening in 2025 and 2026 that will help the situation.
That said, exploratory studies has traditionally been one of the easier programs to get into. The disadvantage is that he might be shut out of competitive programs such as engineering, professional flight, computer science, and nursing. As long as he is not ultimately shooting for one of those majors, it is worth turning in an application. Purdue goes a little easier on in-state students, so that could be a factor in his favor as well.
Chiang: Further and significant reduction of admissions rate expected - News (purdue.edu)