Purdue's mechanical engineering grad school

DoubleD
Sat, 06 Aug 2011 12:53:15 +0000

Is it really that hard to get into the direct phd program?
On this site Graduate - Mechanical Engineering - Purdue University;
it states Incoming Students: The student must have a strong interest in Graduate Studies leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The student must have:
GPA ≥ 3.50 in the first required degree (B.S.) from a highly ranked university.
The student must have also taken GRE with minimums of 550 verbal, 770 quantitative, and 5.5/720 analytical.

but on this site [Mechanical Engineering Grad App, West Lafayette](Graduate Program Requirements - The Graduate School - Purdue University)
Doctoral Degree Program Basic Requirements:

All Applicants:

Undergraduate GPA of admitted students averages approximately 3.5 out of 4.0
Completion of Master’s degree (except when applying for Direct PhD)
Master’s GPA of admitted students averages: approximately 3.65 out of 4.0
GRE average scores of admitted students are approximately:
525 Verbal
765 Quantitative
4.0 Analytical Writing

THe two doesn’t match at all. Is the first one implying that you can’t even apply if you’re from a lesser ranked university? ***?