The average acceptance rate over the last 3 years for Purdue College of Engineering is approximately 50%. Overall, gaining admission to Purdue’s engineering program is certainly competitive, Students must have a 3.0 average GPA in any engineering, science, and math courses completed prior to CODO. but by building a strong academic foundation, showcasing relevant extracurricular involvement, and crafting a well-rounded application, you can improve your chances significantly.
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, shares some key characteristics with the Ivies: Purdue is a research powerhouse, practices selective admissions, boasts extremely successful alumni, and is known around the world for its excellence in STEM fields. That said, Purdue also differs from the Ivies in several important ways: it’s located in the Midwest, it’s a large public university, it admits about two-thirds of the students who apply, and it has a substantial undergraduate student population.
The acceptance rate into Purdue College of Engineering is often a confusing and mysterious statistic for prospective students and their families to consider, but it doesn’t have to be.
For the academic year 2020-23, the acceptance rate has avergaed around 50% at Purdue University-Main Campus where a total of 55,311 students applied and 32,493 were accepted. The average SAT score of enrolled students is 1,315 and the average ACT score is 29. It requires five items and recommends 1 articles to submit to their applicants. The following table describes the general admission information for applying to Purdue University-Main Campus.
Majors/Programs:
General Admission Requirement in Purdue College of Engineering
General Requirements:
- Minimum Semesters: 3
- Minimum Credits: 45
- Minimum GPA: 3.4
Course Requirements:
- MA 16100 or MA 16500
- MA 16200 or MA 16600
- CHM 11500
- PHYS 17200
- Science Selective (typically CS 15900 or CHM 11600)
- Oral Communication Foundational Outcome course (typically COM 11400)
- Written Communication Foundational Outcome course (typically ENGL 10600)
- Transforming Ideas to Innovation I & II
- A minimum of 12 credit hours of professional engineering course work (beyond FYE courses) must be taken from the Purdue West Lafayette Campus.
Other Requirements:
- Students are admitted on a SPACE AVAILABLE BASIS only. Meeting the stated requirements does not guarantee admission into ME, rather these are the minimum requirements needed for eligibility. Eligible students will be reviewed holistically and accepted on a SPACE AVAILABLE BASIS.
- Students must earn a 3.4 average GPA or higher in any engineering, science, and math courses completed prior to CODO.
- A minimum of 15 credits must be successfully completed in the CODOing semester.
- Students on academic probation will not be accepted under any circumstances.
purdue college of engineering Overview
Purdue Engineering is one of the best programs in the country. U.S. News & World Report and corporate recruiters consistently rank Purdue Engineering at the top of their lists, both in academics and in career preparation.
| Purdue University-Main Campus | |
| Address | Hovde Hall of Administration |
| City | West Lafayette |
| State | IN |
| Zip | 47907-2040 |
| Type | Public |
| Level | Four or more years |
| Total Engineering Students | 8490 (Undergraduate), 949 (graduate), 1824 (PhD) |
| PhDs granted(current yr) | 534 |
| Total Engineering Teachers | 361 |
| Total Engineering Research Expenditure | $244824 |
| Admission Rate (Undergrad) | 17286 (Applications), 8250 (Offered admissions), 1989 (Accepted) |
| GPA (for Undergrad) | 95 [percentage of students ranked in top 25% of their high school class] |
| Admission Rate (Grad) | 8808 (Applications), 2586 (Offered admissions), 859 (Accepted) |
| Carnegie Classification | Research Universities (very high research activity) |
| Application Fees | |
| Undergrad Application Fees | $60 |
| Grad Application Fees | $60 |
| Tuition / Fees | |
| Undergrad In-State | $12042 |
| Undergrad Out-State | $30844 |
| Grad In-State | $12000 |
| Grad Out-State | $30000 |
| SAT Score**SectionScore (25/75) percentile Reading 710/710 Math 680/ Writing0/ | ACT Score** SectionScore (25/75) percentile Composite/Math/ |
purdue engineering sAT scores
Average SAT and ACT Scores
At PU, 6,678 applicants (81% of enrolled) have submitted their SAT scores and 4,077 applicants (50%) have submitted their ACT scores for seeking degrees. The average SAT score of those who submitted scores is 1,315 and the average ACT score is 29 at PU. SAT 75th percentile score is 1,440 and 25th percentile score is 1,190. For ACT scores, the 75th percentile score is 99 and the 25th percentile score is 75. The following table shows the detailed SAT and ACT scores distribution of enrolled students at PU.
At PU, a significant number of applicants have submitted their SAT and ACT scores for consideration in the admissions process. With 81% of enrolled students submitting SAT scores and 50% submitting ACT scores, the university has a large pool of data to analyze in order to determine the academic qualifications of potential students. The average scores for both the SAT and ACT at PU are competitive, with an average SAT score of 1,315 and an average ACT score of 29.
| 25th Percentile | 75th Percentile | |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing | 590 | 690 |
| SAT Math | 600 | 750 |
| ACT Composite | 25 | 32 |
| ACT Math | 26 | 33 |
| ACT English | 24 | 34 |
Admission Requirements
In order to be considered for admission at PU, applicants must meet certain requirements in terms of their standardized test scores. The 75th percentile scores for the SAT are 1,440 and for the ACT are 99, while the 25th percentile scores are 1,190 and 75, respectively. This means that students who fall within these score ranges have a higher chance of being admitted to the university. Additionally, applicants may also need to submit other materials such as letters of recommendation, a personal statement, and high school transcripts.
The admission process at PU is highly competitive, with a focus on academic excellence and a well-rounded application. In addition to submitting SAT or ACT scores, applicants must also submit letters of recommendation, a personal statement, and high school transcripts. The university takes a holistic approach to admissions, considering a range of factors in order to select the most qualified and diverse student body. With a strong emphasis on academic achievement, PU strives to attract students who will excel both in the classroom and in their future careers.
Purdue University-Main Campus requires 5 item(s) (High School GPA, High School Record (or Transcript), Completion of College Preparatory Program, Recommendations, Admission Test Scores) and recommends 1 articles (High School Rank) to submit to their applicants. The following table summarizes the application requirements at Purdue University-Main Campus
| High School GPA | ✔ |
|---|---|
| High School Rank | ✓ |
| High School Record (or Transcript) | ✔ |
| Completion of College Preparatory Program | ✔ |
| Recommendations | ✔ |
| Formal Demonstration of Competencies | ✗ |
| Admission Test Scores | ✔ |
| TOEFL | ✗ |
| Other Test (Wonderlic, WISC-III, etc.) | ✗ |
What does it take to get admitted to Purdue Engineering?
We want all qualified students to be Boilermakers! Unfortunately, we don’t have the space to accommodate everyone. We also must do our best to make sure students are prepared to rock it in classes when they get here. Currently, about 40% of those who apply are admitted. Below we will break down some of the factors that Purdue Admissions considers when reviewing applications for First-Year Engineering and share some tips in how to put your best foot forward in the application process!
Purdue Acceptance Rate, Yield, and Headcounts
For the academic year 2019-2020, the acceptance rate is 59.83% where a total of 55,311 students (33,896 men and 21,415 women) have applied to PU and 33,093 (18,865 men and 14,228 women) students have been admitted to the school. Among them, 4,734 male and 3,461 female students have enrolled into PU and its yield, also known as enrollment rate is 24.76%. The following table shows the admission statistics including admission stats, acceptance rate, and yield.
| Total | Men | Women | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applicants | 55,311 | 33,896 | 21,415 |
| Admitted | 33,093 | 18,865 | 14,228 |
| Enrolled | 8,195 | 4,734 | 3,461 |
| Acceptance Rate | 59.83% | 55.66% | 66.44% |
| Yield (Enrollment Rate) | 24.76% | 25.09% | 24.33% |
what gPA do you need to get into purdue engineering
Students must be in good academic standing (not on probation). Students must earn a 3.4 average GPA or higher in any engineering, science, computer science, and math courses completed before CODO.
Is Purdue Engineering hard to get into
Currently, about 40% of those who apply are admitted.
how hard is it to get into purdue engineering
Engineering Courses/Degrees
| Engineering |
| Aerospace- Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering |
| Agricultural/Biological Engineering and Bioengineering |
| Biomedical/Medical Engineering |
| Chemical Engineering |
| Civil Engineering |
| Computer Engineering- General |
| Construction Engineering |
| Electrical- Electronics and Communications Engineering |
| Industrial Engineering |
| Materials Engineering |
| Mechanical Engineering |
| Nuclear Engineering |
ECE
GPA:US applicants have an average GPA of 3.60 or higher.International applicants are typically in the top 5% of their graduating class or higher.Typically, a 3.25/4.00 grade point average (GPA) is considered a minimum requirement for admission into the ECE graduate program. GREAverage scores for admitted students are approximately: 533 (Verbal)780 (Quantitative)4.6 (Analytical Writing)
Approximately 70% of Purdue’s graduate students receive funding by or through the University. Most financial support is in the form of graduate teaching or graduate research assistantships and fellowships.
Is Purdue University an Ivy League School?
Purdue is not technically an Ivy League university. However, it is a very prestigious public university and provides an education on par with that of the Ivy League.
It’s important to note that when the Ivy League was officially established in 1954, it was as an athletic conference – like the Big Ten (which Purdue is a member of). At the time of the creation of the Ivy League and through to the present day, there have only been eight members of this conference: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Brown, and Cornell. While many other universities seem deserving of the Ivy League label, such as MIT, Stanford, Duke, and Caltech, only the original eight are actually Ivies.
As noted above, Purdue differs from the Ivies in some important ways. First of all, it’s a public institution; all of the Ivies are private. This means that Purdue tends to be more affordable than the Ivies, and it also means that its admissions process tends to favor students from Indiana over students from other states.
Secondly, Purdue is much larger than the Ivies; Purdue’s undergraduate population is over 30,000, while Ivy League undergraduate enrollments range from about 4,500 to 15,000 at the high end. Thirdly, Purdue is not as selective as the Ivies. While Ivy League schools have acceptance rates in the low single digits, Purdue tends to accept about 60% of applicants, many of whom are from within the state of Indiana or from other countries.
Why Purdue University Is Confused As an Ivy League School
The two main reasons people confuse Purdue as an Ivy are its reputation as a research powerhouse and its international renown (and these of course go hand in hand!). Purdue is incredibly strong in STEM fields, especially engineering.
Indeed, Purdue’s undergraduate and graduate engineering programs rank in the top ten – and often the top five or top three – nationwide. Purdue’s faculty is also very distinguished, and its campus is home to over 400 research laboratories. In fact, Purdue devotes an entire wing of its campus called Discovery Park to research, innovation, and discovery across disciplines.
Purdue’s faculty are experts in their fields and often world-renowned scientists, including two Nobel laureates at present. Other past faculty to have taught and researched at Purdue include Golden Gate Bridge designer Charles Alton Ellis, aviator Amelia Earhart, and President of the National Association of Mathematicians Edray Goins.
However, Purdue’s faculty aren’t the only ones with stellar reputations; many of Purdue’s alumni go on to hold high-ranking positions in their respective fields and participate in ground-breaking work. Purdue has produced astronauts, Nobel Prize-winning scientists, chief executives of massive companies such as Walgreens and McDonalds, Pulitzer Prize winners, and heads of state, as well as three recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’s highest civilian award.
Given Purdue’s excellence in research and esteemed faculty and alumni, it’s little surprise that many people assume it must be part of the Ivy League. However, what’s also essential is the glowing reputation Purdue enjoys abroad, with international scholars and students. Because of the university’s long track record of cutting-edge research in STEM fields and substantial proportion of its students who come from other countries, Purdue is known worldwide as a first-rate institution.
Purdue University – Ranking, Acceptance Rate, and More
While Purdue’s reputation may rival that of the Ivies, its overall acceptance rate of 60% is much higher – in some cases more than 10x higher – than Ivy League acceptance rates. However, Purdue’s acceptance rate can be deceiving. If we dig a bit deeper into the numbers, we find that in the 2021 admissions cycle, Purdue accepted 52% of Indiana applicants, 34% of out-of-state applicants, and only 14% of international applicants. So, the acceptance rate differs significantly depending on where a student is applying from.
Moreover, certain undergraduate schools at Purdue have much lower acceptance rates than others. For instance, in the 2021 admissions cycle, the Krannert School of Management accepted just 8% of applicants, while the College of Engineering accepted 28% of applicants. Acceptance rates for some of Purdue’s other undergraduate colleges were in the low single digits – even lower than the acceptance rates for the Ivies!
With all of this in mind, it makes sense that Purdue ranks so highly on national and international publications. US News and World Report, the dominant college ranking system, ranks Purdue #53 nationally, tied with Ohio State, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Santa Clara, and Villanova. This ranking places Purdue significantly behind the Ivies, which are all ranked in the top 20 nationwide. Still, #53 in the entire nation is no small feat.
Washington Monthly, a competitor to US News, situates Purdue at #39 nationally, just trailing the Ivies Dartmouth and Brown. Impressively, Washington Monthly ranks Purdue #25 for research nationwide.
The website Niche.com gives Purdue n A+ grade and awards it the following rankings: #15 Public Universities in America, #16 Best Big Colleges in America, and #36 Colleges with the Best Professors in America.
All of these rankings highlight the fact that Purdue is a first-class public university with a strong reputation.
How to Get Into Purdue University
As mentioned previously, Purdue’s 60% acceptance rate is a bit misleading, because the admissions process highly favors applicants from within the state of Indiana. Out-of-state and international students have a harder time getting admitted into this elite public university.
Purdue’s admissions statistics are impressive, and not quite as superhumanly perfect as those of the Ivies. At Purdue, the average GPA range of admitted students is 3.5-3.9, indicating that successful applicants take challenging courses and earn mostly As. The average SAT range of admitted students is 1120-1400, and the average ACT range is 26-33. This means that in order to stand out among Purdue’s huge pool of applicants, students need to have very competitive test scores towards the upper bound of these averages.
Even though women have made enormous strides in entering and excelling in traditionally male-dominated fields in STEM, Purdue still admits more men (58.6%) than women (41.4%), probably due to many more men than women applying.
In addition to grades, test scores, and demographics, Purdue also cares about students’ admissions essays. On top of the main Common App essay, students respond to two very short Purdue-specific essays that test applicants’ ability to pack a lot of passion and information into a mere 100 words. Enthusiastic teacher recommendations and impressive extracurricular activities round out a powerful application.
Recap: Purdue University Is Not an Ivy League School, However, It Is One of the Best Schools in the US
Purdue University is many things: a world-renown hub of STEM research and innovation, a top-ranked public university, and home to faculty at the cutting-edge of their fields and alumni at the helm of industries as diverse as engineering, politics, writing, and sports. One thing Purdue is not, however, is an official Ivy League university.
The fact that Purdue is not in the Ivy League does not mean it’s not one of the best schools in the US – it is! Not being in the Ivy League simply means that Purdue was not in the right place (the Northeast) at the right time (the 1950s) to be included in the athletic conference. Today, Purdue is part of a much livelier athletic conference, the Division I Big Ten Conference, and fields much stronger athletic teams than any of the Ivies do.
Despite not being an Ivy, Purdue is still very well-regarded in the US and abroad, as reflected by rankings of the university’s prestige and research output. Particularly compared to other large public universities, Purdue is at the head of the pack and continues to become more prestigious and competitive. It attracts not only students from Indiana, but is increasingly popular among out-of-state and international students with a passion for engaging STEM research.
Purdue places a premium on undergraduate research, so students get to play an active role in discovering and creating new knowledge that moves the needle of progress and helps to create a better, more just and efficient world.
Purdue isn’t an Ivy, but it’s Ivy-esque. It shares many key features with the Ivy League schools, but it also has its own unique character and strengths.
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