My D22 who applied to College of Health and Human Sciences received a hand written postcard via mail. Did anyone else received it? Is this common practice from Purdue? Many schools that she applied had sent her emails of Thanksgiving, Christmas wishes, but this is the first hand written old fashioned mail from a college. I thought it was a nice personal way to reach their applicants.
It is possible that some schools will see applications go up while others go down, which could drive changes in the profile of admitted students and potentially raise standards. I suspect changes like this will occur over a decade or more, not a single year.
My theory is that more kids are applying earlier, which is driving the increase in EA applications. I think the colleges will recognize this, and expect that their RD pool will be weaker and probably smaller than it has been historically.
I think that between the increase in ED and EA applications, a lot of kids are either sitting on acceptances they have to take (ED) or that they are happy with (EA) and will not be applying to as many schools in the RD cycle.
As it relates to CS, schools are adding spots in that major like crazy, and the job market for CS is so insanely hot that I believe a material number of CS kids are better off going to night school at a local college and working than going full time. I know a lot of people in that field that dropped out before graduation because the opportunity cost of not working was too high. These people either never got a degree or finished with a local college, many of which are very generous about accepting transfer credits. The high five figure and six figure salaries common in the field take the sting away from not getting a diploma in four years. I recommend bouncing around linkedin and looking at your CS friendsā education and their contactsā education. See how many of them list college attended without providing a degree date. It has been like this in CS for decades.
First off, Purdue fills almost all of its class with EA applicants. Merit and honors is only considered with EA and the university is clear that if you want a popular major, to apply EA because the major could be entirely closed out by RD.
The CS and Engineering, along with nursing and pro flight, have historically gotten more and more competitive over the years. IMO itās because the university has made a huge investment in facilities, improved rankings, and have stayed mostly in person during covid while keeping students safe.
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And tuition has remained the same for 10+ years so itās increasingly a bargain relative to UT, UIUC and others.
Purdue overenrolled last year so they may cut down on EA admissions to get the formula right.
I canāt remember what my OOS son chose for his Purdue major but his 1330 and 3.8 WGPA, Eagle Scout and four year sport isnāt likely to cut it. Heās doing business at half his other schools but Krannerts facilities werenāt impressive.
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Purdue is nationally ranked at 49 in USN&WR. That is a very respectable ranking, and the engineering program is considered among the best in the country. That said, its rankings have not moved much in 40 years. A guidance counselors description of Purdue in 1982 would sound a lot like a guidance counselors description of Purdue in 2022.
I have argued elsewhere on this board that the grade inflation is out of control at high schools which makes it look like incoming college freshman classes are getting more competitive because it seems like an applicant needs a 3.8 UW GPA to get into a school ranked around 100, but I find it unlikely that where Purdue is picking out of the distribution curve of high school seniors has changed significantly in the last four decades.
Purdue is a T10 for engineering and their CS rankings continue to move up every year. They are also one of the top schools for pro flight.
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Currently waiting on my engineering decision
Agree on the grade inflation. Students are in for a rude shock when they go some Unis who donāt indulge in said practice. Thatās where I think the ACT/SAT have a place. Not perfect(have one son who excels in ACT type tests, another who doesnāt), but they serve as a check on GPAās.
I was surprised that S1ās school, in another country(Canada), knew exactly what my sonās HS in the US was, and had a GPA adjustment that they applied to it. I would think that is a widespread practice throughout admissions departments in the US.
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I think everyone is. Itās around Jan 15 when they let people know, I think?
They are releasing EA decisions on the 15th, correct.
They care about class rigor and how students performed in the harder classes specific to oneās intended major. While SAT/ACT due serve a large purpose, they like to see that students are hard workers.
In terms of rankings, I have the top 150 rankings since 2008. From 2008-10, Purdue ranked an average of 65 in US News. Since peaking at #68 in 2014, it has had a steady decline to #49 in 2022.
Comparing the average of 2021-22 vs. the average of 2014-15, Purdue has the ninth steepest percentage decline among schools which started with a ranking of 20 or higher.
The top ten steepest percentage declines over that period include:
Howard: 43%
Florida: 40%
FSU: 39%
UC Santa Barbara: 28%
UC Riverside: 24%
Texas: 24%
Georgia, UC Irvine, Purdue: 22%
UMass: 20%
Hmm, all publics. Probably having something to do with the focus on Pell Grants and privates ranked 20+ having work to do in that area.
From 2008 to 2014, the largest decliners were:
Northeastern: 49%
Boston Univ: 28%
TCU: 24%
Wake Forest: 23%
Penn State: 23%
Brigham Young: 22%
Florida St: 19%
Clark: 18%
San Diego: 15%
Fordham: 15%
Mostly privates.
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Does anyone know how competitive Data Science is?
I think the college of science is pretty competitive in general
Probably one of the more competitive majors as the College of Science, along with engineering, are the most competitive.
Yeah the two I applied to haha
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Ah man, Iām a straight A student except for a B in AP Calc BCā¦applied for engineering (CS). : (
I just want to make a lot of you feel better-my son, while coming from an extremely rigorous high school, was accepted with far worse stats than most of you. He applied RD in January and never took an honors or AP course. He was an athlete with maybe 1 other EC. His gpa was around a 3.4. He had a solid essay and great recs. He is currently a sophomore at Purdue and is working his ass off, as most people do. Not to worry, itāll all work out! I wish you all the best of luck!
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Should have clarified, my son did fye last year and is now in Chemical Engineerinf.
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Thank you! This does make me feel better! Son currently stressing out about 1/15 