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First select Indiana â Purdue â 2021-2022 (2nd semester only)
Then select âUnknownâ for SELECT HALL, and â0â for ROOM NUMBER.
Youâll get to this page:
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One of our biggest concerns about Purdueâs engineering school is that students are admitted into general engineering, and then they must apply for their desired major sophomore year. If there was availability in that major, and the student had a high enough GPA they would get their desired major. In-demand majors like MechE or AeroE would require higher GPAs than less popular majors. Based on an engineering information session we attended last summer, a 3.2 GPA guaranteed a student would get their desired major. During calls to both the MechE department and admissions, Purdue staff members were cagey about what was required to get oneâs desired major; they dodged questions like âHow many students who requested MechE didnât get it last year?â, and âWhat percentage of students get their first choice of major?â. All they told us was that âthe average freshman GPA was 3.4â, and âover 90% of students typically get their first choiceâ. (I was flabbergasted that the average GPA for freshman at a top 10 engineering program was 3.4.)
Fast forward to last Monday when my wife and son were at an admitted studentsâ event at the Purdue engineering school. There were, of course, many questions about the general engineering to desired major process, and the presenters were evasive. Under questioning, the presenter dropped this bombshell: Even if a student has over a 3.2 GPA they still might not get their desired major due to limited availability. One of the parents of an admitted student was a professor at UT Austinâs engineering school, and he was incredulous, âWhy would any student come to Purdue if they could meet the grade requirements and still not get their desired major?â. The man had a point.
In my sonâs mind, this was the nail in the coffin for Purdue.
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Jack,
So, we have traded messages in the past. Our daughter has the same concerns. Obviously, this is disappointing to hear at this juncture. We are planning a trip up in a couple weeks for a 2nd visit and I want to let my daughter go thru the motions so she understands the full extent of how this might affect her outcome at Purdue. It will be costly short trip, but I think worth it.
She is direct admit at Mines (MechE), CU Boulder (Aero) and others including our in-state UF. We are just going to have to play this out.
Where is your son leaning (top 3?) at this point.
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The FYE (first year engineering) program does an excellent job of introducing every major available in the College of Engineering. I have a current sophomore who became very interested in Nuclear as a result., Youâd be surprised at how many apply for something completely different that what they originally wanted. He was able to apply for AAE first choice and Nuclear second. He did get his first choice of major, and ultimately decided to do nuclear as a minor, if your son is sure he is only interested in one thing then he should look at the other schools, as they are all excellent choices, however, if he ends up going to Purdue, trust the process, he may be surprised what he discovers, maybe he does what he originally wanted however, maybe there is something else? Good luck to you guys!
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The top schools are almost always better off having a direct to major approach. High achieving kids are going to have options and it will be rare for someone to pick an uncertain path to major school over a comparable school but with direct admit to major.
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Balance,
Of the five schools that had already accepted my son, J, he only attended admitted students events at Purdue and Case Western. Before the visits he was leaning toward Case because 1. they admit directly into the studentâs chosen major, 2. they donât lock students into majors until late sophomore year, and he might be interested in other fields like BioChem, 3. they facilitate and encourage double majors or minors, 4. he liked the size of the school, the campus and surrounding neighborhood in Cleveland, and 5. he liked the collaborative culture there. Now that Purdue is out of the running, it looks like he is headed to Case.
He has not yet heard from UofM (he was postponed EA) and Carnegie-Mellon (notifications expected April 1). He would not go to UofM if accepted (heresy, since we live in MI, but he hated the separate engineering campus and the vibe there), and the probability of CMU accepting him is in the low single digits. Even if CMU accepted him, he probably would still lean toward Case, but we would make a trip to Pittsburgh before making the final decision.
He was also accepted at Rose-Hulman, but sadly, he was turned off by itâs remote location outside Terre Haute, IN. My wife and I thought it would be great for him because of the focus on undergraduate teaching, small classes, strong graduate outcomes, and outstanding faculty, but it is not our choice. We do not mind that he will likely choose a top 30 MechE program when he was accepted at the #8 school - the fit is more important.
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kidande,
There is much to love about Purdue - highly ranked program, great campus, strong outcomes, alumni who sing its praises, huge alumni network, etc. - but we canât get past the fact that he could do well, make the grade cutoff and still not get his choice of major. What if he busts his tail and earns a 3.3, but still doesnât get into MechE? (Or ChemE, or AeroE - as you say, he may change his mind.) Does he transfer? Does he take whatever major has open slots, even if he is not interested in the field? Itâs a deal breaker for him.
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My DS got direct admit to UT Austin for Mechanical Engineering and FYE at Purdue. Heâs accepted Purdueâs offer because he felt their COE was a better fit. After going to an on-campus engineering session led by current students last month, every student said they got their first choice major and everyone they knew for their first choice major. They weâre very adamant that in their experience itâs not a competition, and if you have the 3.2 youâd get your first choice. It just doesnât seem like a huge risk so long as you maintain that 3.2. I would think that if lots of students didnât get their first choice, then the school would have a negative reputation, which it does not.
My only comment is that Purdue is not going to bring out students who didnât get their major to an info session trying to convince admitted students. If they canât share official stats on what % did not get their intended major then it leaves it open to interpretation.
FWIW my D only knew one person who didnât get their first choice major (BME). And she ended up doing mech e with a bioengineering concentration. Sheâs thrilled with her job outcome.
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That is another demerit for Purdue - they were evasive about the process and past statistics. If they had been forthcoming and provided stats by major that might have put our minds at ease. This is not an issue for students who want a less popular major, like CivE (I mean no disrespect, prospective bridge designers who we desperately need with our crumbling infrastructure), but it is for the high-demand majors like MechE or AeroE. If 93% of all engineering students get their desired major that might mean 100% of CivE students get what they want, but only 87% of MechE students get their top choice. We donât know, because Purdue is being evasive.
I donât think they are being evasive. They do have a guaranteed admit to first choice major, regardless of space availability, if you qualify. Itâs explained very clearly here.
Students who want the guarantee know ahead of time what the expectations are.
Does anyone know what the average GPA for a FYE student is?
Never mind, I see it was already answered.
Looks like we are in similar boat too. S22 accepted direct admit to aero at CU Boulder, UMD, UIUC, and Purdue FYE. We are still waiting on UMich, UCB, and Stanford (longest of shots). My S22 did summer programs at both Purdue and UIUC. He really did enjoy Purdue, and he also really enjoyed UIUC. We have not attended an admitted students day for either, but has one scheduled for UIUC in two weeks.
Just got back from Admitted students day. S2 and I went there with relatively low expectations, as a OOS CompE hopeful. We were blown away, basically. After a couple of sluggish preliminary, generalized presentations, it got real good, real fast once we went into the ENG specific presentations. Very impressed with the effort and flavor of the university, even if it was was cold and snowy.
S2 went from mildly interested to extremely interested in attending.
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cali, Everyone knew about the enrollment management policy you attached. My point is that in the information meeting they admitted that even students who took the required classes and made the 3.2 GPA cutoff might still be denied their desired major due to availability issues, especially for popular majors like MechE and AeroE.
And yes, they were evasive on my calls to the school and in the information session. When you ask âHow many students who have MechE as their first choice donât get it?â and the answer is âOverall, for all majors, over 90% of students get their desired major.â, that is being evasive.
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I am impressed your son is shooting for the likes of Stanford and UCB along with Michigan. I wish him good luck. My daughter contemplated applying to Michigan (Great school, of course) but her research left her feeling the best she might do is get accepted but with no merit. As an OOS, UM (COA = 280K for 4 years) is just way too expensive especially when we are Florida residents and she can go to UF for free (tuition). So, she focused on schools she thought were good for her and where she felt she could get merit. As such, she has merit to all that we listed and others bringing the 4 year COA to no more than approx 160K total or less. I can not justify any of these OOS schools over UF on academics alone, but I am open to her pushing herself out of her comfort zone for the growth experience and that can be worth it.
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3000+ first year engineer students, and campus-wide over-enrollment challenges, seems to put Purdue in Yogiâs âNobody goes there anymore. Itâs too crowded.â category.
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