Depending on the student, it’s not meaningless. Rankings are of limited utility. For the vast majority of applicants who are offered a spot at another campus, it’s not going to be their best option. But for some students, it’s a great plan B. I even know some students for whom those campuses are their plan A.
One of my kid’s friends is thrilled she got into Purdue Ft Wayne, and will likely attend due to their strength in her program. She is an excellent student and will have far more prestigious admits. It’s highly dependent on the individual.
I won’t be surprised if my younger child attends at one of the regional Purdue campuses, and lots of people are rightfully enthusiastic to attend there. He may even apply to them directly. But it’s not generally ideal for OOS/international applicants who have applied to the main campus.
Aero is one of the most popular engineering majors at Purdue and it closes out regularly. As much as I love Purdue, CODO is very very risky if your student is set of aero. Hopefully they will have other options.
Confused - you were rejected for two majors but offered exploratory studies?
In general, and it’s easier said than done, it’s best not to fall in love with a school, no matter how wonderful that school would be. Obviously that ship has sailed
If she was to study aerospace engineering, there’s many an easier admit out there, with great merit, and would likely result in a similar outcome. Think schools like UAH and Florida Tech (surrounded by aero companies) as just two examples.
You can also get to aero from a mech E major which is what my son is doing. He’s a Senior at Alabama and his 5 offers would be considered outstanding, even at a top school like Purdue.
My advice - find a school that will let you study what you want - and not a school that you have to struggle your way into.
Purdue is wonderful - but it’s not the only fine school out there. There are schools out there that will love you and likely shower you with money - and that’s who you should love back.
She is exploring the thought of a reconsideration request as ES… she’s so much smarter than I with this process/major and patience. She’s received other acceptance already and still applying to other schools since receiving her rejection.
I believe she will continue to apply to other prestigious schools with her desired major. She’s so amazing and bright I know this is going to work out for her! (Purdue was also my first choice because it’s the closest in proximity from her other choices.)
Can’t agree more with this!!! Mechanical engineers get aero jobs. Aero major is most definitely not the only way to that industry. Know a multigenerational Purdue family whose student got declined. He chose another engineering program somewhere else and never looked back. There are a ton of people who got a yes yesterday for whom the finances will end up not working out. It’s not fair, it hurts but you can be your great self on a path you hadn’t until now considered.
If requesting a reconsideration for exploratory, make sure your student puts serious thought into being able to explain/make the case to Purdue. Asking for exploratory just because is not going to move them. Pointing out that there are a host of majors that would support your interest in field X AND your passion for what Purdue offers (be specific in how you would leverage exploratory) is the only way to have a chance at reconsideration. Good luck to your student.
Agree that rankings don’t mean much. I only meant if you are OOS (like me), there are better options among state schools that give you a traditional experience. My point is it’s not worth it to move out of state for alternate campuses., especially if you have similar options in your state. Even in Indiana, IU is better ranked than the regional campuses.
Like I said in my other comment:
"From what I understand, alternate campuses are very small and not affiliated with main school and no more prestigious than any state school. Especially for OOS applicants, it doesn’t make sense at all to go to alternate small campuses. It seems harder to transfer also.
It’s only worth it if you are in-state and live close by and want Purdue degree at any cost."
But why would a top 10 engineering school need to yield protect? CS in particular is just over-run with applications. Last year in state yield was about 62%, which is ivy level. OOS was about 29%. For a school without ED, these are very high numbers, far surpassing UC Berkeley. Columbia and Cornell both accept half their classes binding ED, and have yields in the 60%s. No one talks about Columbia yield protecting them when they don’t get in.
Unfortunately there are just not enough spaces in these top programs for all the qualified applicants, and many who would excel can’t be admitted. I understand the desire to minimize the hurt for students not accepted but it is also hurtful for students who do have an acceptance to read comments insinuating they were accepted because Purdue figured they had no place better to go.
The students I know accepted are among the very very top of their schools.
Yes, it is much more nuanced than “That’s meaningless”. And IU is not a safety admit either. For in-state students, the regional campuses are excellent options. That’s the main reason they exist, not just for wanting the Purdue degree at any cost. They are of limited utility for OOS applicants. But it sounds like we mostly agree on all this anyway…
Purdue admissions staff has conceded this point when I’ve asked them directly about high stats. They have a lot of high stat students who also apply to Illinois and Michigan among Midwest applicants, which until recently was the bulk of their pool and student population aside from a few large states. They absolutely consider applications full of high stats and extracurriculars but no real mention of why Purdue is the place for them to have a whiff of “safety school” around them. it may just be a poorly constructed application, it may be a numbers game (we took this 36 ACT Eagle Scout, not any of the other 10) or just bad luck. i in no way minimize the achievement of those who got in. Yield matters to the Board of Trustees and to their tuition “revenue” target in this era of frozen tuition.
I think some people are forgetting that a college with competitive admissions builds an incoming class with the goal of achieving a balanced profile. The profile consists of many factors including intended major, geography, school’s established reputation as a feeder to Purdue, etc. What we are likely seeing is an overflow of kids within a targeted profile “bucket”. The AO’s job is to figure out who within that bucket is most likely to go to Purdue and who is the best fit for the class profile. We see this all of the time in the SF Bay Area. There are a relatively small number of highly competitive private high schools whose students tend to apply to the same colleges. Many of these kids are uber-qualified based on stats, EC’s, etc, but they often get lumped into the same bucket and are competing with each other.
The argument that a high-stats kid is going to be automatically deferred is baloney. It just means someone else in that bucket was deemed as a better fit.
Not arguing high stats = deferred. Your argument is on point re the overflowing bucket, but there are absolutely people who expect their stats to carry the day and admissions try to tease out who isn’t really thinking of Purdue aside from collecting acceptances. You should see the anger on the accepted students pages regarding merit—especially when kids with lower numbers get Trustee and Presidential scholarships. The sense of entitlement sometimes seeps into high stat applications.
That would presumably come through primarily in the “why Purdue” essay. I don’t know that it can be attributed to yield protection, as the term is typically defined. But if AOs aren’t thrilled with the answers to the Purdue-specific essay(s), that might make a difference to one applicant’s success, given another applicant with answers they like better. That’s typical of all colleges that practice holistic admissions.
There are other schools that pretty obviously yield protect, but Purdue has historically not been one of them. However, I’m not denying it’s possible currently or in the future. Once you get to the low OOS admissions rates that we see in majors like CS, things can get wonky with surprise rejections. Which is a huge bummer indeed for those students, and can be worth a follow-up with admissions for truly shocking decisions.
Sorry - unless she has acceptances into aero or mechanical already, forget the word prestigious or you will end up in a bad situation. This is engineering. You need an ABET school and that’s it. Look up engineers at companies like General Dynamics, Collins, Boeing and more. You’ll have Purdue but also W Michigan WVU, Lamar and more.
You need an affordable opportunity and to be a go getter.
While I didn’t agree at the time my son chose Bama over Purdue with merit for engineering.
While I don’t know how Purdue 23 grads will do he’s certainly exceeded ‘22.
Get prestige out of the lexicon. Find a great aero school like UAH, ERAU, Florida Tech, Arizona, Auburn, Iowa State, Missouri Science &Tech, RPI, Wichita State.
She’ll likely have similar outcomes. It’s about the kid and not the school. And I can tell from my sons recent experience - pay is by location not by where you graduated.
She needs a strong education. It’s available a lot of places. For engineering the word prestige, short of a handful of schools, matters little. Exploratory Studies will not likely end up a Purdue engineer.
If she has an admit you can afford already then great. But if not it’s time to face reality and move to plan B.
Yes. I would never want to blame an applicant in what can really be an arbitrary process (overflowing buckets!!) but I know exactly what you are talking about with the entitlement, or even just a sense of an applicant not submitting highly crafted essays, because of a perceived more likely admission.
Hopefully everyone is paying attention for next year, because who knows what THAT will look like!
You are very correct. My son just got in, did not have the best grades or SAT scores but is well-rounded and wrote a kickass essay! Congrats to the other parents celebrating today!!
Thank you for your advice. Affordability isn’t a factor at this time. She simply wants to pursue an educational journey focused in aerospace engineering. When removing the financial “need” if any, she is quite invested in choosing the institution(s) she would like to attend based on program offerings, location, opportunities etc.
She’s definitely a go-getter and determined to attend at the university that fits her best all around. Purdue was her first choice not just based on how high it’s ranked, but also how close it’s located to her family.
The kid in this situation, is well rounded and ranks high in her class based on grades, EC’s, scores and community involvement. She has been accepted in aero with other schools, Purdue was just her top choice. We shall continue this journey with other university options.
According to the data on Purdues website the discrepancy isnt quite that large. Still, for my son who is not an engineering major, it game him confidence to apply.
I just wanted to say thanks to those of you that reached out to me regarding my son’s Purdue deferral. It’s obvious he’s one of many applicants you’d think would have been accepted and were not. I’m sure there is a college out there for him and will be happy to accept him. The college acceptance process is not always easy and doesn’t always seem fair, but that’s life. It’s time to move on and find another school for my son who worked so hard. Wishing everyone the best for their child.
