You do know you’ll be waiting until Jan 15th for a decision from Purdue, right? There’s no rolling admission for EA.
1 Like
Correct Jan 15th as clearly posted online, and yes Purdue is the “safety school” for a number of different “non-engineering” school reasons.
My son applied early action:
- Nuclear Engineering major
- 3.87 GPA unweighted; school doesn’t weigh GPA or do class rank but all his classes since freshman year have been Honors or AP if available so we are hoping he shows solid rigor in his selections
- ACT 35
- Played volleyball (club and HS), was a TA for the AP chem class, held a part time job all four years, environmental club, NHS, karate black belt, but a little light in leadership roles.
Fingers crossed – Purdue is tied for his first choice. The waiting is the worst.
7 Likes
Parents do your due diligence on jimdlt1. Sounds like an internet ■■■■■.
I have a son at Purdue. Loves it. High scores. High GPA. Enjoys college life and the hard work. It will pay off for him.
2 Likes
Good safety schools. Congrats.
1 Like
Purdue is my son’s top choice by a long shot because he wants to be an AE propulsion engineer and no one else has anything to compare to the Zucrow lab. He put his all into his “why purdue” statements. Crossing all fingers and toes but worried about GPA. We lost his dad in an accident and it affected his grades (Cs in Calc 1 & Calc 2), but he wrote a paragraph explaining and his grades senior yr are all As so far. Hoping they read the extra statement and take his trauma into account. He also wants Honors college badly as his siblings have all been in honors programs in other colleges. Also applied Ga Tech, Maryland, UMich, and UNC Charlotte.
OOS, very rural
3.8 UW/4.4 W, 7/76
Dual Enrolled with Assoc in Engineering Degree with Calc 1, 2 & 3, Linear Algebra, Calc-based Physics 1 & 2
Civil Air Patrol C/Msgt with various leadership roles including Aerospace Ed Officer
Hunter safety team with district & state team & individual wins
35 ACT composite
Condolences on your loss 
Be sure that your son’s guidance counselor sent in first quarter grades to admissions. A’s in Calc 3, LA and Physics should help.
A word of caution about honors college - it’s gotten extremely competitive and Purdue has a different set up than some other schools in that all of the Purdue colleges get proportional representation/seats in Honors. That makes it more competitive for CS and Engineering students. If he isn’t admitted to Honors, I’d strongly suggest looking at the other living learning communities.
3 Likes
Thank you, unfortunately he is dual enrolled so he won’t have any grades until mid-December. His counselor will send a report once the semester is over though. He knows admission isn’t guaranteed, much less honors. Would just be his dream for Purdue Honors acceptance.
1 Like
That’s still a month ahead of decisions so hopefully the grades will still be considered. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for your son!
1 Like
I am sorry for your loss. In addition to what momofboiler1 has said, let me just add that, should he not get into Purdue, keep trying! Purdue does see a lot of drops. It is a rigorous university, which can be discouraging for some, and others never find their place in its huge system. It is unfortunate, but the bright side is that means opportunities for those who want to transfer in. So, if your son can spend a semester shoring up his grades elsewhere, he has a reasonable chance of Purdue accepting him for a spring or summer start later. My daughter is in the honors college. It is a great program, but Purdue has lots of opportunities available even for those not part of honors. the Data Mine is a popular one and is arguably a better career kick-starter than the honors program is. Also, one can apply to be in the honors program in subsequent years too (although you’re less likely to live in its prairie style architecture dorm as an upperclassman, you can still access its other benefits).
2 Likes
I’m sorry for your family’s loss. My son was admitted for engineering but didn’t apply to Purdue honors for a number of reasons (he applied and was accepted to honors at the other schools on his list).
He didn’t end up choosing to attend Purdue, but if he had, he was excited to be part of the EPICS cohort. They have an LLC (in an air-conditioned dorm!), a special version of the first-year engineering courses that is well-liked by the students, and some really neat projects. He doesn’t love coding so he was less interested in data mine. We do know a cybersecurity major who has enjoyed his time in the data mine. I hope your son is admitted and that he considers joining EPICS or data mine if honors doesn’t work out for him.
Also, has your son considered applying to U Alabama Huntsville? It’s got a wonderful aero program (NASA’s right there) and the admissions chances and $ are really favorable.
3 Likes
Thank you all so much, for your empathy and advice! If he gets in, he will definitely look at all the LLCs available.
Regarding U of Alabama, unfortunately they did not seem to have a propulsion concentration; NC State is the same way. Very few AE schools have propulsion concentrations for undergrad.
Regarding transfer later, with an Assoc of Engineering degree he will already be bringing in between 60 and 70 credit hours (each college differs a little in how many of his credits transfer), so transferring later is really not an option. But going somewhere else and ending up at Purdue for Masters or PhD definitely would be an option. His fallback, UNC Charlotte, has a great mech eng program focused on automotive propulsion with an existing mech e-applied physics degree that he would be happy in if that is where he ends up. So while Purdue is his dream, ending up at UNC Charlotte would absolutely not be the end of the world and he can always try for Purdue for grad school. His siblings went to small private colleges, excelled, and are now at top graduate programs. I know that there are many paths to his dreams…some are just a little longer than others 
4 Likes
Did you look at U Alabama (in Tuscaloosa) or U Alabama Hunstville? Huntsville has the stronger aero program and appears to offer a number of upper-division propulsion classes.
Purdue has a zillion “concentrations” in majors across campus. This isn’t limited to engineering. That’s just the way they do things there. However, other schools still offer those same options, but they’re not officially called concentrations. It doesn’t make a difference because the classes are all the same anyway. For example, there’s a ton of different flavors of biology degree offered. Another school might offer one biology degree, but you can still informally “concentrate” in any of those same flavors.
I don’t know anything about propulsion, so you’ll have to look into it. All this is to say: don’t be scared off by the lack of a formal propulsion concentration at any particular school. Take a close look at the curriculum and course offerings and that’s what will really tell you what you need to know (but maybe you’ve already done that). I am glad that he’s happy with UNC Charlotte, so it sounds like you are set for a safety (as long as it’s affordable). Crossing fingers for Purdue – come back and update us!
Thank you! He researched and talked to professors for a whole year to pick his top 5, but I will recommend he go back and take another look at U Alabama Huntsville.
2 Likes