Rising high school senior with hopes of being accepted into the first year engineering program at purdue. Here are my stats:
in-state
3.3-3.4 unweighted GPA (rose from a 2.7 after freshman year)
1850 SAT (math-680)
30 ACT (math-30) (science-31)
APs: lang, lit, bio, psych, chem (self studied since school does not offer), physics, macro, calc ab. Several other dual creds.
Sports:
1 year of football (dressed varsity)
1 year of wrestling (varsity)
3 years of track (combo of jv/varsity over past 3 years)
Decided to give up football and wrestling due to concussion problems that left me out of school for nearly a month, ultimately affecting my gpa.
Will be attending Purdue’s track camp next month.
School ECs:
Two years of PLTW (decided not to continue the last 2 years that involve Elec and Civ because I am primarily interested in Chem/Env)
We The People
Spanish club- 3 years
Chess club-2 years
3 years of intramurals (should I even put this on app?)
1 year of key club (kiwanis)
Out of school ECs:
Worked 2 summers in a lab that tests flamability and toxicity on a variety of materials. Gained a lot of real world experience and could get a very good letter of recommendation if it would be beneficial. (sparked interest in Chem Eng field)
Many hours of community service at a nature preservation center (decided to do this because of prior interest in Env Engr)
Volunteered at several recycling days (ditto^)
Help with middle schoolers at youth group.
Thanks for making it thus far. If there is anything that I should work on, or do in addition before app season, please let me know.
@ChiefMonger Since you helped answer my question on choosing AP European History over World, here you go 
Your ACT is pretty strong, and you have lots of AP’s plus several other dual credits as you have mentioned (it just depends what you got on the AP exams if you took them.) Your extracurriculars are also pretty good, especially track, Spanish Club, and Intramural athletics since you’ve been doing them for 3 years. It sounds like you also have a fair amount of work and volunteer experience, which is a plus as well. As a rising senior, there is not much that you can do to beef up your extracurriculars or work section on the application, but I don’t think you need to worry. I would say just keep up your grades (very important for senior year even though a lot of people don’t realize it), try to squeeze in some more volunteer hours if you can, and work on your college essay ASAP if you haven’t already. It’s always good to start sooner rather than later so you can revise, edit, and ask for suggestions from others. Hope this helped and good luck! I think you have a very good chance of getting in
@EkaterinaHN Thank you very much. I do plan on volunteering at an animal shelter and a homeless shelter this summer (in addition to current volunteering). This upcomming year I will have the same teacher for AP Lit that I had in AP lang and a pre-ap english class. I am hoping she will help me create a very strong essay. Thanks for your advice, and good luck with your self studying.
You’re a strong applicant with a good ACT. I would discuss the wrestling and football situation in your essays because I know how hard it probably was for you to have to give up those sports (I had to give up basketball). All those APs are going to look very impressive on your transcript. ECs are good, but can be a little bit better. With good essays and recommendations, I would consider you a low reach to high match. Good luck!
Chance me back?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1786084-chance-a-sophomore-with-a-weak-freshman-year-for-stanford-ivies-mit-etc.html#latest
I think you’re a strong applicant. Your out of school ECs stand out pretty well. Sports will definitely help you, as I know that a lot of the previous graduates of my school got into Purdue with GPAs of 3.2~3.6 and active involvement in Varsity sports. I really think you’re there.
Sounds like you should be a very strong applicant. Depending on your senior course load and your AP test scores, you’re probably a mid to low match. Your ECs are very strong and your GPA since freshman year is also in the upper range. Good luck!
You seem like a strong enough applicant for Purdue. If you’re very interested in the program, try early decision or early action. That will dramatically improve your chances. Seeing as colleges prefer well rounded students, you should reference football in the essays, and talk about how it built character. Also reference how you gave it up because for academic reasons. It shows where your priorities are.
Hope I could help!
From the Purdue website…
Middle 50% high school GPA range: 3.5-4.0
Middle 50% SAT range: 1630-1940
Middle 50% ACT composite range: 25-30
Middle 50% ACT English/Writing range: 23-29
Students in top 10% of high school class: 42%
Students in top 25% of high school class: 78%
So your GPA is a little bit below the middle 50%, but otherwise your SAT and ACT look good. Your extracurriculars seem fine for this school. Good luck!
@pineapple86 Thank you. I am hoping they will notice my upward trend in GPA. As for testing, I plan on taking the SAT and ACT this fall, and hopefully still be able to apply EA.
You definitely have a solid EC basis. Your SAT and ACT are on-point. I think the only thing you need to work up is your GPA, but with those AP classes lined up, that should not be a problem! Other than that, you got almost everything you need!
Quick question: How did you find a lab to work in because I’m interested in biomedical engineering and wanted to get some hands-on experience for next summer.
I think you’re pretty much set for Purdue. Solid Ec’s and test scores, but the only thing holding you back is your GPA. I think you’ll get in. Good luck!
@jyang2136 My grandpa owns the lab and several of my family members are employed there. If it wasn’t for that, I do not think I would be able to work there due to the many goverment standards. With that being said, I would look for job/volunteer oppotunities at a hospital or even an orthopedic clinic. You would get valuable work experience, and would have a major related EC. Best of luck.
@agc1998 Thank you. Do you think it would be better to apply as early as possible with my current test scores, or take both, the SAT and ACT, in October? This would likely improve my test scores, given that I did nothing to prepare for the past tests, but I would be applying later in the application cycle(still early action though).
Try to improve your GPA. That is your weakness. Forget about your SAT score. Your ACT is much better.
You’ve got a nice application. Don’t send in your SATs send in your ACTs. If you can, improve your GPA a bit(only weakness I see, did you use 4-3-2-1 scale?), otherwise it’s all good. I think you have a good shot, but it would be a guarantee if you EDed. The ECs are great. Lots of experience. What might’ve helped is something like Science Olympiad.