Purdue undecided vs. IU CS

Hello everyone,
We live in Indiana and my son is a junior in high school. He has decent grades and a decent SAT, as well as way above average extracurriculars, and I’m pretty sure he will have no problems getting into Purdue.

However, I"m only 50/50 on whether he will get into CS at Purdue. He focused way too much on very challenging extracurriculars and his grades dropped in 11th grade. He didn’t get any C’s or anything like that, but way too many Bs. Also, his English SAT isn’t where it could be and he refused to try again, he says he’s fine with what he got, and it’s just OK. 750 Math but only 680 English. I think he has a better chance to get into CS at IU (or elsewhere).

I wonder, from what people know, if he gets into Purdue but not CS, and gets into CS elsewhere, a lower ranked school, for example IU, what should he do? Should he go to Purdue and try to codo into CS in his sophomore year, or just go to say IU directly into the CS major? I worry that he won’t study enough to codo into Purdue CS, by the way things are going, but of course he could change by the time he gets into college.

I’m just wondering what would be best.

CS is so impacted that Purdue is no longer guaranteeing CODO, regardless of GPA.

IMO, if your son is set on CS, go where he is admitted into his major.

Op a 1440 sat is not ok. It’s fantastic. Superlative in the big picture. A 1440 means only 70000 students out of the 2.1mm test takers in the entire world scored the same or higher than your son in 2018.

Try for both. If cs at iu or Purdue comes through either would be spectacular. If you don’t mind traveling look at the university of Massachusetts at Amherst. Cs and ai is better than Purdue to me and perhaps he could get in too.

Give him a little credit too. They’ll remember this long after college comes and goes.

He should try for whatever schools interest him (as long as he has a mix of reaches, matches, and likely schools), but when it comes time to choose among acceptances, I would go for a direct-admit into CS over taking a chance in a general course of studies.

Has he looked at Rose Hulman or MSOE? IIT too.

Obviously apply to both. Apply EA. If he were not accepted to Purdue CS then study CS where he is accepted.

He should retake the 1430 SAT (750 Math & 680 English) if aiming for a major as competitive as CS.

Thanks everyone! I think you are all right . We will see where he gets into CS and will go there.

I also think that but he refuses and I don’t think the score is desperately bad and he will get into CS somewhere, if Purdue doesn’t take him. It’s just that we live in West Lafayette and I’m a professor there so I’d prefer Purdue as the most cost effective well ranked option.

Thanks for the encouragement. I sometimes think I’m exaggerating with the high standards . I just know he has the ability to do more but he chooses to focus on extracurricular activities that excite him and I worry about not reaching his potential.

He scored maximum in math in psat , I know he could score higher in SAT and get straight As if he wanted to.

But I think he will be ok .

I found that bribery works wonders. I would consider offering him a reward for taking practice tests from a study book and retaking the SAT or taking the ACT. His score is good, but with his talent for math why not see if he can do even better and increase his odds of acceptance. The “investment” could be worth it.

Take direct admit to CS.
He must apply to a lot of schools - CS has become so competitive that all bets are off, so make sure he as safeties he likes (and IU is not a safety for CS, more a match.)

Any advice on how we can find out what schools would be safety schools? A quick internet search didn’t immediately provide statistics for the gpa and sat scores of admitted freshmen in CS at IU. I’m thinking maybe IUPUI would be a safety school but could only find stats in general admission.

Valparaiso ? Iowa State ?

What do people think of this scenario. Going to Purdue undecided , trying to coco and at the same time apply for transfer to CS elsewhere ?

Codo not coco

If you are faculty at Purdue, you know the CODO situation. That’s a really bad plan.

Dayton, Valpo, Bradley, Iowa State, Alabama might be safeties.

Condo won’t happen. Bad plan.
Direct admission is the only way to go.

Being faculty at Purdue doesn’t give me any insight into anything. I just teach my classes and do my research and I’m not involved in admissions, transfers, codo etc… So it’s impossible to CODO as I understand.

Yes, it’s impossible to CODO to CS or engineering.

So even if your child went to Purdue for a year for free, you would likely still be paying for 4 years somewhere else.

Do Purdue employees get IUPUI tuition for free?

U of Cincinnati offers instate tuition to IN students who live in select counties. Tippecanoe does not but Boone does.