2012-13 Edition Profile: Purdue University Educated Quest.com Background 1 Introduction to Purdue Background About Purdue Founded in 1869 as Indiana’s Land Grant university, Purdue University is named for John Purdue, a business leader who gave $150,000 to help start the school. The county government kicked in another $50,000 and local citizens donated 100 acres of land. The Indiana legislature, in turn, named the school Pur- Fast Facts due University, in honor of its primary benefactor. In 1874, Pur- due University conducted its first classes with six instructors 1. Purdue was founded in 1869 as Indiana’s Land and 35 students. Grant University. In 1874, Purdue University Today, Purdue has more than 31,000 undergraduates enrolled conducted its first classes with six instructors in over 200 majors.Purdue has also been a member of the Asso- and 35 students. ciation of American Universities, a select group of leading re- search universities, since 1958. Purdue is also a Sea Grant and 2. Today, Purdue has more than 31,000 Space Grant school, attracting Federal funds for research and undergraduates enrolled in over 200 majors. It science education. can be considered the leading STEM school in Purdue can be considered the STEM school in the Big Ten; the Big Ten; nearly 40 percent of all graduates nearly 40 percent of all graduates earn a degree in science, earn a degree in science, technology, engineering technology, engineering or mathematics. Approximately 8,600 or mathematics. undergraduate and graduate students come from outside the 3. Purdue is known as the Cradle of Astronauts as United States, second (to Illinois) among public universities and fourth overall. Purdue also has one of the largest alumni bases well as the Cradle of Quarterbacks. in the country, with more than 475,000 graduates. Known as 2 the “Cradle of Astronauts.” twenty three Purdue alumni have to a national championship as a player in 1932. His letter jacket participated in America’s space program including Neil Arm- can be seen in the lobby at Mackey Arena. strong, the first man to walk on the Moon and Eugene Cernan, Although Purdue offers highly-ranked agriculture, science and the last man to do so. Virgil “Gus” Grissom, one of the original engineering programs, as well as a strong quantitatively- seven Mercury astronauts, is also a Purdue alum. He and fel- focused business school, it is not the most selective university low alumnus, Roger Chafee, both perished on the ill-fated in the Big Ten. Nearly 31,000 people applied for approximately Apollo One mission. The university is also a springboard for 6,300 spots in the class of 2016; nearly 19,000 or 61 percent, aviators. More than 600 students pursue degree in aviation got in. Although Purdue is a university noted for math and sci- management, aeronautical engineering technology and profes- ence, 40 percent of the entering freshmen scored below 600 on sional flight technology. The first university to operate its own the Math section of their SAT, among the students who submit- airport, Purdue employed famed aviator Amelia Earhart as a ted rests from the test. However, Purdue has shown steady im- counselor for female students. Her "Flying Laboratory" at the provement in freshmen retention--the class than entered in university: a Lockheed Electra twin-engined airliner. Purdue’s 2010 surpassed 90 percent--and graduation rates over the past Research Foundation funded the upgrades Earhart needed to 12 years. Most recently, 70 percent of the class that entered in make to fly the plane around the world. 2006 completed their degree within six years, very good consid- In addition to its contributions to aerospace and aviation, Pur- ering the academic choices made by the students. due has produced three Nobel Prize winners in Physics as well Purdue appears to be less about selectivity, but more about stu- as three in Chemistry. Alumni have also risen to the top in busi- dent success and preparation for a life’s work. Purdue provides ness and politics as well as science. Popcorn personality Orville more preparation than most other public universities do. Redenbacher is a Purdue alumnus as is former U.S. Senator Birch Bayh, among many others. Purdue is also known as the “Cradle of Quarterbacks.” Three, Len Dawson, Bob Griese and Drew Brees, have led teams to Super Bowl victories. Only Ala- bama (Bart Starr, Joe Namath and Ken Stabler) has equalled Purdue’s success. John Wooden, the most successful coach in men’s college basketball history at UCLA, led the Boilermakers 3 Competition What does it take to get in? Who decides to go? What other schools do 2 applicants consider? Competition What It Takes to Get In It is not exceptionally difficult to gain admission to Purdue, unless you want to study engineering, nursing or pharmacy. Nearly 19,000 of ap- proximately 31,000 students who applied to the Class of 2016 were ac- cepted. The university wait listed approximately 1,400 more, though only 165 were later admitted. The freshman class had approximately 6,300 students; slightly less than a third of those admitted decided to come. Among those who did, nearly 30 percent were enrolled in the College of Fast Facts Engineering. The middle 50 percent of the entering class scored between 1060 and 1. Nearly 19,000 of approximately 31,000 students 1300 (out of 1600) on the Critical Reading and Math sections of the SAT. The median ACT score, for those who reported scores from that test, who applied to the Class of 2016 were accepted. was a 24, equal to a median of 1110 on the Critical Reading and Math 2. The middle 50 percent of the entering class sections of the SAT. Outside of engineering, nursing and pharmacy, Pur- due is a school for the very good as well as the excellent student. The scored between 1060 and 1300 (out of 1600) on more competitive majors require excellence. the Critical Reading and Math sections of the SAT. The SAT range for the engineering students was between 1160 and 1360 while their ACT range, between 27 and 32, equates to an SAT 3. However, the SAT range for the engineering range between 1220 and 1420. Engineers make up a little more than a fifth of a freshman class. The nursing program is selective because it is students was between 1160 and 1360 while their also very small; only 90 undergraduates are enrolled. The pharmacy pro- ACT range, between 27 and 32, equates to an SAT gram is also small, though it offers undergraduates a choice between the range between 1220 and 1420. six-year PharmD program and the four-year program in Pharmaceutical Sciences. Admission to the business and science programs is also com- petitive. 5 About 60 percent of every entering class comes from Indiana; it’s quite Purdue students who come from the Hoosier State have other options it possible that standards for out-of-state students to get into the engineer- they want to study engineering. Butler University, Rose-Hulman Institute ing programs are higher because of the competition for available spaces. of Technology, the University of Notre Dame and Trine University all offer the degree. Butler also offers a pharmacy degree. Outside of these The application process is straightforward. In addition to transcripts and fields, Ball State and Indiana University-Bloomington and Indiana- test scores, all students must complete an essay. Letters of recommenda- Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) are popular options. Students tion are optional; two are optimal Students apply directly into the college from outside the state shop Purdue against other Big Ten universities, of their choice. Any student considering Purdue should know that there is most often the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Indiana considerable overlap between degree programs. For instance, a student University-Bloomington, Ohio State and Penn State. interested in computer science has options within the College of Engi- neering, the College of Science, the College of Technology and the Kran- Residents and non-residents alike choose Purdue for three reasons says nert School of Management. A student interested in business has op- Megan Dorton: academics and the variety of majors. “The students know tions in the College of Agriculture, the College of Health and Human Sci- their degree is going to be worth something,” she adds. ences as well as in Krannert. Each degree program within each school has a Plan of Study page. Next year, Purdue will move from their own application process online to the Common Application. In some ways this will make it easier for more Purdue does not require applicants to indicate a second choice of major students to apply. Butler and Notre Dame also participate as do Big Ten within a second-choice college. However, applicants are encouraged to members Michigan, Northwestern and Ohio State. Indiana liberal arts col- contact the admissions office if they learn that they might not, for exam- leges that use the Common Application include DePauw, Earlham, Hano- ple, qualify for admission to engineering, nursing or pre-pharmacy, to see ver, St. Mary’s and Wabash. if they qualify elsewhere. The problem with taking a second choice in this situation is that you must live with the second choice. At Purdue, as in Purdue does not use Early Decision or Early Action, however it is advis- other large universities, engineering, nursing and pharmacy programs able to apply early to receive the most consideration for merit-based aid. have prerequisite courses unique to their college. The degree program The deadline for the first early notification period is October 15th; stu- goes in lock step; future courses build upon these prerequisites.