Undergraduate Admissions:
Admission to Purdue University for undergraduate study in Engineering is handled by the Office of Admissions. First-year students enter the First-Year Engineering Program, through which students complete basic coursework (usually two semesters). Acceptance into one of the professional Schools of Engineering is handled by each School independently after the first year.
Admissions Criteria
Your admission as a new student into the Schools of Engineering at Purdue is determined by a combination of rank in class, test scores, probability of success, grade average in college preparatory subjects, grades in courses related to the degree objective, trends in achievement, completion of high school subject matter requirements, the strength of the college preparatory program, and information provided by your high school counselor. All applicants who have not completed a full year of college work are required to take the SAT-I or the ACT. Students are encouraged to take either the SAT-I or the ACT in the spring of their junior year of high school. Students who attend a nonaccredited high school or who are home-schooled are strongly encouraged to take SAT II tests in English, math, and a lab science.
Recommended Preparation
It is highly recommended that while in high school you take the maximum amount of college preparatory mathematics, laboratory sciences, and English offered. If choices are possible, those courses highly dependent upon knowledge and reasoning should take precedence over courses in which the emphasis is on manual skill. Applicants to the Schools of Engineering are expected to have the following high school subjects:
| Subjects | Number of semesters |
|---|---|
| Algebra (including college algebra) | 4 |
| Geometry | 2 |
| Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus/Calculus | 2 |
| Physics | 2 |
| Biology | 2 |
| Chemistry | 2 |
| Computer skills | 2 |
| English | 8 |
| Foreign Language | 4 |
| Additional mathematics, foreign language, lab science, or social studies | 4 |
A student who has not completed the expected preparation will usually require more than four years to complete the requirements for the bachelor's degree.
For more information
Any questions about admission should be referred to the Purdue University Office of Admissions.