Purdue

Admissions Overview

• Overall acceptance rate: 49% (Class of 2028, from 78,745 applicants)
• Fall 2025 projected: ~43% on ~87K applicants
• Early Action rate: ~54% vs Regular Decision ~46%
• No ED offered
• Testing policy: test-required (97% submit scores)

Academic Profile

• SAT middle 50%: 1210-1470
• ACT middle 50%: 27-34
• Average unweighted GPA: 3.76 (average SAT 1337 for Fall 2024)
• Top 10% of HS class: ~50%
• Freshman class size: ~11,000

Engineering Selectivity

• Engineering acceptance rate: 34.7% (SAT 1380-1520, GPA 3.89-4.00)
• Much more selective than university overall for engineering and CS

Yield

• Yield rate: 29.1% (Fall 2024, highest since Common App adoption; historically 25-27%)
• Unexpectedly high yield led to overcrowding, triggering more restrictive future admissions

Demographics (College Scorecard)

Net Cost by Income (College Scorecard)

Purdue froze tuition in 2012-13 and has maintained it since.

Athletics

• Division: NCAA Division I (Big Ten)
• Total athletes: 633 (374 men, 259 women)
• Sports: 18 varsity programs
• Athlete pct: ~1.4% of undergrads

Simulation Notes

• Category: flagship_public
• Test-required (unlike most peers) -- 97% submit standardized test scores
• Engineering is significantly more selective (35%) than overall (49%)
• Tuition freeze since 2012-13 makes Purdue very cost-competitive; net price for lowest income bracket is only $4,927
• In-state admission rate 71% vs out-of-state 39% -- strong in-state preference
• Large class size (11K) makes it one of the biggest freshman classes nationally

Community Insights (Reddit/Forums)

Admissions Strategy

• Strong in-state preference: 71% in-state acceptance rate vs 39% OOS — a 32-point gap. Purdue has explicitly stated its commitment to Indiana residents, and recent admissions data shows increasing focus on in-state applicants.
• Engineering is significantly more competitive: 34% acceptance rate (down from 46% in Fall 2024) on 35K applications (+20% YoY). College Confidential users describe Purdue engineering as "not for the faint of heart."
• Test-required is a differentiator: 97% of students submit scores, making Purdue one of the few large publics still requiring standardized tests. This self-selects the applicant pool.
• EA available (Nov 1): ~54% EA rate vs ~46% RD. Applying EA is recommended on forums.
• Over-enrollment crisis (2024): 29% yield (historically 25-27%) caused overcrowding, leading to more restrictive admissions for subsequent classes.

Campus Culture & Fit

• West Lafayette is a small college town — Purdue IS the town. Students describe a focused, engineering-centric culture.
• Strong "Boilermaker" identity with passionate sports fandom (especially basketball, "Mackey Arena is electric").
• Greek life is active. Social scene is present but secondary to academics for many students.
• Dining and campus facilities have been heavily invested in under the Mitch Daniels/current administration era.
• Collaborative academic culture, especially in engineering. Study groups and industry connections are emphasized.

Financial Aid Reputation

• Tuition freeze since 2012-13 is Purdue's signature value proposition. In-state tuition ($9,992) is among the lowest for any flagship. OOS tuition ($28,794) is also competitive.
• Net cost for low-income students ($4,927 for <$30K) is excellent.
• Forum consensus: Purdue offers the best value in the Big Ten for engineering, and the tuition freeze makes long-term cost planning reliable.

Simulation-Relevant Takeaways

• Model significant in-state preference (71% IS vs 39% OOS acceptance).
• Yield is volatile — 29% in 2024 caused problems; admissions is tightening to prevent recurrence. Model ~25-27% as steady-state.
• Engineering vs overall split (34% vs 49%) is important context but hard to model at university level.