Your Guide to Applying
What does it take to be admitted to Purdue University? Applications for West Lafayette and Indianapolis are reviewed individually and holistically with these two questions in mind:
- Are you a competitive candidate in the context of the overall pool of applicants for the program based on available space?
- Are you academically prepared to succeed in your desired major or program?
Submit your application with confidence. Follow our guidance below to ensure your application is complete, while also letting us get to know your authentic self and why you’d like to pursue your degree at Purdue.
Complete Your Application
First-year college students use Common App to apply to Purdue.
For most first-year students, a complete application includes:
- The application itself (including an essay)
- Answers to Purdue-specific questions on the application
- Self-reported high school grades
- Self-reported ACT or SAT scores
- The application fee (or qualified fee waiver)
Selecting a Location and Major
You will be prompted to select a primary location: Purdue University West Lafayette or Purdue University in Indianapolis, as well as your primary major. You will also have the option to select an alternate location and major on your application.
Not all majors are available at both locations, and you should select an alternate choice of major only if you are truly interested in that program. Changing majors or locations is never guaranteed.
SAT/ACT Scores
We accept SAT or ACT scores and have no preference on which test you take. For a given test, you may use your highest scores in each section from different testing dates when reporting your full score. If possible, you should take the SAT or ACT in the spring of your junior year in preparation for the Nov. 1 Early Action deadline that encompasses scholarship consideration. If after submitting your application for admission you have new scores not previously submitted, you may update or add a new test score in your Purdue Application Portal by selecting Test Scores from the Application menu.
School codes for Purdue: ACT – 1230; SAT – 1631.
Purdue expects applicants to have SAT or ACT scores. The optional ACT Science section is not required. Recognizing that in some exceptional cases applicants may not have been able to take a test, we allow submission of the application in those cases. In 2025, 85.1% of applicants submitted a test score; 97.9% of admitted students provided a test score.
International Applicants
International undergraduate applicants whose native language is not English will be evaluated for English language proficiency during the application review process. The most common and preferred way for applicants to provide evidence of their English proficiency is through an English proficiency exam.
International undergraduate applicants or applicants with an international high school curriculum may be required to submit additional documents to complete the admission application, depending on the applicant’s country of origin.
Application Essay Guide
Your application will include both a Common App essay and response to Purdue’s required questions.
A college application essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. It’s also an opportunity to share your story, telling us how you got to where you are today, what you like to do and where you want to go. Consider what you most want us to know and how to fit it into your application, without duplicating information.
Purdue’s Online Writing Lab offers advice on writing essays for college applications.
Required minimum-maximum word count: 250-650
- Some students have a background, identity, interest or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
- The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
- Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
- Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
- Discuss an accomplishment, event or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
- Describe a topic, idea or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
- Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt or one of your own design.
Respond in 250 words or fewer to these required questions.
- How will opportunities at Purdue support your interests, both in and out of the classroom?
- Briefly discuss your reasons for choosing your major and your interest in studying at this campus location (Indianapolis or West Lafayette).
Common App’s guide for first-year students offers more tips and best practices to give you the best chance at success.
Make the Deadline
Be sure to submit a complete application by our Nov. 1 Early Action deadline to receive full consideration for admission, merit-based scholarships and the John Martinson Honors College.