Want to get a better sense of what Purdue is looking for?
You’ll find an extensive, by-the-numbers look at Purdue’s offerings, from enrollment and tuition statistics to student life and financial aid information, on its Common Data Set. For deep insights into how this public research university envisions its role and how it wants to grow and evolve, read its Foundations of Excellence Report (it’s 74 pages … yikes ... but you can skim). Reading through this will give you a strong idea of what Purdue values and how those values may be shifting.
BUT, please don’t just copy and paste chunks of the plan into your essay because a) that’s plagiarism and it's basically an academic crime, and b) anyone could do that.
Think about this: What aspects of Purdue’s plan speak to you? From reading the report, you would also discover that most students are admitted into one of Purdue’s highly individualized bachelor’s degree programs. So, if you have a clear sense on what you want to study and crave a strategic path to your future career, perhaps as an engineer, Purdue may be right for you! Think about what resonates with you and keep reading to find out how you can connect the dots.
What are the Purdue supplemental essay prompts?
Prompt #1
How will opportunities at Purdue support your interests, both in and out of the classroom? (250 words)
Prompt #2
Briefly discuss your reasons for pursuing the major you have selected. (250 words)
Prompt #3
Briefly discuss your reasons for pursuing the alternate major you have selected. (Respond in 250 words or fewer.)
Purdue Honors College Prompt #1
Explain your vision, ideas, or goals for how you hope to shape your honors experience while at Purdue. Please put this in the context of the four pillars which are the foundation of the Honors College. (500 word maximum)
Purdue Honors College Prompt #2
Please describe the interdisciplinary nature of your chosen field of study and how it complements or supports other fields. (Examples: You might describe how your work in a liberal arts career may impact or inform the work of an engineer.) (500 word maximum)
How to Write Each Supplemental Essay Prompt for Purdue
How to Write the Purdue Supplemental Essay Prompt #1
How will opportunities at Purdue support your interests, both in and out of the classroom? (250 words)
This is a very short variation on the “Why us?” prompt (an essay you’ll see quite a few schools require).
Because it’s so short, the key will be finding 2-3 reasons that set Purdue apart from all the other schools you’re applying to and focusing on connecting to your academic and non-academic interests.
Here’s the “Why us?” essay guide—in this case, the Cornell example is a good one, but it’s pretty long, so be sure to check out the Tufts example too. Here’s the short version of the guide, to (hopefully) pique your interest:
Spend 1 hr+ researching 5+ reasons why Purdue might be a great fit for you (ideally 2-3 of the reasons will be unique to Purdue and connect back to you).
Make a copy of this chart to map out your college research.
Create an outline for your essays based on either Approach 1, 2 (recommended), or 3 in our full guide above.
Write a first draft!
As you write, try to avoid these common mistakes:
Six Common Mistakes Students Make on “Why Us?” Essays
Mistake #1: Writing about the school's size, location, reputation, weather, or ranking.
Mistake #2: Simply using emotional language to demonstrate fit.
Mistake #3: Screwing up the mascot, stadium, team colors, or names of any important people or places on campus.
Mistake #4: Parroting the brochures or website language.
Mistake #5: Describing traditions the school is well-known for.
Mistake #6: Thinking of this as only a "Why them" essay.
Below is a great sample essay for this prompt. (written when the word count was 100 words.)
Example:
Recently, to become part of the “Smart Cities Initiative”, my hometown was awarded a $50 million grant. I wish to research robotics and autonomous sensing at Purdue’s Smart Informatix Laboratory. Specifically, mentorships such as “Smart Cities” (EPCS 10100) with Dr. Mohammad Jahanshahi will allow me to contribute to other prospective smart cities. Additionally, I am passionate about music, specifically the violin. Purdue’s philharmonic and symphony orchestras will satisfy my musical desire and introduce me to people who carry similar interests. Organizations like the Purdue Music Producers (PMP) will connect me to like-minded individuals who share my passion for music production.
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Tips + Analysis
If you have a specific academic focus in mind, consider including it. This student directly states his interest in researching robotics and autonomous sensing and takes it a step further by demonstrating he’s done his research and knows that Purdue has a Smart Informatix Laboratory. If you read the Provost’s Report linked at the top, you’d know that something unique about Purdue is its highly individualized bachelor’s degree programs and that most students are admitted into these. What that means is robotics + autonomous sensing is much better to reference than engineering or a more general interest. Dig through Purdue’s list of majors and get specific.
Pick an academic and a non-academic interest: The prompt asks you how Purdue will support “your interests, both in and out of the classroom,” so you want to make sure to pick at least one academic interest and one non-academic interest. Why? Because the golden rule of supplemental essays for college is to answer the question. This student combines robotics and autonomous sensing with an interest in smart cities (academic + research) and music, specifically violin. He takes it a step further by showing exactly where he’ll fit in as a violin player at Purdue: “Purdue’s philharmonic and symphony orchestras” and the Purdue Music Producers club.
PSA: Try to avoid using the word “passionate,” as this is one of the most frequently used words in college essays.
Here’s another example for this prompt, written for Barnard, which shows how you can use the longer word count for Purdue:
Example:
I grew up near the birthplace of the riotgrrrl movement, inspired by zines and women who refuse to minimize themselves. When I read about Barnard’s zine library, I was ecstatic. Barnard's pedagogy embodies zines’ same spirit of fighting injustice, giving women the skills and close-knit community to fulfill their potential.
With Barnard’s flexible curriculum and dedicated professors, I can pursue all my interests without sacrificing in-depth analysis for interdisciplinary freedom. I’d explore mathematical cognition during early development with Koleen McCrink while discussing circular economy models with Sandra Goldmark. Within the sociology department, I’d examine my family’s roots by taking Politics and Society in Central Eastern Europe and investigate the theories fueling activism in Social Movements. With opportunities like externships and BCRW’s Interrupting Criminalization initiative, I’d navigate the world holistically.
Barnard empowers women to learn boundlessly. In the collaborative spaces of the Milstein Center, I’d develop my screen-print projects and my fluency in web development. Upholding Barnard’s commitment to environmentalism, I’d love to join the SGA Sustainable Initiatives Consulting Board. From workshops on salary negotiation to seminars on women in leadership, Barnard offers me the necessary tools to thrive in my multidimensional life.
In the middle of explaining first-year curriculum, my Barnard tour guide stopped to point out the newly installed “I Am Queen Mary,” going off-script to highlight how crucial continued decolonization is. In that vignette, I found the riotgrrrl attitude alive at Barnard--a community of unafraid women, passionately speaking their minds and eager to change the world.
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Tips + Analysis
Show how you and Barnard share key values. In any Why Us, it’s useful to show how you and the school align (Pro tip: checking out a school’s mission statement is a great way to do this). Keep this Values Exercise handy as you write, and identify a few you believe Barnard shares. The essay above is packed with shared connections: In her excitement over Barnard’s zine library, for example, the writer shows creativity, self-expression, community pride, and a thirst for knowledge. Likewise, in defining her own understanding of Barnard’s pedagogy, she reflects key values—meaningful work, justice, community, helping others—while her description of Barnard’s flexible curriculum shows her appreciation for freedom, personal growth, and self-expression. This passage is particularly effective in helping the reader visualize how those shared values would benefit this student’s experiences on campus: “Barnard empowers women to learn boundlessly. In the collaborative spaces of the Milstein Center, I’d develop my screen-print projects and my fluency in web development. Upholding Barnard’s commitment to environmentalism, I’d love to join the SGA Sustainable Initiatives Consulting Board.”
Show a range of interests/engagement. Notice that this prompt is not just asking about your chosen major or your academic interests. So after talking about, say, courses and professors and programs that interest you, you can also talk about aspects of campus life—clubs, activities, sports, and other extracurriculars—that you feel will help you grow. This is a great way to show that while you’re a serious student, you’re interested in other things too. For this student, it wasn’t just the curriculum that drew her to Barnard; it was also the school’s “commitment to environmentalism,” its workshops, seminars, and externships, and especially its “community of unafraid women, passionately speaking their minds and eager to change the world.”
Be specific. Notice too how this student doesn’t stop at generalities like “flexible curriculum and dedicated professors” or how “Barnard empowers women to learn boundlessly.” She backs them up with specifics unique to Barnard—from professors (Koleen McCrink and Sandra Goldmark) to courses (Politics and Society in Central Eastern Europe) and other academic opportunities (BCRW’s Interrupting Criminalization initiative) to avenues for personal growth (“collaborative spaces of the Milstein Center”) and community involvement (SGA Sustainable Initiatives Consulting Board). These details are critical to showing Barnard not only that you’ve done your homework in researching what the school is all about, but that you’ve given serious thought to why it’s a good fit for you—and you for it.
How to Write the Purdue Supplemental Essay Prompt #2
Briefly discuss your reasons for pursuing the major you have selected. (250 Words)
This is another super short variation of a classic supplemental essay: the “Why Major?” essay.
You’ll find a step-by-step guide to writing this essay at this link, which we recommend reading through, but here’s the short version:
Step #1: Imagine a mini-movie of the moments that led you to your interest and create a simple, bullet-point outline.
Step #2: Put your moments (aka the “scenes” of your mini-movie) in chronological order, as it’ll help you see how your interests developed. It also makes it easier to write transitions.
Step #3: Decide if you want to include a specific thesis that explicitly states your central argument—in this case what you want to study and why. This thesis can be at the beginning, middle, or end of your essay.
Step #4: Write a draft!
Here’s an example for this prompt written for when the word count was 100 words:
Example:
Having attended college Physics classes every Saturday for a year, I’ve embraced the wisdom from centuries-old mathematics and the vast potential of computers, a realization I can honor by pursuing Computer Science and Mathematics. Much of my interest in AI lies in its basis in the human brain, which I can pursue in a Psychology concentration. And Electrical Engineering allows me to connect the virtual world with the physical, as I currently do in robotics. Purdue will fuel my interdisciplinary interests that stem from my curiosity about connections between the materials and systems in the world around me. (98 words)
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Tips + Analysis
Consider naming your major at or near the start. You don’t need to be completely straightforward (“I plan to major in X”), but if you’re struggling to come up with a compelling hook, keep it simple and move forward. Value information over poetry.
Consider expanding (briefly) on what you’ll explore outside the major-specific classes you’ll take. Purdue has niche major/research opportunities, for example. This student also adds to his major in Computer Science and Mathematics with a concentration in Psychology and additional interests in Electrical Engineering, which shows he might be a good fit for Purdue’s highly specialized academic programs.
Briefly say why you became interested in this major. Following the “Why Major?” outline above will help with this step. This student tells us that his interest began after taking college physics classes every Saturday for a year (bonus points for taking this on outside of school).
If you have room, say how you’ll contribute to society in the future. Show how you’ll use the knowledge you’ll gain at Purdue to help make society (or your community, or the whole wide world) a better place in a specific way. This student plans to push the fields of AI and robotics further using his cross-disciplinary knowledge.
We know, that’s a lot to do in just a few words. You don’t have to do all these things; just do your best.
And here’s an example written for Princeton that could easily double here, showing how you could use the larger word count now allowed.
Example:
At the WEST Society of Women Engineers Robotics workshop, I programmed a robot to dance and learned about using AI to map the ocean floor and track sharks. And next door, I tested the stress strength of a gummy worm, learning about sustainable nanomaterials for the first time. These simple, yet engaging experiments showcased intriguing hands-on experiences I am seeking at Princeton.
Princeton’s focus on independent research and its requirement of a senior thesis promise to deepen my knowledge of engineering and science.
Through the Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) Program and the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials (PRISM), I will conduct research combining expertise in "hard" materials with knowledge of "soft" materials. Under Professor Nan Yao, I hope to utilize techniques of imaging and compositional analysis to construct organ transplant biomaterial, bettering the lives of others. Observing materials in action at the Shiseido Cosmetics Factory will provide me insight that I can use to showcase my knowledge by creating a keepsake at the annual blacksmith event.
While Materials Science allows me to explore the physical world, Computer Science allows me to explore the virtual one. As a selected participant for the Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program, I developed a sisterhood through navigating coding difficulties. I will create new sisterhoods with Princeton Women in Computer Science and Society of Women Engineers.
Princeton greats Olga Russakovsky and Gillat Kol inspire me to further my knowledge at Princeton. I can’t wait to follow in their footsteps. (249 words)
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How to Write the Purdue Supplemental Essay Prompt #3
Briefly discuss your reasons for pursuing the alternate major you have selected. (Respond in 250 words or fewer.)
This is just like the prompt above—a “Why Major.” So see that previous section for guidance and examples + analysis.
Want advice on dozens of other supplemental essays? Click here
Special thanks to Andy for writing this blog post.
Andrew Simpson, CEG’s Editorial Director, has worked as an educator, consultant, and curriculum writer for the past 15 years, and earned degrees from Stanford in Political Science and Drama. He feels most at home on mountain tops and in oceans.
Top Values: Insight/Growth | Truth | Integrity
