Pre-Professional Studies at Purdue
Want to work on cancer treatments? Develop safer football helmets? Explore ways of improving nutrition? Or learn about how the body responds to being in space?
Purdue students and faculty are involved in the kinds of projects that have real-world impacts.
As one of the top universities in the country, Purdue University is an amazing place to begin your journey to professional school. With nearly two hundred majors to choose from and close to one thousand student organizations, you can tailor your education to your interests.
Discover more about Purdue, Pre-Professional Advising, and some of your options at Purdue.
Purdue's Amazing Campus
Explore Purdue's Giant Leap in Indianapolis
Purdue Office of Admissions
Our Office of Admissions is awesome and ready to help you with learning all about Purdue University and helping you plan a visit to campus. Want to talk with someone? Connect with a counselor.
Want to visit Purdue outside of a scheduled recruiting day? See what a regular day at Purdue looks like? Schedule a Daily Visit through Admissions. Once you schedule your day you can email preprofessional@purdue.edu if you would like to explore our availability to meet with you one-on-one about your pre-professional interests.
Planning to attend Introducing Purdue? Our office will be there! No need to schedule a separate visit with us.
Purdue Division of Financial Aid
Questions about funding your education? Purdue's Division of Financial Aid is the office that can answer all of your questions. Our Division of Financial Aid is an amazing resource and incredibly helpful.
Explore Your Major and Minor Options
Professional programs DO NOT have a preference when it comes to undergraduate major. You can be a German major and still go to medical school or veterinary school! Choose something that interests you, that you will be successful in, and that provides what we call a parallel plan--another plan should you decide not to go to professional school.
Explore your many major/minor options at Purdue.
- Think about what you most enjoy studying--you tend to do better in these classes and grades matter.
- Consider what might be a solid parallel plan/plan B/pivot plan for you. Most websites for Purdue majors tell you what their students have gone on to do with that major.
- Remember to keep exploring. Just because you liked/disliked something in high school does not mean you will feel the same in college. Try new things. Your career goal as a child may not really be the best thing for you as you come to know yourself as an adult. Be open to new experiences and new thinking about your goals. It is ok to change your path.
Really don't know what you want to major in? Purdue has a number of places where you can move toward a degree while still deciding on a major.
Don't know where to start? Exploratory Studies is for you. They do an exceptional job of helping you learn more about yourself, your interests, and your opportunities at Purdue. If you are pre-professional, their advisors will help you start on your pre-professional courses so that you do not get behind until you choose your major.
If you are interested in veterinary medicine, you could also consider the Pre-Veterinary Program in the College of Agriculture. Their advisors will help you explore your options of majors while starting you in your pre-vet courses then help you move into your chosen major.
Parent/Guardian Guide to Being Pre-Professional
Being a pre-professional student is a great path for many students, but it is complex and can be stressful. Here is a little more information for you as parents/guardians to help you understand what your student's experience is like.
Meet the Pre-Professional Advising Ambassadors
Pre-Professional Ambassadors are current students from various colleges and majors at Purdue who all share a goal of entering professional school. Meet our Ambassadors and read their advice to pre-professional students.
Visit our YouTube Channel to hear directly from some of our current and former ambassadors.
Explore Your AP/IB/CLEP Options
Many students come to us with a lot of college credit from AP, IB and/or CLEP exams not to mention dual credit courses. For pre-health students, some thought needs to be given to how and even whether to make use of these credits. This AP Credit Information can guide your thinking on this complex issue.
For students contemplating medical school, the MD programs have a very long list of programs and their policies on AP credit. It is organized by state which helps with navigation. MSAR Pre-Medical Coursework
Dual credit is typically less of a problem for covering prerequisite courses for professional school as you will be able to obtain a transcript from a college/university showing a grade for the course.
Feel free to contact us and ask us questions as well. preprofessional@purdue.edu
Understand Professional School Admission Statistics
How many Purdue students get into medical school? Or dental school? Law school? This data will tell me my chance of getting in--right?
It seems like these statistics should be useful. They have a logical appeal. In reality they are not helpful. This data is difficult and so spotty that the information is unreliable, they only tell us what happened to those students. They are not predictive in any way.
Think of it this way...imagine we have a group of 5 students and we gave them a list of things to do to help them be competitive applicants.
- Aim for a 3.6 GPA and above average scores on aptitude tests
- Do volunteer work--show a service orientation
- Get to know your field--shadow professionals
- Be involved in student organizations--show some leadership potential
- Cultivate relationships with faculty so that you have strong letters of recommendations
- Take part in undergraduate research
Now let's assume that none of our 5 students did any of those things. Will they be admitted into professional school? Probably not. Purdue's acceptance rate? 0%. So Purdue provided information on what the students needed to do and provided opportunities, but we failed to "get the students in." Right?
Now, let's assume that 5 other students did all of those things and they are successful in being admitted. Purdue now has a 100% acceptance rate. Did Purdue "get them in?" No. The students did that. They put in all the work. Purdue did the same thing for both sets of students.
Read more about Admissions Statistics on our handout. In reality, national admission rates can be somewhat informative, but school rates really don't tell you much. We encourage you to focus on whether you feel comfortable at a school, whether it provides you the advising support you need, and whether you have opportunities to be involved in research and the other things you look forward to taking part in while in college.
Request a Veterinary School Tour
Tours of the Veterinary Medical School are not always available, (it is a working hospital, after all), but they do try to accommodate requests when they can. Contact them as far in advance as you can.
Requesting a tour of Purdue College of Veterinary Medicine
Learn More at our FAQ Page
Link to our FAQ page to some of the most common questions asked by prospective students and their families.
Feel free to email us at preprofessional@purdue.edu or call us if you have any additional questions. 765-494-3981