I have an SAT score of 1630, GPA of 3.7, and my preferred major is civil engineering ;can I get into Purdue?

My advice would be to wait until graduate school for these elite programs. The undergraduate years should be about fun. I made the mistake of attending an elite college in the midwest as a freshman while being woefully unprepared. My high school curriculum was too weak. I went into academic shock and burnout. If I had to do it over, I would go to a community college and do a technology major for these options that easily lead to a good job (~35k per year for a 20 year old - better than $8 per hour at a burger joint). 1. autocad/drafting 2. or cardiac technology 3. or diagnostic sonography 4. engineering technology - firmware/signal processing 5 networking for computers, etc. Then after earning the associate's degree I would have transferred to a major university as a junior in-state. That gradual ascension of difficulty would have been much more realistic in hindsight. Then graduate school would have been the best focus for elite programs out-of-state. The main reason is that graduate students get much more financial aid. A good engineering program has many grants for funding graduate students. So Purdue may reject you as a freshman but accept you five-six years from now as a master's or phd student if you plan it right. I would recommend doing the quick associate's degree first to save money in the first two years of college, transfer in-state for the bachelor's of science, then go to graduate school out-of-state. The average PhD student at someplace like Johns Hopkins, Michigan, Florida, CU Boulder, etc. usually finds a professor as a mentor who can provide funding for full tuition and a 20k/year stipend as an RA or TA. Wait until graduate school when you get more financial aid and a more fair chance to prove yourself. There are many factors that are unfair to a young teen freshman when going out-of-state. I know. I was one of them long ago when I burned out. I now have multiple graduate degrees, but that freshman-sophomore period was far more difficult than it had to be in the midwest where I was at an elite university. Those midwest colleges like Chicago, Northwestern, Michigan, Wisconsin, etc. are extremely rigorous for engineers. I know what I am talking about because many were my classmates.

It helps to call an admissions counselor. That is a 100% guarantee. Find a website and there should be a contact us section. Good Luck =] plus, you're very smart. I highly doubt you won't get in.

Look up your intended school at www.cappex.com They put a map of unweighted GPA versus SAT scores on one of the pages. Plot your unweighted GPA vs your SAT and you can estimate your chances. Also look up your intended school at: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/csearch/index.html?affiliateId=rdr&bannerId=csearch http://collegeprowler.com/ www.a2zcolleges.com http://www.princetonreview.com/

I know Purdue is suppose to be a good school and all, but I've known like 5 people who came out of there and all were flakey idiots. I'm not saying that for every school. Everybody I met from the University of Chicago was brilliant. Maybe that was just my experience. But yes, you do have a shot of getting in. At least try. If you don't try the answer is no. If you do try the answer is yes or no.

I'll tell you what, you won't know for sure if you don't apply! Just curious, how do plan to finance the cost of attending these Universities as an out-of-state student? If you believe you'll take out loans and run up a large debt, you're a fool!

It also depends on the classes you take in high school, high end college prefer you have ap courses and things like that. But you have a chance.

If your SAT score is 1630, you do not belong in an Engineering degree program. Consider Engineering Technology instead.

If you want a degree in civil engineering Purdue would be you best choice. Your GPA and SAT score should be fine