What SAT or ACT score do you need for Purdue?

As of October 2026. Every number below is sourced; the list is at the end.

As of October 2026, Purdue expects a score from nearly every applicant. Purdue's own admissions page says it plainly: "Purdue University is test expected, meaning we expect applicants to submit SAT, ACT or CLT scores." Among first-years who enrolled and did send one, the middle half scored 1190 to 1460 on the SAT and 27 to 34 on the ACT (IPEDS, 2023). That is the band to aim at.

"Test expected" is close enough to required

Of the five Indiana public universities we checked, Purdue is the only one that requires a score. The other four, Indiana University Bloomington among them, are test-optional. Our state page for Indiana lays out all five.

Purdue does leave a door open. It allows an application without a score when a student was not able to sit for one. Then look at who got in: in 2026, 98.3% of Purdue's admitted students provided a test score.

Plan on sending one.

Read the band correctly

Be careful with 1190 to 1460. That band describes enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT. It is not the score of admitted students, and it is not a cutoff. Of enrolled first-years, 73% submitted an SAT and 23% submitted an ACT (IPEDS, 2023).

Purdue admitted 50.3% of 73,083 applicants (IPEDS, 2023). Purdue's own class profile page puts the rate at 43.4%. Either way, about half the pool gets in, which makes Purdue sound like a safe bet.

It is not a safe bet in the colleges most families are aiming at. On that same page, the College of Engineering admits 34.7%, with an SAT middle 50% of 1380 to 1520 and an ACT middle 50% of 32 to 35.

So the useful question is not what score you need for Purdue. It is what score you need for the Purdue college your student is applying to.

Grades matter, but the GPA number is not the lever

Purdue is unusual here, and it says so. GPA "is not a factor used in the review of an application for admission," per its class profile page. What is: "Courses taken, grades earned and test scores are the most important factors in our process."

Enrolled first-years averaged a 3.81 unweighted GPA (Purdue Common Data Set 2025-26).

Read that pair again. Purdue names the test score as one of the most important things it looks at, and the published bands are a long way apart by college. A score is one of the few places left to move.

If your student is under the band

Say a student is at 1150. That is a real score, and it is under the band for the university, well under it for engineering. Moving it takes 6 to 12 weeks of work, and it means preparing for the whole SAT or ACT every sitting, never one section at a time.

Here is what our own students average. Students who start at 1350 or below gain 190 points (1210 to 1400). Students who start above 1350 gain 120 (1400 to 1520). Among the students who start at 1350 or below, 63% gain 200 points or more. Published research puts a typical retest-with-prep gain near 30 SAT points (Briggs, 2009). The cohorts and the method are on our results page.

An average is not a promise, and your student may land above it or below it. But a 1150 moving into Purdue's band in one season is ordinary work.

The move

This month, have your student sit one full-length practice SAT and one full-length practice ACT before choosing which exam to prepare for, because the better fit is usually obvious once both are on paper. Both mocks are free: prepgurus.com/take-the-next-step. Then block 6 to 12 weeks on the calendar and work the whole test. Or call 949.229.5359 and we will help you map the testing year.

Questions parents ask

Does my child have to send the SAT or ACT to Purdue?

Plan on it. Purdue's own admissions page says it is test expected, meaning it expects applicants to submit SAT, ACT or CLT scores, and in 2026, 98.3% of Purdue's admitted students provided a test score.

What SAT score is high enough for Purdue?

Enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT scored 1190 to 1460 in the middle half (IPEDS 2023). That is a band to aim at, not a cutoff, and it describes enrolled submitters rather than everyone admitted.

Purdue admits about half its applicants. Why does the score still matter?

Because the admit rate is not the same in every college. On Purdue's class profile page the College of Engineering admits 34.7%, with an SAT middle 50% of 1380 to 1520 and an ACT middle 50% of 32 to 35.

Written by Nick Standlea, founder of Test Prep Gurus. Updated October 2026.

Sources

At Test Prep Gurus we teach students how to raise their grades and scores on the ACT, SAT, ISEE, HSPT, APs so they can reach their goals for college and beyond.

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