How to Respond to the 2022-2023 Purdue University Supplemental Essay Prompts

By Savannah Dawson

Savannah Dawson is a Content Writer Intern at Scholarships360. Savannah is an undergraduate student at Ohio University pursuing a degree in Journalism News and Information, Magazine track, as well as a minor in Retail and Fashion Merchandising and a certificate in Italian Studies. During her time at OU, Savannah has been a Content Writer for Thread Magazine, as well as a Blogger for Her Campus Magazine and Variant Magazine. Full Bio

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Updated: September 21st, 2022

Purdue University is a public university in West Lafayette, Indiana. Voted a Top 10 Public University in 2021, many students are hoping to gain entrance into one of Indiana’s best public colleges. This means you will have to use your very best writing skills and personal creativity to help you stand out in the Purdue supplemental essays. 

The Purdue University supplemental essays

For the regular undergraduate admissions application, you will have two 100 word prompts to write, and an additional optional 250 word prompt. It is always a good idea to write the optional essay, because this gives the admissions team at the university a better idea of the type of person that they could potentially be adding to their community and demonstrates your interest in attending.

Supplemental prompts on the traditional application focus on why you think Purdue would be a good fit for you, whereas the Honors College prompts are more focused on discovering what you may offer the college. Let’s break down the prompts for each application to give you a thorough idea of how to respond to all of them:

Also see: How to respond to the Common App essay prompts

If you are applying with the traditional application

Prompt #1

How will opportunities at Purdue support your interests, both in and out of the classroom? (100 words)

This prompt is a classic, as it can tell the individual reading your application more about you as a person than your transcript can. This is your opportunity to highlight what makes you you. There are multiple facets to this question, and although both are important, the “in the classroom” part of the question is going to tell Purdue what you can offer them academically. 

Every person has something different to offer, but there are some things that you want to avoid writing about that are seen as cliche. Think about what makes you interesting that is different from what makes your peers interesting. You could talk about how learning a foreign language in high school has inspired you to study international affairs at Purdue, or how the musical instrument that you decided to pick up during the pandemic made you decide to pursue a degree in music. 

Questions to consider

• What makes you interesting as a student? 
• What interests have you pursued in and/or out of the classroom? 
• In what ways have you pursued those interests and how would you continue that pursuit at Purdue?

Prompt #2

Briefly discuss your reasons for pursuing the major you have selected. (100 words)

Every person chooses their major for a reason. Whether it is something you have wanted to pursue your entire life, or it was a recent find that sparked your interest, now is time to tell the story of how it came about. 

You want to draw the reader in with something enticing that makes them want to keep reading. Making sure to add specific details is something that will make you stand out among other applicants. 

Questions to consider:

• Did you choose Purdue for the program you want to go into? 
• What made their program stand out enough for you to decide to apply?
• What are you passionate about academically?
• What does your desired major say about you as a person, academically or extra curricularly?

Prompt #3 (Optional)

Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. (250 words)

This is the fun one! This is when you get to speak about one of the awesome things that you have enjoyed doing during your four years in high school. Don’t pass up the opportunity to showcase your talents just because the prompt says “optional”. 

This is your chance to take one more step that so many other people will choose not to. It’s a great opportunity to provide context to an endeavor that you gave your time to and/or meant a great deal to you. It can only help to let the reader  know you better and how you might fit into their community. Make them feel inspired. Leave them feeling they know you as a person, both  academically AND socially. 

Questions to consider

• What club did you wait patiently for during your last class period each day? 
• Did you play any sports that made you dream about doing it professionally? 
• Did you have a part time job that was the reason you picked your career path?

Related: Show, don’t tell essay primer

If you are applying with the honors application

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 words)

The honors application prompts can look like a doozy at first glance, so let’s break it down. Ultimately, they want to understand how Purdue will benefit from you being a student there. This may sound intimidating, but realistically, most colleges want to know that when looking for students to accept. How will you use what you already know to further not only your education, but also the people around you and your university? 

The four pillars of Purdue’s John Martinson Honors College are leadership development, undergraduate research, community and global experiences, and interdisciplinary academics. Visualize what you want for your future and how those goals align with what Purdue looks for in a student attending their Honors College. Let those goals guide your writing. 

Questions to consider:

• What career path do you want to pursue and how did it lead you to Purdue?
• How will your career benefit from your time at Purdue and from the opportunities offered by the Honors College?
• If you imagine yourself as a Purdue student, what do you see yourself doing?

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 words)

This is a unique question, but an important one to answer. They want to know if your mind works like a team player. Are you able to think about how what you do affects others, or is your mind a one way road looking at just your journey through college and into your career? Take this question and run with it.

You want to think of a career that compliments yours well. For example, if your major is journalism, talk about the ways that a major like food science or history can impact your work, and vice versa. As a journalist, it is important to have sources, and on the other careers side, they need journalists for publicity. This can go both ways for any career, just try to be creative with it. 

Questions to consider:

• What career compliments yours best?
• Is there another major that you would want to work closely with?
• What goals can you accomplish better if you worked as a team?

Summing up the Purdue supplemental essays

We made it through all of the Purdue supplemental essays! In general, for any essay that you choose to write for college admissions, you want to be open and honest about any and all experiences that you write about. Admissions readers will be glad to hear your honesty and transparency, and they will value that in the long run. Make sure to read over your responses and consider giving your essay to a peer or advisor to read over before you submit it. We also recommend taking a break from your essay and going back to it another day to get a fresh pair of eyes. 

Additional resources

While you continue your college decision process, you have a lot to think about. Let us take some of that pressure off of your shoulders, and check out some of our helpful resources that can help alleviate some of the stress!

• How many colleges to apply to
• Choosing a college
• All about reach, match, and safety schools
• What looks good on college applications?

Other colleges to apply to

• University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI)
• University of Illinois (Urbana-Campaign, IL)
• Pennsylvania State University (Throughout PA)