Mechanical Engineering Admissions

Admission to Purdue for undergraduate study in the College of Engineering is handled by the Office of Admissions. First year students must apply to the First-Year Engineering Program (FYE), which contains core coursework required for all engineering students and usually takes two semesters to complete. Acceptance into the School of Mechanical Engineering is contingent upon a student’s successful completion of the First-Year Engineering program at the Purdue West Lafayette campus. Please check out the Transition to Major (T2M) process for FYE students transitioning to an engineering professional degree program.

Due to large enrollments in some engineering professional schools ( including Mechanical Engineering), the College of Engineering has implemented an Enrollment Management Policy which will apply to all student admitted for the Fall 2017 term and after. Read the College of Engineering Enrollment Management Policy.

If space is available, students with a 3.2 EAI and a 3.2 GPA will receive admission into the School of Mechanical Engineering. If a FYE student doesn’t meet the guaranteed admission GPA’s, then the Mechanical Engineering Admissions Committee will review the student’s holistic record, provided there is still available space in ME. This review will be based on performance in engineering core classes taken at the West Lafayette campus and other factors such as attendance and participation at required orientation and registration meetings, grades on select technical courses known to align well with success in ME, academic trends, diversity considerations, and semester load among other factors. The School of Mechanical Engineering admitted approximately 566 FYE students at the completion of the Spring 2023 semester. Admission at the completion of summer and fall terms vary based on the student cohort size and space availability of classes.

Transfers to Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering is currently closed to all direct transfers from other Purdue campuses and other Universities. Click here for information on other engineering schools open to direct transfers. The only exception involves institutions which have a signed 2+2 articulation agreement with the School of Mechanical Engineering. Even in these cases, admission is dependent on exceptional academic performance and space availability. Purdue students are only considered for admission to School of Mechanical after successful completion of the First-Year Engineering (FYE) program at the West Lafayette campus.

Change of Degree Objective Students (CODO)

Current professional engineering students who wish to CODO into the School of Mechanical should review the ME CODO qualifications and requirements. Students who meet the CODO requirements are eligible to be considered for transfer into ME. However, availability of physical facilities and other resource limitations will determine if CODO students may be accepted for transfer into the program at any given time. In other words, meeting the eligibility requirements is necessary to be considered, but not sufficient to be guaranteed admission into the School of Mechanical Engineering.