Staff Excellence: Office of Admissions

It’s a scene played out every fall. Tens of thousands of prospective college students around the world submit their applications to Purdue University, hoping their academic achievements, cocurricular activities, honors and awards are competitive enough to secure a spot in one of its more than 200 undergraduate programs.

This flurry of activity marks one of the Office of Admissions’ peak seasons. From November to January, admissions counselors are charged with reviewing and scoring every single undergraduate application, and for the most recent admissions cycle, that number soared to more than 78,500. 

“I think sometimes folks assume that we throw everything into a spreadsheet and sort it based on test scores, GPAs or other numerical data,” says Mitch Warren, assistant vice provost and director of admissions. “We’re very proficient in Excel, but that’s not how we make decisions. There are real people here who are actually reviewing everything that is sent in. We aim for zero errors and try to make the right decision the first time, and I think we’ve been successful in navigating the increase in applications.”

Though crucial to the university’s sustained success, the application review process only scrapes the surface of the vast amount of work completed by the Office of Admissions team. These 77 full-time staff members and 156 student employees — often the first point of contact for prospective Boilermakers — help students and families seamlessly navigate the college search and selection process year-round, whether they’re in student-facing roles answering phone calls, arranging meetings and facilitating campus visits or part of the behind-the-scenes operations team coordinating application materials and documents.

Student employees take on a variety of roles within the Office of Admissions. Some field questions in the call center or assist drop-in visitors at the front desk. Some engage with current and prospective students during the admissions recruitment process. And others guide groups around campus during daily tours, pointing out landmarks, sharing key details about university programs and resources, and mastering the art of walking backward. 

During the 2022-23 academic year, Office of Admissions employees welcomed approximately 27,000 guests to Purdue through its daily visit presentation, which gives an overview of the application and evaluation process, followed by a tour of the West Lafayette academic and residential campus. Another 46 groups of middle and high school students were given tours during the office’s group campus visits offered during the school year.

Meanwhile, admissions counselors met with anywhere from 10 to 80 students and families each week to help them explore their options and guide them toward their vision for the future, even if that vision doesn’t include a Purdue education.

“Everything at Purdue is good — some things are phenomenal — but we try to guide students to the right place,” Warren says. “Sometimes that’s Purdue, and other times it isn’t. And if it isn’t, we would never try to convince a student to enroll. We try to do the right thing.”

It’s team members like Ja’Niah Downing who bring that mantra to life. As associate director, Downing is charged with creating a vision for the office’s recruitment plans to broaden pathways for first-generation and under-resourced students. He oversees a team that includes two early outreach coordinators — individuals based in Lake and Marion counties who connect with middle and high school students to help them prepare for and better understand the college search and selection process.

“You have to see how important this job is beyond who you are as a professional,” Downing says. “You are dealing with people’s futures, their lives, their potential and opportunities, and if you don’t realize the weight of what you’re doing, you will not give the effort necessary to help these students.” 

Admissions counselors and senior staff members like Downing travel all over the country to share information about Purdue with college-seeking students. During the 2022-23 academic year, staff visited 1,190 high schools. They attended 669 college fairs around the world. And they participated in a variety of community events like college application boot camps, essay writing workshops, the Indiana Black Expo and the Indiana State Fair.

Once application decisions are released, the work continues. Staff collaborate with the Purdue Recruitment Council and various campus units to organize a host of events to welcome these admitted students back to West Lafayette. Nearly 6,000 total guests attended the university’s seven Purdue’s for Me events in 2023, over 200 participated in Purdue Diversity Day and 840 took part in admitted student daily visits.

No matter the season, month or week, Office of Admissions employees are committed to sharing Purdue’s excellence with students near and far to help them manifest their dreams of pursuing a higher education degree. It’s a big challenge, but they rise to meet it year after year, day after day.

“We just want to make sure students know Purdue University is possible for them,” Downing says. “We have to be excellent if we want to attract excellent students. It’s not easy, but if it was easy, anyone would do it.”