Throughout our March Madness series, we brought you pieces of information about each school.  In the first round, we explored the mascots, our second round celebrated notable alumni, in the Sweet 16 we learned about campus traditions, in the Elite 8 we discussed selectivity, and our Final 4 offered a Meet the Colleges overview of each school.

UCONN and Purdue have survived to the final game!  While they battle it out on the court, let’s revisit what we have learned about each school this month.

UCONN

The University of Connecticut was established in 1881 and is a large public university with 18,397 students located in a rural setting in Storrs, Connecticut.  Popular programs and majors include Psychology, Economics, and Health Sciences.  The overall admission rate is 55%, although particular programs such as the School of Nursing and College of Engineering have lower acceptance rates. While in-state residency is considered as part of the holistic review, it is not a determining factor in admission and there is not a set quota of in-state spaces. The middle 50% of accepted students at UCONN who submitted scores under the test-optional policy had an ACT score of 27-33 and an SAT score of 1240-1410.

The UCONN mascot is the Huskies, and students will rub the nose of a giant husky statue named Jonathan outside of Gampel Pavilion for good juju on a test, or if they are needing a little bit of luck. Touring UCONN and want some extra magic to be accepted? Give it a try! 

The Huskies compete in the Big East conference.  Across all sports, UCONN has won 23 team championships, including wins in men’s basketball, men’s soccer, women’s basketball, and field hockey.  They have won 5 previous NCAA basketball championships: 1999, 2004, 2011, 2014, and are the current defending champions with their 2023 win.

The University of Connecticut has Sue Bird among its alums. Sue is an NCAA Women’s Basketball champion, WNBA legend, and Olympic Gold Medalist and graduated in 2002 with a BA in Communications. 

PURDUE

Founded in 1869, Purdue University is a large public university with 37,949 undergraduate students in an urban/suburban setting in West Lafayette, Indiana.  Engineering, Computer Science, and Aerospace Engineering/Technology are the most popular majors.  The overall admission rate is 50%, however, admission rate varies by college and major. The college of engineering is the most competitive, with 38.7% of applicants being admitted; particularly competitive majors include professional flight technology at 11.9%, nursing at 24.8%, and computer science at 29.5%. Overall, the middle 50% of the admitted class at Purdue had a GPA of 3.6-4.0, ACT composite score of 27-34, and SAT composite score of 1210-1450, however, specific averages for each college and major vary. While Purdue had been test-optional during the pandemic, they have reinstated a requirement for test scores starting with applicants for Fall 2024.

At Purdue, you can be greeted by a smile and a hello on campus when you’re walking along the “Hello Walk.” The “Hello Walk” is a stone pathway from the main entrance of campus to University Hall. 

Purdue’s sports teams are the Boilermakers. The Boilermaker moniker was coined in 1891, after Purdue beat Wabash handily in a football game, and the townsfolk called the larger, stronger Purdue players “burly boiler makers.” The name stuck! It is in reference to a type of locomotive that was commonly constructed by Purdue students during that time. Purdue is known for its technical and engineering education and focus. 

The Boilermakers compete in the Big Ten Conference.  Across all team sports, Purdue has won 3 NCAA championships, with one each in men’s golf, women’s basketball, and women’s golf.  They also won a football national championship by poll in 1931. In basketball, Purdue has made 3 NCAA Final Four appearances and played in 1 championship game, but has never won the championship.

Neil Armstrong, astronaut and first man on the moon, earned a BS in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University in 1955.  Revolutionary popcorn magnate Orville Redenbacher is also a Purdue alum; he graduated in 1928 with a BS in Agronomy. 

We hope you have enjoyed Estrela’s version of March Madness! Whether you learned what a Stetson “hatter” was, or that Kourtney Kardashian went to k(college) at University of Arizona, or about the Krispy Kreme challenge at NC State - each college that was a part of this year’s bracket have fun, interesting, and unique qualities worth getting to know. However, these are just 64 of the thousands of colleges in the United States.  Each one has a unique culture, traditions, academic strengths, and athletic programs and our goal is to help you find the colleges that fit you best. Which college will experience their “one shining moment”? Only time will tell!