As a part of this distinguished program and learning community, you’ll immediately build a better understanding of career opportunities and success skills for college and beyond.
Alongside students who share your dedication to outstanding academic performance, you’ll join a network of support and strength that can more deeply enrich your time in Purdue Agriculture.
You’ll also experience:
- Rigorous and stimulating honors coursework
- Undergraduate research or scholarly project opportunities matched to your interests
- Regular meetings or events with Purdue Ag administrators and outstanding faculty members
- Frequent engagements with Purdue Ag stakeholders and distinguished alumni
- Networking dinners and conversations with upper-class Dean’s Scholars students
- Exclusive interdisciplinary enrichment activities on- and off-campus
- Semesterly industry networking tours
When finished, you’ll emerge with a competitive edge for your career or continued studies.
As a Dean’s Scholar, you can immediately begin to build a better understanding of career paths, opportunities and success skills for college and beyond.
If you join the program, you will take the Dean’s Scholars seminar course in your first fall semester. In that course, you will:
- Learn more about Purdue Agriculture and our land-grant mission
- Meet college administration
- Take part in a variety of learning community experiences (in- and outside of class)
- Build a network of classmates, faculty, and upper-class peer mentors
- Understand the process of engaging in undergraduate research or scholarly projects
View presentation from information night here.
Questions? Email us at agdeansscholars@purdue.edu.
Dig Deeper
- Enrolled in the Purdue College of Agriculture
- 3.8+ High School GPA
- Completed Dean's Scholars application including demographic information and short essays
OR
- Second semester freshmen, sophomores, and transfer students
- At least 60 credits remaining at Purdue
- College cumulative GPA ≥ 3.5
- Completed Dean's Scholars application
Dean's Scholars program completion includes the following requirements:
- Dean's Scholars Seminar Course & Learning Community*
- 12 Hours of Honors Coursework
- Undergraduate Research or Scholarly Project
- Presentation of research or scholarly project in public forum
- Attendance & Reflection of at least 8 Dean's Scholars Events
* Dean's Scholars Seminar Course & Learning Community not required for students who begin the program after their first semester in college.
Dean’s Scholars Seminar Course
- AGR 20500 – Dean’s Scholars Seminar
- One-credit hour fall-semester course
- Interdisciplinary representation of students from all Agriculture departments
- Facilitated by Associate Dean Christine Wilson & Assistant Director Elizabeth Byers-Doten
- Interactive learning environment
- Small student group discussions, activities and projects facilitated by Peer Mentors (upper-class Dean's Scholars students)
The Dean's Scholars Seminar is intended to stimulate students to think about issues facing their generation; to think about what agriculture really encompasses; to think about their role and why they are here in the College of Agriculture at Purdue; and learn from their fellow disciplined, motivated and creative peers during weekly class sessions and additional learning community events.
The College of Agriculture's Dean's Scholars Learning Community allows all first-year students in the program to interact with one another outside of the classroom and engage in transformational experiences to enhance their interdisciplinary classroom learning experience. Students in the Dean's Scholars Learning Community are also enrolled in the Dean's Scholars seminar course.
The Learning Community offers new students an opportunity to network with upper-class students in the program over regular networking dinners in the dining courts, meet with administration and faculty for special events, attend field trips related to the course theme or agriculture in general and learn more about the undergraduate research or scholarly project experience.
Annual Dean's Scholars Learning Community events include networking dinners with faculty and upper-class students in the program; special events with administration and faculty; and field trips. Past field trips included Fair Oaks Dairy Farm and Exploration Acres visits, private showings of movies at the local theater, horseback riding and zoo events.
A student from last year's Dean's Scholars Learning Community shared, "Joining a learning community is an experience of a lifetime. It takes a gigantic campus and brings it down to a familiar level, making the transition to college easy and smooth, all the while providing opportunities throughout campus to enhance your college career and make it a lively and fun experience. Not only will you walk away with an immense amount of knowledge that is hard to grasp outside of a Learning Community, but the friends you make while involved can be amazing."
Learn more about Purdue's College of Agriculture Learning Communities including the Ag Dean's Scholars Learning Community.
Olivia Reynolds
“I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to get involved with the College of Agriculture Dean's Scholars program. It gave me a chance to be surrounded by a diverse group of students who share my same passion for agriculture and excelling both in and outside of the classroom. I made some of my best friends in the College of Ag Dean's Scholars class the first week of college and I will be forever grateful for the relationships that I have developed through this program. The Dean's Scholars program opened doors of opportunity for me, and I would encourage any incoming student to take advantage by getting involved in various activities on campus early on in their college career.”
Olivia Reynolds, Sophomore in Agricultural Economics