<p>Hi guys, I am a high school senior and earlier this month I have received a letter of admissions to my two colleges I really wanted to get into. One was Purdue university-college of engineering and other was Illinois institute of technology-college of engineering. I am an OOS asian student that lives in the islands of Hawaii and so far, IIT has given me $80,000 (20K a year) while Purdue has given me none. I have never been to the mainland in my life so no matter what I know that this will be a great experience for me. I know both schools have pro's and con's and I was wondering what you guys think about which school I should choose. </p>
<p>Purdue: Pro and Cons
(Pro)
-Large University (over 40,000 + students)
-Big 10 university
-great engineering school (top 10 in the nation)
-A lot international students
-great college life</p>
<p>(con)
-(IDK if this is true but from my imagination..) Indiana west Lafayette is in the middle of nowhere? so once you step out of the school, there is nothing
-Does not give as many scholarships as IIT</p>
<p>IIT: Pro and Cons
(Pro)
-Located in the middle of Chicago
-Gives a lot of scholarships
-Outside of school life would probably great (A lot of asian food and stores and many sports games to watch)</p>
<p>(con)
-small school
-not as famous and highly ranked as Purdue
-might not have a college life as Purdue</p>
<p>Seeing my pro and con opinions for both school, which college should I choose to go to? i know this is one of my biggest decisions of my life so your guys opinions will be greatly appreciated. Thank you XD</p>
<p>So far Illinois tech is 35K in tuition but subtracting 20K would be around 15K. Adding room and board makes the total around 25-27K. I still have fill out the fafsa too. </p>
<p>As for Purdue I got no merit scholarships so my room and board and tuition total would be around 40K. </p>
<p>Money wise I know purdue is expensive but looking at it a long run, would it be worth it paying that much money?</p>
<p>thank you for the reply noimagination btw XD</p>
<p>That’s a tough one. IIT is certainly a good school, I do think Purdue is better. The $64,000 question is whether you’ll get a good return on investment from that. I’m afraid I don’t have a good answer.</p>
<p>West Lafayette would fit me better than Chicago, but that’s a subjective judgment. Both will be different from HI but I suspect the urban environment might be a little closer to what you’re used to.</p>
<p>Would the cost difference be covered by personal/family assets, or are we talking about taking out loans?</p>
<p>Yes I agree, Hawaii is different from many places. I personally have only gone to Tokyo, Japan every year when it comes to traveling so I think I would enjoy the big city chicago. But career wise probably purdue is better. </p>
<p>The cost difference would be covered by both parents loans and my student loans.</p>
<p>I would go to IIT. You are going for engineering which is a highly employable, but sadly underpaid field. Purdue is 9th ranked nationally, IIT is like 70 something, I don’t know on this one, the debt vs. degree value ratio is hard to determine.</p>
<p>thank you for the advice! yes your are correct with the ranking with purdue 9th and IIT 70th. I personally don’t want to give my parents a hard time with the amount of debt I am gonna have to go through so IIT will be a great option for me. I know both schools are good but I guess it all comes down to $$$.</p>
<p>“I am an OOS asian student that lives in the islands of Hawaii and so far, IIT has given me $80,000 (20K a year) while Purdue has given me none.”</p>
<p>Most parents would advise you to make every effort to minimize debt. And no, Purdue is probably not worth an 80k difference. No college is. If you are concerned about job placement out of IIT and Purdue, drop an email to the career center on each campus and ask.</p>
<p>Sounds like your much more interested in Purdue. Try applying for scholarships! I’d be a shame to not go to the college your interested because of funds.</p>
<p>@happymomof1- thank you for the advice XD yeah, many of my friends and my counsler had told me that it all comes down to financial aid so hopefully purdue will be nice enough to help me reach my need aid!. 80K is a great amount and that is probably the major key to making me debate which college i should choose…Also, I’m not too sure about IIT’s job placement but i know for a fact that purdue’s job placement is 4th in the nation and there engineering field is ranked second. </p>
<p>@mango15- To be honest, purdue is my number one choice and IIT is my second. Yes i will definitely apply scholarships XD Either way I am happy that I got into my top 2 choices for college XD thank you for the reply btw!</p>