Vanderbilt - Up. Pretty campus. Liked that the freshman had their own part of the campus to live. Good tour guide. Liked “Maymester” concept. Nashville itself was OK, but arguably the campus was a little TOO in-the-city.
My D was applying to schools to study chemical engineering about 10 years ago. One of her primary criteria is that she wanted a program where she could coop. She attended the Vanderbilt engineering session and they very matter of factly said they did not support coops and wanted all of their students to graduate in 4 years. For her it was a deal breaker and we never even took the campus tour. If cooping is something this posters child might be interested in be aware that Vanderbilt may not be the place; if it’s not important no problem.
Purdue - Up. Cold (snow on ground upon arrival). D liked better than I did. Probably safety school for D, but she liked it - thought it was reasonably pretty. We cut short the 3 hour long tour(s)/info session by about 30 minutes as it was cold, we were underdressed, and it was the last stop on long tour.
Our D did not like UIUC and loved Purdue (it is where she eventually attended and graduated from. Yes she did a five term coop). It surprised me because on paper they should have been very similar. I would caution against considering Purdue a safety. Engineering and CS are very highly ranked at Purdue and have become more difficult to get accepted to in the last 10 years. It might be a strong match or target but don’t assume it to be a safety. Great school though. Best wishes in your child’s search.