Computer Science at Purdue

Colleges and Universities A-Z Purdue University
1

<p>Hi Guys,</p>

<p>I am a German guy who has recently shifted to United States some five years ago. I have been admitted to Computer Science at Purdue and Penn State, and I am not sure of which school to choose. Both schools are out of state for me and costs are equal. The campuses do not matter much for me too, since both are good enough I have heard. What I want to know is about the academics and the academic environment. </p>

<p>I am interested in computer science, but I am not geek-style passionate about it, i.e. I can work long hours but I need time to cool off too. Going through the Purdue and Penn State website and courses, it seems to me that Purdue has a wider variety of courses in computer science as compared to Penn. Also, the coursework at Purdue seems to be more challenging. </p>

<p>I know that the engineering at Purdue is highly rated, but the computer science department is in the college of science, and I am not sure about how is the perception of the college of science in the outer world. Also, reading the posts, the idea I have got from various people is that though Penn State is a more laid back coursework as compared to Purdue, it is not similarly easy to get good grades at Penn State. My logic is, if I have to work hard to get good grades, better spend that hard work in a more challenging rewarding coursework, but I am not sure about whether my perception is true.</p>

<p>I might like to do a masters in the future, probably in algorithms (or may be some other related field, after all it is four years in the future), but I may need to work for two to three years before that to cover up some costs. </p>

<p>I would also like some knowledge of student academic environment in the schools. For example, how is the teaching in both the schools? I can master the materials, but I cannot do it completely on my own, I will need to attend classes to grasp them. It will also help me if I can have a tutor/classmate to reliably go to and ask my difficulties with concepts, even if the situation does not arise that often.</p>

2

<p>I would really say Penn State, for multiple reasons. But mainly because it is one of the top ten schools for CS</p>

3

<p>Flip a coin. Both are top notch schools about equally rated, with good jobs waiting for graduate talent, much R&D, etc. I know not much about Penn State, but Purdue is rapidly advancing as a stand out in all tech areas. They are putting their money into their new huge technical and research area, and their is a new huge computer science / engineering building that probably will be done in a year or less.</p>