Engineering at Purdue

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi, I'm an international student from India heading off to Purdue University this fall. I have been accepted into the College of Engineering(major intended : Computer Engg). I was also accepted into UIUC, Texas A&M and UCSD (all CmpE). But, I chose Purdue by choice and also due to the cheaper tuition fee. It was almost that when I was applying to all these schools, I knew I was going to Purdue if I got accepted there regardless of whatever happened with the other ones. Moreover, all I did while selecting my schools was just check the engineering rankings within the US and even worldwide.</p>

<p>Whenever I have visited this website and searched anything related to Purdue, I was really shocked to see many people talking it down. Then, after continuous reading and comparing all the posts, I see that the only reason they talk the school down is because of its high acceptance rate.
My scores were as follows:
ACT - 30 (36/36 in Math & 33/36 in Eng)
Toefl ibt - 105
SAT II - Math 2-800, Math 1-790, Chem - 750, Physics - 790
Do you really think I don't deserve a good engineering education just because my school accepts a lot of students? The reason I mentioned my Math and Science scores is because I see no point in being a great test-taker in the English language inorder to be a great engineer. I was rejected by UM-Ann Arbor, UT-Austin,UCLA and UCB(UCB was a reach for me). But I really didnt know why those schools that rejected me did so inspite of my great abilities and promise and scores in the core engineering related subjects that I could appear for in standardized testing.
I also would have applied to Georgia Tech but really didnt know that the international applicant deadline was Dec 15th. It was a big blow when I had discovered that. Otherwise, do you think I could have been accpeted into Georgia Tech?
Please don't mind the length of this thread as I really want to find the answers to all the questions that I have posted here.</p>

2

<p>It doesn’t matter where you could have been accepted, you’re going to Purdue. From what I’ve read, Purdue is a fantastic engineering school. You’ll get hands on practice with numerous opportunities for research.</p>

<p>Plenty of great schools have high acceptance rates, either because they’re unknown or they’re in less competitive states (California has vastly more people than Indiana which is partially why UCLA and Berkeley admit such a small percent of applicants). Case Western and Rose Hulman are phenomenal engineering schools, yet they both accept over 60% of all applicants. You’ll find brilliant people at Purdue who were attracted to it, either because of its cost, or philosophy regarding engineering.</p>

<p>The US educational system is not like India. Having a hyper low acceptance rate does not necessarily indicate that a school or program is good, only that a lot of people have heard of it.</p>

3

<p>Thank you for your response! I never doubted the quality of the engineering program there. I was highly disturbed seeing all these comments regarding Purdue engineering. Your response was very reassuring.</p>

4

<p>A very good choice! Purdue is regarded as one of the best engineering schools in the USA. Please stop worrying:)</p>

5

<p>Thanks Rintu! I have indeed stopped thinking about all the negatives now. There is just too much to look forward to. So much work to do ahead.</p>

6

<p>Purdue is a very good engineering school. I chose UIUC over Purdue, but I would have had no reservations about attending school in West Lafayette.</p>