<p>I visited Purdue today, and my biggest concern after going to the engineering department's information session and tour today is how much group work was stressed. I plan to do very well at Purdue, and group work has been an obstacle to my success in the past. It seems like a large portion of engineering students are foreign and have a different first language. I fear that I might have difficulty communicating with foreign students. Do the majority of foreign students speak good English? In addition, I've never been a fan of group work because I seem to be the one doing all the work. I'm sure it wouldn't be as bad at Purdue where the majority of students are driven to do well, but it still seems like there would be more capable and less capable (or less motivated) students stuck in the same group, since students aren't allowed to pick groups for themselves. I guess these questions aren't just directed at Purdue students but at students of prestigious engineering colleges everywhere. I think the group work situation would be different at less competitive schools. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks.</p>
<p>Hey I replied to your other post so you might be done with me but I am quite the Purdue fan and thought this website really helped me with my decision, so I will help you out:
On my tour, I learned that the group projects have like checkpoints for each person so that everyone is pulling their weight, so don’t be too concerned with it negatively impacting your grade. As far as doing the group work goes: Every engineering school I visited REALLY stressed the group work, one of them, WPI, has a project for every year that you complete, and the students really do some amazing things! The projects are really great for these students’ resumes and work experience, because they work with real world problems and solve them. This is what engineering (and pretty much all jobs) are all about- and old-fashioned memorizing and testing does not give you the same leg-up that doing real projects does. Bussinessweek ranked Purdue 2nd in the nation for preparing their graduates for the workforce, so clearly the group projects are working. Potential companies want to know that you can work with others to do creative, innovative things. Other people usually add a different perspective to a project than you would because we all think differently, which can be good in the way you tackle a task. And, honestly, are you preparing for independent exams you will be taking in life, or are you preparing to work with other people? As far as international students go- I am sure there could be a barrier there, but professors always make sure to balance the groups out to make it fair and ensure success. The groups are not usually pairs I believe, so a professor would not pair you with two international students who are not able to talk to you. And, your whole grade is not all on group work, so don’t worry. I know that they curve tests a lot, too in certain classes, so there is a plus. You will find that group-work is really important to life and to engineering and will help you later on when you try to get a job.</p>
<p>goingtocollegeee: Thanks again for your feedback. The checkpoints make me feel a lot better about the group work. There were a few projects throughout high school that I did by myself and was forced to put two other people’s names on before I handed it in. I’m sure the situation would be entirely different at Purdue, since there are checkpoints and everyone is motivated to get good grades.</p>