Marquette vs. Purdue engineering?

<p>Son has nice scholarship from Marquette and he was impressed by the new ewngineering building, but we just don't know that much about Marquettes program( and obviously it doesn't compare to Purdue in rankings...). Son wants to study mechanical engineering. When we tell people he is considering Marquette most people are surprised Marquette has an engineering program! We are oos for Purdue so he will definately have to take out loans...</p>

<p>Hmmmm…i was hoping to hear some positives abour Marquette that I could pass along to my son.</p>

<p>Liddle, if you search this forum for “engineering” you’ll find a fair amount.</p>

<p>I don’t know where you live but certainly in MN and WI Marquette is highly regarded for engineering. I worked in a lab at 3M in St. Paul for many years and worked with many MU engineering grads.</p>

<p>A key benefit to MU’s program is that they basically wrote the book on co-oping, in which the student alternates semesters at real job assignments with semesters of study. It takes longer to graduate but the experience is invaluable. My wife went to Marquette for engineering, and by the time she graduated she’d worked a semester in each of three different 3M divisions and in 3 different job functions. Obviously this put her in an awesome position when looking for her first job.</p>

<p>As for Purdue, I went there for engineering my freshman year and found it to be extremely conservative. The social scene was dominated by the Greek system. That was many years ago but if you read elsewhere on CC you’ll see that hasn’t changed much. Do visit both campuses overnight to make sure you understand each one’s vibe.</p>

<p>Liddlekiddle - here’s a few added comments:</p>

<p>I’ll re-emphasize Marquette’s co-op program as I was a cop-op during my time there. Although I was initially against adding another year to college, I really can’t stress the value it provided. A grad today needs every ounce of experience and accomplishments to distinguish himself from others for jobs or other career choices. While Purdue does offer a cop-op program, the program at Marquette is one of the oldest and most established and is very well supported by the faculty and staff. Check their website for more details. Although it will add 1 year to school, think of the outstanding experience plus the substantial $$ earned while at work (and no tuition bill during the work cycle!). Your son will stand apart from those without the experience (plus have earned some decent money).</p>

<p>I’m willing to bet that Marquette’s scholarship has resulted in lower costs than OOS tuition at Purdue. Turning down OOS tuition offer with no aid should be an easy decision. No school is worth a massive debt load.</p>

<p>Lastly, consider school sizes and location. Purdue’s enrollment is much larger which seems less personal. Don’t expect to be coddled at Marquette due its smaller size, but smaller class sizes and environment do have an advantage. Not much of a Greek scene at Marquette, which I preferred - it’s not really needed for socializing as there’s always something to do outside of the university in the larger urban area of Milwaukee. Also gotta like Marquette’s new engineering building which shows the school’s commitment to engineering education. More expansion is planned.</p>