Popped in here as I’m feeling nostalgic. My son will graduate in May and I thought I’d share a bit of his experience. He was accepted EA to FYE and wait listed for honors. This felt like a blow at the time. He did get invited off the wait list to Shreve, but at that point was planning to room with his best friend who was not honors and declined. He received some advice from someone in his shoes now that internships were more important than honors in the long run - just his opinion.
The next hurdle was housing.To my great disappointment he was assigned and apartment In Purdue Village which is about as far as you can get from engineering classes. As often happens it all worked out and he didn’t care as much as I did. What was I going on about the traditional dorm experience when he only had to share a bath with 4, ha.
He intended to choose chemical engineering, but after the FYE exploration he chose nuclear. He said it was because there was more math and physics involved (not sure if he’s mine at this point).
The last curve ball was January of freshman year he went to the Co-Op info stuff and decided to do that instead of interviewing for internships each year (hello 5 year plan) . He now has a job lined up with that company after graduation. Enjoy the ride everyone!
From a career outcome POV internships are absolutely, 100% more important than Honors…in my opinion. You can’t even note Honors on job apps.
Honors are great for the student if the offerings help provide a better experience. For career outcomes, I see no advantage. Different schools but same concept.
100% agree that internships and coops are the key to being hired out of undergrad.
That said, for students accepted to honors, there are some pathways within honors college that allow for some earlier work experiences. My D had much more undergraduate work experience than the vast majority of her peers and much of that was directly because of honors.
If you are accepted or come off the wait list, IMO, I’d give serious consideration to accepting the spot.
thank you sharing the comment from AO. I was wondering how different schools at Purdue accepted outside CS/Engineering. I have S24 that is interested in applying. If others who got results in other schools share profile, that would be helpful.
Usually the major specific information is locked in the data digest. Your best source of info is from the department themselves. We’ve found the admins in the department to be super helpful. Don’t hesitate to reach out!
I think you have to go this route - of talking to the department and your academic advisor. Applying to your specific major is contingent on so many personal factors and the current state of things in the student body. Your GPA matters - So get the best grades possible (duh, we always say that - but it actually comes into play when applying to your major). So your application to CS or Mech E or whatever – your GPA matters, but it also matters how many FYE candidates are applying to that major at that time. It’s a lot of real time data that you cannot necessarily predict from one year to the next. Departments may adjust their faculty assignments to maximize the flow of class needs…ALL kinds of things. Certain majors are more popular/competitive than others - but they usually start by setting the minimum GPA bar to apply.
If get ends up going to Purdue for Aviation Management, he can try to transfer into Pro Flight. If he successful, then spend the summer flying to catch up. I hope he got into other pro flight/pilot programs. If he is in Virginia, hopefully he applied and got into Auburn, another popular one. I would recommend he or his parent join the FB group Raising Aviation Teens. Good luck to him!
Thanks for sharing your experience. My S23 is currently wrestling with accepting Honors and having a random roommate or declining and choosing a learning community to room with one of his several accepted friends. I figure it will all work out either way, but we have a visit to the honors college scheduled to make sure he has more info and a vibe check before making a decision. It would also help if he actually made sure any of the friends are up for rooming together in an lc, but I think he doesn’t want to open that discussion until he’s closer to deciding about the HC.
We know current and graduated students who hold varying opinions about Honors, which kind of isn’t helping as they’re all over the map.
Some long conversations in our household in the coming days. Son really wanted Purdue for Aerospace, but was deferred. Got GaTech Aero acceptance today, but that means a big city, which isn’t his first choice.
While I’ve been a lurker on these forums just absorbing information, I appreciate all of the info everyone has provided and their perspectives, especially those with current students.
Hopefully he also has an acceptance at a school that will fit him. Ga tech may be elite but if it doesn’t fit I’d find a place that will as he’ll be spending four years there, day after day.
Has he visited GT? It has a true college feel. Does not feel urban at all when you are on campus. I would highly encourage a visit if he hasn’t yet - may be pleasantly surprised. We know lots of kids there and they all love it. They have admitted student tours available his portal. My son got in both and is headed to GT;)
One big plus to us is GT’s size. Purdue is almost twice as big.
Right now he also has acceptance in-state to CU-Boulder (no slouch in the Aerospace arena), but he did want to venture beyond state boundaries. A GT campus visit will definitely be in our future
You can’t go wrong with Purdue or Georgia Tech. But while the GT campus may feel suburban (to some), the surrounding area is most certainly not, which has pros and cons. Purdue is similar to UIUC in terms of being a land grant University in a small college town. The area surrounding GT is urban, and there are legitimate safety concerns that you don’t have (to the same extent) in West Lafayette. That said, my DD goes to the University of Southern California, which is very much an urban campus, and she loves it.
We haven’t visited yet, but I think a trip to Atlanta will be in our near future. I went from a small town growing up to college in Pittsburgh, and loved it. So maybe he’ll have the same experience!
I agree you have to be aware you are in a big city when you leave the Georgia Tech campus. However, Georgia Tech police do a fantastic job of keeping the campus and immediately surrounding area safe. I have a child at Georgia Tech and a child at UGA in Athens, and I worry much more about my Athens child being a victim of crime than my Georgia Tech kid. Georgia Tech is in midtown Atlanta which is booming and a very desirable place for young people to live. Very different from downtown Atlanta.