Purdue Engineering Co-ops

<p>This is just an FYI for those considering Purdue. Our D is a freshman. She is declaring as an ME. She had 6 co op interviews last week. She has 2 offers and had a second interview for a third today. That is the number one reason she chose Purdue. After one semester, these kids are in demand! Obviously, a Purdue education is valued in the market place.</p>

<p>Ok…bottom line, out of 6 co op interviews, our daughter got 4 offers. She accepted one which will pay her a salary, housing stipend, and will pay for partial tuition…her senior year, they will pay 100% of her tuition. She will work for this company every other semester for the next 4 years. So, is a Purdue engineering degree worth it?</p>

<p>Very interesting! My son visited Purdue and is interested. Can you tell me a little about the co-ops? I am not really familiar. This would really help with the tuition.</p>

<p>Your daughter is VERY fortunate! She must have interviewed really well. Our son is also a freshman in the FYE program at Purdue, declared ChE as his major, and had 5 interviews. Unfortunately, he did not receive a single offer. He is very disappointed and we are heartbroken for him. He has worked so hard and made Dean’s List first semester. He even had an engineering internship his Sr. year of high school. Do not understand why some are getting offers and others not. Was told that 20% more students applied this year, though, and we really feel from the feedback we are hearing that females have had an advantage as there are so very few of them in the progams. Was also told that it is unusual for one student to get more than one offer. He is down but not out…really admire his drive and that he already has plans to continue his pursuit of a co-op!</p>

<p>My son is at CWR . He had a lucrative co-op with GE in his junior year . I think many schools have co-ops for ME majors .</p>

<p>I also understand that there were many more opportunities for ME’s. I also know another mom, whose son is also a chem e and did not get an offer. But, I agree with you, that your son should continue to work with the co op office, and that something will come up. We have friends whose son is now a senior, and even 4 years ago, there were only 2 companies in the chem e co op program.
Last year, Purdue did make a commitment to bring in more women engineers. They actually increased their women enrollment by 33 percent. One cannot deny that women candidates are really desirable in a male dominated industry. The company that hired our daughter also hired a male co op student.
I hope something comes through for your son. I only wanted to share for parents and kids that are on the fence about Purdue. Our daughter chose Purdue over much smaller private schools for their strength in the industry.</p>

<p>We were always told that ChE’s had one of the highest, if not the highest, number of companies recruiting and that in the past they had a 75-80% placement rate! But again, I guess this year they had 20% more students applying due to the recent economy and concerns over finding jobs. Son also had the experience when interviewing and discussing living arangements that companies would hire one male and one female student, so the smaller number of females had a much better chance of getting an offer. Hopefully, something will come across his radar soon! :)</p>