My daughter was fortunate to be accepted to several engineering programs. She has narrowed it down to these two. Any comments or advice on either program would be appreciated.
All else being equal, I would recommend Purdue. Both as a retired Engineer with some view into reputation in the marketplace and as a parent of a happy daughter Purdue MechE graduate from last year. Fwiw, USNews and other ratings agree.
Cost and fit are very important “all else is not equal” inputs to the decision. I always recommend students visit campus to see where they “fit”. D17 had several competing acceptances, but a weekend in West Lafayette made it an easy choice. We were also OOS for all of them, so Purdue was cheaper.
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I have a Purdue engineer studying chemical engineering. Purdue has far exceeded all our expectations. Happy to answer any specific questions you may have.
Cannot speak to NCS as it wasn’t on my D’s list.
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I have a child at neither although he spent a week in Summer at Purdue and loved it.
NC State is quickly becoming popular and is a fine school. One thing to note (when you visit) the engineering campus is a ways from the main campus.
If I recall, you can take a bus to it or walk 20 minutes or so. So that will impact the day to day - double check me, but that might have impact to you.
On the flipside, if you are out of state and requiring a flight, NC State will be closer to the airport.
Good luck - she’s going to be fine either way.
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New college graduates tend to get jobs and to live closer to where they went to college. So, a good question to ask is where she would like to live after college.
Is there a cost difference between these 2 choices?
Engineering has long been a male dominated field. Does this matter to her?
Interestingly there is research which suggests that paradoxically women are safer and are treated better by their male classmates on campuses where there are more men than women.
As with many colleges, both of these universities have been striving to increase their female enrollment in the College of Engineering. In the most recent data I could find, NC State shows 31% female and Purdue 26% female in their respective Colleges of Engineering. Overall, NC State is 48% female and Purdue 43% female enrollment. Perhaps these 2 schools would provide you with more current data upon request.
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I would try to visit both campuses and determine fit. Purdue is in a more remote area, about an hour from Indianapolis, about 3 hours from Chicago. NC State is in Raleigh, an urban environment, near the Research Triangle. I would worry less about rankings as engineers are in demand and recruiters are not going to base hiring on US News ratings when both schools have excellent reputations. Research her desired specialty, internships, co-op opportunities, and potential area where your student may live after graduation. Although my DS ended up in the complete opposite direction of his undergraduate location for graduate school! Also, what type of weather does your DD like? There is a big difference in the two. The best part about both schools is you don’t have to commit to a specific engineering major your first year. That allows your DD to pick the one best for her after actually taking coursework. Good Luck! My DS went through this not long ago and truthfully, as long as the program is ABET accredited and your DD keeps her GPA high, she will have many opportunities no matter where she lands.
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Both of first year undeclared engineering programs followed by secondary admission to major based on first year courses and grades (and perhaps other things).
Purdue basically assures admission to major with a 3.2 college GPA. Those below that GPA will be subject to competitive admission if their desired major is capacity limited (those currently capacity limited are listed at Transition to Major - School of Engineering Education - Purdue University ).
NCSU secondary admission to engineering majors is competitive. It used to have a “CODA calculator” web page that allowed estimating admission chances by college GPA, but no longer does. It has some statistics about number of applicants and admits to each major at CODA Statistics | College of Engineering but these do not include college GPA ranges.
Between the two, Purdue has less uncertainty about eventually getting into one’s desired engineering major.
Does cost differ or matter?
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What area of engineering is she interested in studying? Purdue’s reputation speaks for itself, so I don’t see how you can go wrong. NC State is coming on strong and the Raleigh-Durham area is one of the hottest STEM markets and best places to live in the country. Please check out the WISE program at NC State. Basically a sorority for women in engineering with excellent support in the lower division classes.
Either way, I think your daughter will do great! Congrats.
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