My daughter has gotten into Purdue Honors College (Physics) and UVA (Arts and Science). She now knows she doesn’t want to study physics but does want to study some type of science…perhaps neuroscience…and minor in Art History. We are torn. Honors college seems like a great program and it is half the price of UVA…but the UVA campus is so wonderful and UVA seems to have higher prestige. We are going back for admitted students day at each location to see if that helps.I think the honors college program at Purdue is only a few years old. Any advice would be REALLY appreciated.
If she wants to major in any kind of science most likely she will also need to go to graduate school.
Any savings from paying for undergrad tuition could be used to help pay for grad school.
She has to spend her next four years on campus so when she goes to admitted students days she will get a feel for which campus she likes better. Are you instate for any of these schools?
Nope out of state…and you are exactly right about graduate school…that is a huge factor…out of state for Purdue is 40k a year and UVA 60k…I think if she likes the Purdue campus then its a done deal for Purdue…just curious about peoples impression of the two schools…thanks so much for the feedback
UVA is an amazing school. Retention rate is very high which means kids are happy. Most kids graduate in 4 years which means you can get your classes. Its close to the beach, mountains, nation’s capital, horse country and many lakes. It is historic and the campus architecture is beautiful and thoughtfully designed. Charlottesville is a great college town and whether you have a car or not, many many things are accessible. It has great Greek life but if you dont go Greek there is much for you to do. There is incredible school spirit, but if you’d rather be a nerd, the library’s open too. There are lots of a capella groups and music programs and lots of really fun traditions theoughout the year.
I dont know anything about Purdue but UVA is worth considering!
oh thank you so so much! We visited UVA and it was the first school she said “Oh I could really see myself here”…it seemed pretty special…after a lot more research we think it really boils down to major…my daughter is not sure what she wants to major in…it seems at Purdue the program is superior but you are very restricted in majors (she is in the science college)…at UVA she could major in Neuroscience, Art History or Biology…I really appreciate all the feedback…we go visit both campuses over the next two weeks…feedback will help us ask good questions (like retention rate 
).
We went to the UVA admitted students day for engineers last week. I found them amazingly honest about things, which actually was surprising. I had always heard these were “dog and pony” shows…but they let the kids talk freely and we all found that helpful. My son will likely be going in the fall - the Day on the Lawn helped with that. It’s a great school, we found it way less “preppy” than we thought, which was a good thing for him. One big difference between the two is weather. I don’t know if that matters or not to her, but Indiana is much colder/snowier than Virginia. I have heard that Perdue is more similar to Virginia Tech (a techie/engineering type of school) than it is to UVa. (second hand though, so could be wrong).
Okay thanks! We are going to days on the lawn soon…we compared the list of majors between the Science College at Purdue and UVA arts and sciences. I think not knowing what she wants to study is a huge factor…Purdue is for sure a more tech/engineering type school…he dad is an engineer which is why he thinks it is best :)…my daughter may end up being an art history major…that wouldn’t work at Purdue very well…
@bellajack, both Purdue and UVA are excellent schools. I am UVA grad so I will admit to some bias in favor of my alma mater, but I live in Indiana and can tell you what I know about Purdue. Purdue is known as a top engineering program and excellent school for sciences. My daughter is a senior applying to colleges and all of her friends who want to major in Engineering are going to Purdue. It’s a school with devoted alumni who are widely regarded as smart and talented. The students we know who attend Purdue now say they love it and they were bright, well-rounded students who participated in sports, theatre, music and debate in high school. That being said, if any student ever said they were going to Purdue for non-math or science majors, we would think they just thought Indiana University was too big or had a Purdue family connection. My own daughter never considered Purdue because she intends to major in economics and international studies. (IU’s School of Global and International Studies would be great…if she wanted to go to IU).
You can really major in just about anything at UVA. I’m sure you’ve heard the widely stated advice that students (especially paying UVA’s OOS tuition) need to pick a major for which they can earn a good return on their tuition “investment.” I would suspect that UVA art history major will take you farther than the same major from Purdue. My experience (even 37 years later) is that UVA graduates from A&S are known to have a broad liberal arts degree and people rarely ask about your major. Even for folks living in Indiana, people would be more impressed by a degree from UVA.
I understand though that cost is a factor. You are talking $80K difference overall. I’m in a similar situation in that my daughter has an $8K scholarship and in state tuition at Indiana University Honors College but she has been accepted to UVA, Washington and Lee, Davidson, and Clemson Honors ($10K scholarship). Would I love to see her go to UVA? Of course, although it’s not a perfect school…advising? What advising? Well, maybe that’s improved, but I suspect it doesn’t compare to an LAC or what you get at a university with an Honors College. Despite that one down-side, I wouldn’t trade my 4 years in C-ville for anything.
oh gosh thank you so much…I think you said it all perfectly…UVA is strong in all majors…exactly my concern…I know if she goes to UVA she won’t regret it…worried if she goes to Purdue and decides she wants to study something other than a science she might regret it…I went to Davidson…I visited UVA many times when I was in college…it was a great experience.
I’m a current undergrad at Purdue and I’m majoring in Spanish and Creative Writing which definitely may seem odd given the school. I cannot speak for UVA at all but from what I have experienced so far, Purdue has good programs in fields outside of the sciences and engineering. This school wasn’t my first choice but I have ended up very happy here. Just my two cents good luck to you and your daughter!
thanks so much…we are headed there right now…thats very helpful to hear
You could be very surprised at the quality of non engineering education at Purdue. My child applied to several colleges and picked a technical college - known mostly for engineering - but my child is majoring in MUSIC! After visiting all the schools, and actually meeting the professors, it turned out that said engineering college truly had the best program for what my son was looking for! and he got accepted to all the schools he applied to. A very wise music teacher told us that if you go to a more well known music school, the professors are “well known/famous” and are traveling most of the time versus actually teaching. This teacher was in a professional symphony and was educated at a school not known for music.
The “engineering” college my child chose has a fabulous performing arts center, fabulous teachers and masterclasses by visiting musicians each and every week. But if you were to look on college confidential, the only posters for that university are engineering and science majors.
So I think it’s very important to not just GO to the campus but to try and meet some professors in the discipline your daughter is interested in (art history). I think you would be pleasantly surprised.
I also agree with the poster about $$ consideration. Grad school is definitely in my child’s future and the school he picked was also one of the cheapest (yay!) - leaving lots leftover for any grad school of his choosing.
So after our visit to Purdue my daughter has decided on another school…but I will say I was super impressed…and if she wanted to study Engineering it would be the ideal college…seems like a fantastic program.
Hello, Bellajack, so your daughter is going to attend UVA?