I am a senior trying to decide between Purdue and Michigan State. I am from Ohio, so I do not qualify for in state tuition at either but the financial aid packages are similar and wouldn’t pose an issue. I want to study Supply Chain Management and am truly torn about which school to attend. I love Michigan, my entire extended family lives there, and I used to live there and I think I would love being back in Michigan. Despite this, I think Purdue is a much better school quite frankly I probably should not have been accepted to. Which should I pick?
I’d be willing to answer questions specific to Purdue if you have any. Although I don’t know much about your specific major, I do know that Michigan State is ranked as the #1 college for that major. Purdue is an awesome school but ranked #9 for that major.
You might benefit from making a list of pros & cons. In the end you should decide based on which campus feels most like home or like the best fit. Don’t forget to factor in things like being close to family if thats important to you.
They are both in the top 10 so I don’t think you can go wrong with either school. (In full disclosure I used to live in Michigan too but I root for the other school GO BLUE! and I have a child who currently attends Purdue)
Best of Luck in your decision
I’m pretty familiar with both universities. Very similar in lots of ways. Here are some differences: MSU’s proximity to Detroit would seem to make it better if you wanted to get into the automobile industry; Purdue’s campus is fairly compact for a big university, while MSU’s is spread out–if long walks aren’t your thing, Purdue might be better; I’m pretty sure the male: female ratio at MSU is pretty even–Purdue has historically had more males than females. Also, Lansing/East Lansing are quite a bit bigger & livelier than Lafayette/West Lafayette.
One other thing to keep an eye on is this whole gymnastics scandal involving a doctor at MSU. Nobody knows exactly how it might impact MSU overall, but some gigantic lawsuits & administrative turmoil appear to loom on the horizon
@Student4786
They are both great schools. My wife and I are both Sparties. We met in college there and both had a great experience there. Having said that, I have the utmost respect for Purdue. They are terrific. If one of our kids wanted to attend Purdue, I would be very happy about that.
I would visit both and see what you prefer. You are more likely to be successful where you feel at home and believe you will be successful. That will probably matter the most. Is there something that MSU’s higher ranked program offers that is a unique opportunity? Is there something about Purdue being higher ranked broadly that would be a benefit to you? What excites you? If you just feel more pumped about Purdue, go for it!
Purdue is NOT a “much better school” than MSU. They are peer universities. The only disciplines where Purdue is clearly better than MSU are the Engineering fields. Other than that, they are about the same.
Besides, given your intended field, it is MSU that has the academic edge. Michigan State’s Supply Chain program is world-famous (constantly ranked #1 nationally).
Also, I think campus life at MSU is richer. If you like the state of Michigan because of family ties, I think MSU is a no-brainer.
Best way to know is to tour both campuses. Purdue is a super competitive school with their popular majors, so be aware that getting into the school is only half the journey. I’m not sure how competitive MSU is.
Read the recent letter from Purdue President Mitch Daniels to get a sense of the school’s culture. https://www.purdue.edu/president/email/2017/1701-med-openletter-full.html
@Jmek15 I know that Purdue engineers are highly respected, but I do not agree with some of the statements in that letter.
- "average grades across U.S. institutions have climbed to levels where it is impossible to tell which students are truly outstanding or well prepared"
This statement is asserted as fact and without evidence. It isn’t clear to me what the purpose exactly what the purpose of a GPA is.
- "Our faculty, under the auspices of the University Senate, has undertaken a look at the status of rigor at Purdue. They are considering three questions: 1) Is a Purdue degree truly harder to earn than degrees at most other schools? 2) If so, do we believe that is a desirable situation and goal? 3) If so, what can be done across a university of ten colleges and more than 2,000 faculty to maintain that rigor?"
Shouldn’t question 1. be, “Does a Purdue degree truly imply more knowledge that degrees at most other schools?” Harder doesn’t seem to matter if you don’t learn from it.
Also, Michigan and UVA have high rigor, but higher grades. Does Purdue have higher rigor than Michigan and UVA? Can they show that Purdue’s rigor can only be achieved via grade deflation?
I really admire Purdue’s engineers, but I think they could achieve it without grade deflation.
“Read the recent letter from Purdue President Mitch Daniels to get a sense of the school’s culture. https://www.purdue.edu/president/email/2017/1701-med-openletter-full.html.”
Purdue’s “culture” includes buying a for profit school:
'http://www.businessinsider.com/purdue-university-bought-for-profit-kaplan-university-2017-5
Of course MSU currently is having its own problems with public perception.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-ncaa-michigan-state-larry-nassar-20180123-story.html
Their president needs to go. MSU is going to suffer if she doesn’t.
I doubt there will be much of an effect on students at MSU due to the Nassar scandal. The president and a few trustees will go, some people at the hospital and medical school will leave, and life will go on. There is going to be a lot of fallout in athletics, mostly due to the incoherent comments by Izzo and some of the other coaches, plus gymnastics (obviously), but for your average student it will just be a blip.
For supply chain the choice is pretty obvious, attend MSU.
^^^^I agree TooOld4School if, and it’s a big if right now, President Simon gets fired or resigns. Charitable giving is going to suffer for sure if the president doesn’t leave.
@rjkofnovi I think you are right that charitable giving and public perception are big aspects of the President’s position, so if those are negatively impacted, then the President has to go. The Trustees seem to be oblivious about this aspect so far.
If everyone at MSU was working in good faith and the process just failed, then MSU needs to get very open publicly about how that could happen, and what has been done to ensure that it does not happen again. So far, they seem to be attempting the ostrich approach and that is not going to work.
The need a publicity crisis manager to guide them through this.