Hi, I applied in Purdue and Penn College of Engg. Accepted in Penn, rejected in Purdue but accepted in their Polytechnic college. Need help in understanding the difference between the polytechnic and college of engineering from a career perspective. For practical purposes, what is the difference between the two? What stream has ‘better’ jobs? What’s the diff in the salaries? What will my final degree say when I graduate? Can I switch between the two?
In between Purdue Polytechnic and Penn State College of Engineering, what do you recommend? Thanks for the help.
Do you mean Penn or Penn State? Those are two different schools.
Penn State
Have you looked here/ https://polytechnic.purdue.edu/about
WOW we are exactly in same situation. I also got into penn state engineering and rejected in Purdue but accepted in their Polytechnic college.
I decided to go Purdue Polytech because Purdue is much more cheaper hehe
Purdue Polytechnic only offers “Technology” degrees, not Engineering degrees…I’m I correct? I would take the Penn State Engineering degree over Purdue Polytechnic Technology degree.
Many thanks. We have now ruled out the Polytechnic option.
It looks like Purdue non-engineering students need to change into first year engineering:
https://engineering.purdue.edu/ENE/Academics/FirstYear/CODO
then change into the desired engineering major:
https://engineering.purdue.edu/ENE/Academics/FirstYear/T2M
I.e. it is simpler and less stressful to attend a school where one is already in the major, or change into it with no GPA or other admission hurdle, assuming that the other school is affordable, than to start Purdue as a non-engineering major and hope to get a high enough GPA to pass the admission processes to get into your desired engineering major.
all of you have been very helpful, and I have now decided to close the Purdue Polytechnic option. Please help me understand the system of college credits. What does credit awarding mean. As an IB student, I have, for example, 4 credits awarded to me by Penn State if I pass Math HL with a min score of 5. What impact does a credit award have? Does this mean that i have to attend less classes? OR write less exams to qualify for the next semester? How is the GPA calculated then?
You would get credit for those classes and take have those credits on your record toward your degree. You can take the next course in the series or, if you fulfill a set of distribution requirements, you can take a totally different class (or take a lighter load to start with). Usually a grade doesn’t go with the credit so you’re still starting at 0 for that. Ask the college for specifics.
I would recommend you take the AP tests for your SL subjects, since credit isn’t given for SL whereas the relevant Ap does bring credit, and SL//AP in many cases.
If you get credits for your IB HLs, it means you can take 3 classes of your choosing instead of 3 classes of Penn State’s choosing, provided the 3 HLs cover gen eds (which they typically do). Or, you could take a lighter courseload your first semester or later on.
You don’t have to take exams to qualify for the next semester, unless you fail them (which would indicate you didn’t go to class, didn’t study, didn’t go to office hours, didn’t go see the free tutors… in short, that you did it to yourself.)
Penn State’s IB credit chart is listed at http://admissions.psu.edu/academics/credit/ib/ .
For example, http://admissions.psu.edu/academics/credit/ib/math/ says that a score of 5 on IB math HL earns credit for Math 140 (calculus 1). You may wish to review the Math 140 old final exams ( https://www.math.psu.edu/ug/courses/math140/sampleexams ) before selecting a more advanced math course to start college in.
In that case, the student could easily get credit for 140 and 141 in terms of content, so getting credit for precalculus and Calc1 sounds very minimal. Starting in 141 for a math HL student should pose no problem. The above test will be useful though to review American ways of presenting math + gauging the level + preparing for the placement test. 
Hi, I’d like to refer to the original question, which was never really answered, as my son is in that same situation right now.
He also applied to Purdue and Penn State College of Engineering . Accepted to Penn. State, rejected from Purdue College of Engineering (I believe the reason was that spaces were not available), but accepted to their Polytechnic Institute .
Does the Purdue’s Polytechnic Institute have the same reputation as its College of Engineering ? Do employers think as highly of the Institute as Purdue’s College of Engineering? If not, what are the chances of trying to switch into it after the first year?
Thank you for any insights.
Re: #13
Purdue Polytechnic offers different majors (engineering technology) compared to Purdue Engineering (engineering).
If you attend Purdue, then you will have to switch to Engineering if you want to study an engineering (instead of engineering technology) major. This is not guaranteed. Go back and read replies #3, #5, #7.