I am going to apply as a mechanical engineer or an aerospace engineer major. I am planning to apply to Purdue University under these two majors and I am pretty sure I have a good shot. The only thing I am concerned with is the ranking of the university. Are the majors good at Purdue University?
If I graduate from Purdue with a B.S. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering will it look good as University of Illinois @ Urbana and other colleges at that level.
I believe those departments at Purdue are really quite famous as some of the best in the country. Are you going for your Doctorate, is that why you are looking at Doctoral program rankings? And I don’t see Purdue in bad company there, do you?
Short answer …yes. Be aware that you are accepted into their First Year Engineering program. You then choose your first three choices in majors the second semester of your freshman year. After completing the FYE requirements they will place you in your major. The better your grades the greater the likelihood you will be placed in your preferred major. Some majors like BME and ChemE are pretty competitive typically requiring GPAs over 3.2. Purdue is known for not inflating grades so those GPAs are not a foregone conclusion.
I know two or three people who chose Rose Hulman because they weren’t accepted into Purdue’s engineering school. They were in state too. It seems to cater more to out of state students.
@BrownParent - I am looking at undergraduate engineer programs not doctoral.
@mom2collegekids - I am going to take financial aid, but is an engineering degree from Purdue valued in the top 10 in the nation?
@Ivvcsf - Do you think it is really stressful there? Do all the students get placed in their top 3 choice of majors?
@Moonshot99 - Thanks for the illustration. To me it appears that it is almost impossible to graduate with a 3.2 GPA
@50N40W - Isn’t Purdue’s admission rate extremely lenient, even for engineering? Both Rose - Hulman and Purdue are about the same acceptance rate. Did the people you know have good standardized test scores?
It may be lenient to get into the university but not so much into the school of engineering. Actually, I know of someone who was denied entry into the school of nursing (but still admitted to the university).
These are in state students, generally with good enough stats to get into Rose Hulman. It might in fact be easier for out of state students to be accepted into the school of engineering but I don’t know that. In talking with some of our company’s interns from Purdue, I’m starting to get that impression, but again I don’t have anything other than anecdotal data.
I was ok that DD crossed it off her list after a visit.
The school is well regarded, and I’ve no complaints about the engineers I work with who went.there. Some of them are really good, and some aren’t. Just like anyplace else.
I don’t know what the breakdown is in state vs out of state, and my impressions of that are based on conversations with peers who went there and peers whose children applied, plus some out of state peers, and interns of course.
I’m not fond of large classes although UIUC is supposedly worse than Purdue in that regard. Not a big fan of basket or football, but many large Midwestern schools are going to have those problems.
My deep suspicion is, that for undergraduate work, most kids will be better off with an ABET school where all the classes are taught by profs and only a tiny few have 75 students, not 400 or more (we’ve heard up to 1000 - at one of Purdue’s competitors).
60k saved on an undergrad from humble ABET U can go a long way toward a graduate degree at a large research U. And that’s where Purdue, Much, UIUC, Ohio State and others really shine.
This is just my opinion, however, and i might be wrong.
For us, though, were pretty certain that DD can get a comparable education at less cost - and (or because) we’re in state. If she’d loved the visit, we’d probably be planning to see what kind of aid they offer, but the NPC was not encouraging. IIt just sort of feels like they don’t want in state students for whatever reason.
For instance, a coworker’s daughter is going to U Chicago for less.than IU was going to cost. I don’t know her stats, but that’s kind of what it looks like from within the state.
As others have said ABET accreditation in the field of study is important.
It may be that your stats are high enough for enough merit that you may be left with room and board and other misc costs - which student scholarships can help some, but working and if your parents are going to help you some.
You need to find out. You cannot borrow an unlimited amount as UG - need a co-signer, and parents may be unwilling. I know I am when my students have affordable options and will graduate debt free.
You want to apply to some safety schools that you can afford and that you can be admitted into the degree plan you want to pursue.
Do not look at lists of schools and think going to Purdue is going to have the best outcome for you no matter what the amount of debt. Your initial post statement about ranking is naive to be blunt.
Student success as a UG is not just measured by GPA either - although first employers do look at that.
Look at schools you can be successful at that fit your pocketbook (or have as little UG debt as possible).
There are CC posters that can help guide you, but you also need to look at things realistically so that you apply to enough of the right schools so you truly have some choices when all is said and done.
Some students find that they will have a hard time with room and board and other costs for 4 years - so they begin with getting some of the first two year requirements done while commuting from home and even working a PT job so they can save up money for when they do ‘go away’ to college. Entering freshman may get four year scholarships, so need to weigh out those factors. I ran into a friend whose son was considering starting at local CC, yet his stats are good for getting scholarship at local public University - which financially will be a fantastic route for him; had I not seen them, they may not have done the testing and application process in time for him to take advantage of this.
Yeah, we were told to expect an in-state cost of around 22-24 (tuition, fees, r&b) after any scholarships. One thing that sends me up a wall is the tuition is elevenish, but there are an extra thousand or so in fees for engineering school. Blink and you’ll miss it.
28-30k a year tuition for nonresident.
The challenges of picking a school are more complex than they seem, and in my experience and opinion, rankings are overrated, particularly for an ABET engineering program.
You’re OOS. You’re not going to get financial aid from Purdue. All you’ll get is a small loan.
Have your parents run the Purdue net price calculator.
You won’t even qualify for any merit, not that Purdue gives much merit.
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ACT with writing - 26
English (26), Math (31), Reading (24), Science (22)
SAT - 1740
Math (660), Critical Reading (510), Writing (570)
(I’m planning to take the tests above another time, I will most likely improve by at least 1 point on the ACT, and 100 on the SAT)
It is my understanding that grades tend to be bifurcated. The better students have GPAs of 3.5 and above and another cluster closer to 2.5. Purdue can be easier to be admitted to than other schools with similar reputations but not easier to get out of. I don’t know what the percentage of students get accepted to their top choice. I believe they have a much larger ME than some others. I cannot answer your question concerning how stressful it is because it really depends on you, your willingness to work hard and your study habits. The thing is I believe that might be said of any engineering program.
Just to give you an idea of cost, my son is starting there this fall in CS. CS has the same tuition cost adder as engineering ($2050/year). Without his scholarship, the cost for tuition, room and board is $40,718/year. We are out of state.
If you don’t have sixty to eighty thousand dollars cash just sitting around, this plan will cause much grief, I think.
You can get an ABET ME degree where your expense will be 15-20k a year, I believe. Just not at Purdue, and probably not at UIUC. Some astonishing percentage of successful engineers don’t go to the top rated engineering schools, and they still get jobs, promotions, patents, and other success.
A little recalibration will make your life much more tranquilo.
Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.
Basically ABET certified schools are going to have a fairly similar set of courses. Kind of like how colleges are regionally accredited, this applies to engineering and CS specifically. Search-engine the wiki.