Down to the wire. Aerospace, mechanical or chemical engineering. Purdue honors college or Notre Dame. Same cost to attend either school.
Same cost? Both ABET accredited? Feel free to pick the one you like better, or the one that has more options if you change majors, or the one where you don’t need to keep a certain GPA to keep a merit scholarship.
No merit. ND is a meets need school. If anyone is familiar with either program that would be helpful. ND is top 20 school overall but Purdue is top 10 engineering. Do employers favor one over the other? I could not visit either school because of COVID 19. Can anyone provide insight?
ND was my D’s top choice on paper. She went to a Brother of the Holy Cross HS with lots of ND grads on staff. After visiting, she didn’t even apply. She’s at Purdue in honors college which quickly rose to be her first choice after visiting 15 schools. So, take what I’m going to say in the context of a very happy Purdue parent.
These schools have very different approaches to engineering. At Purdue, you will have an engineering design course from day one. You start out as an engineering student. Other than your required english course, you will be doing all STEM.
At ND, you don’t declare until sophomore year and have a number of theology and philosophy requirements. Freshman year curriculum looks very much the same for most ND students regardless of intended major. Probably lots more flexibility at ND if you decide engineering isn’t for you.
D was very underwhelmed with the labs and facilities at ND. She also wasn’t thrilled with the lack of enthusiasm of the prof she met with.
Purdue felt much more career readiness focused to her. Lots of emphasis on internships and co-ops. She didn’t feel that at all at ND.
I would strongly advise you to look at the 4 year plan of study for your intended major at both schools. Also look at what AP courses are accepted. Read the student newspapers. Watch youtube videos made by students.
These schools felt polar opposite to our D.
That said, the students we know at ND love it there. It totally depends on what you are looking for.
PS. My D is finishing up her second year. She’s a chem e. Purdue has far exceeded our expectation and honors college has been amazing!
Indiana resident here – Purdue is a tippy top engineering school, and Honors is just the cherry on top. ND is a perfectly fine engineering program, but nothing like Purdue. If someone felt deeply about the Catholic mission of ND, or had full ride etc. at ND, then I could see leaning towards ND, but otherwise, no real comparison.
Unless you’re really in love with Notre Dame, I’d go with Purdue for an engineering degree.
I totally forgot about the Theology requirements, go with Purdue.