Purdue visit 4/2013

Colleges and Universities A-Z Purdue University
1

<p>Just got back from our visit at Purdue in W. Lafayette - very impressed! Worth the trip!</p>

<p>1) The overall campus is "spotless" extremely clean and we were told that this is how the school is at all time. New recreational center - like Nike gym (modern design), very impressive and have lots to offers in all levels! New resident halls in building process and a few new bldgs. </p>

<p>3) Dorm room is good size, not too too crowded but semi old, multiple showers in one area for the whole wings to share, no private sinks in your room. Co-ed dorms are seperated into men's and ladies' wings, not mixed up. A lot of study area and lounge. Cafeteria is "all you can eat" with very good varieties of food - top dining. College town but don't feel like small college town at all. Students look happy but also show signs of hard work. Buses to shopping mall and all around.</p>

<p>2) Every staffs, students or anyone that we encounter are extremely friendly, helpful and resourceful. Goodl follow up. Website is very well organized and most informative as well. </p>

<p>3)My daughter visited 4 classes : CGT, CS and CNIT classes. She loves the professors, very direct, interactive more than one way lecture and the classes were more fun and not boring as she thought some might be. Professors are high calibur but not stuck up, very friendly and really shows that they want the students to be successful. </p>

<p>*** Seeing the campus continues to build many new buildings (facilities) and grow with new initiatives (more projects and all), convinced us to believe that this school is funded and is not hindered by economy at all but well supported financially.</p>

<p>4) Attend the opening ceremony, listen to provosts and professors: short, informative and fun speeches. The contents are mostly on the "global vision" level, intend to educate you to be global leaders and citizens. </p>

<p>5) Projects in classes are " real projects from companies" that brought in house for students to learn and work on. You apply what you learn, very interesting to my child. </p>

<p>6) The first impression my child said about the school is "students walk with a purpose", showed by their body language! </p>

<p>7) School offers 5-year and 3-year Co-op program; internship and overseas internship. We learned this from one of the professors. Love it! </p>

<p>8) Does it worth to pay out-of-state? We have very good in-state scholarships ( all tuition paid) and for Purdue $43 K (less $6k scholarship). Our child wants a true campus and university experience and it is once in a life time. The calibur of the professors, how they teach and the global visions (comparing to Oregon State U), convinced us to choose Purdue at this time. </p>

<p>Hope this help many others to decide where to go.</p>

2

<p>Thank you for this post! My husband and son are there today visiting the campus and I got way more information from you than them! We are OOS too, so it is hard to get to from where we live and expensive for a public school, but its amazing engineering reputation made it worth checking out. They still have a few more schools to visit before any decisions are made, but it is hard to not be there with them to see for myself.</p>

3

<p>Glad it is helpful to you. Will try to post some pictures later tonight or tmr.</p>

4

<p>Our daughter chose Purdue engineering and we are Oregonians too (she is a sophomore)…from Tualatin…good luck…she has a 5 term co-op!</p>

5

<p>We live in Oregon and my son is trying to decide between Oregon State, Purdue and Northeastern for engineering. He has an older sibling at Oregon State in engineering and the honors program at Oregon State has been great. I feel that Oregon State has the best honors program of the three schools but Purdue is definitely trying to revamp their program and looking to other schools for direction (including Oregon State). I am curious about the coop program at Purdue. My son feels that he would have to go to a lot of work to find a coop and that he would probably have to coop in the midwest. What are your thoughts on that? Did you find the coop process to be fairly easy? Oregon state has MECOP and my son has been selected into it but he feels that the coops may not be as exciting as those he could get at Purdue or Northeastern. I am also wondering about the freshman design courses at Purdue. Was it a good experience? I feel that this is one thing missing from the Oregon State curriculum. We visited Purdue about three years ago and I felt that the facilities were impressive.</p>

6

<p>One more question about Purdue - has the shuttle from Ohare to West Lafayette gone smoothly? We have been wondering if there are any problems with late shuttles, etc.? Thanks!</p>

7

<p>Helen22…your son is right. Big difference between the MECAP program and Purdue’s co op program. The MECP program gives the kids minimal experience with a lot of companies; Purdue’s co-op program gives the students almost 2 years work experience with the same company. On the engineering co op page, there are specifics as to where the co ops are, and yes…a majority of them are in IN and the Midwest. The co ops are not guaranteed; students must interview for them. Pay for the co ops is very generous, salary, housing allowance and partial tuition re-imburse net. Only downfall for OOS, is that your son will have to find housing every semester he co ops. Our daughter found a wonderful couple who rents 2 rooms to students to subsidize their retirement. So you have to be creative finding housing. Our daughter got wonderful offers from a few companies in Indiana and one in Michigan…another from PA called her after she accepted her co op in IN. It has been a fabulous balance of work every other semester then back to Purdue for classes. Good luck to your son!</p>

8

<p>Thanks for the info! The pay sounds great for the Purdue coops. Your daughter is getting some tuition reimbursement even though tuition is not charged during coop? That would really make Purdue more affordable.</p>

9

<p>There is a $1,000 fee every time, by Purdue each time she is doing the co op terms. I believe that some companies pick that up for the kids, all offers are different. Some provide housing, some a housing allowance. We also shipped her a car from Oregon…she needed it to drive to work. Another cool program is the GEAR program, where kids work for the same company in the US and overseas. Our daughter is also going to China in May, for a “Maymester” course. She will get 3 engineering credits and the entire trip costs the same as if she took a 3 credit course at Purdue…kind of a no brainer to choose the trip to China! They will be visiting companies and students who are doing the GEAR program in China…</p>

10

<p>Oh, the tuition re-imbursement, is for the semesters she is at Purdue…she works, then they write us a check for partial tuition for the next semester.</p>

11

<p>Can anyone elaborate on the differences in coop programs and academic experience/reputation in general between Purdue and Northeastern?</p>

12

<p>Collmemaybe, I would also be interested in some comparisons of the two programs since both Purdue and Northeastern are on my son’s short list for mechanical engineering. Just from our research - at northeastern you do each coop with a different company whereas at Purdue you stay with the same company the whole time. I’m wondering if you sign a contract or if it is possible to go to a different company if you don’t enjoy your first coop?</p>

<p>Another difference that we see is that there seems to be more probability that you could coop without a car at Northeastern because Boston is so big and has the subway system. I imagine you might be able to coop without a car at Purdue if you found a coop in Chicago?</p>

<p>It sounds as if at least some Purdue coops come not only with salary but also housing allowances and partial tuition reimbursement. Fantastic! I haven’t heard if anyone has received these same benefits from Northeastern coops. NEU does not charge tuition when you are on coop and if you have a coop nearby, you are allowed to stay in university housing. It appears that there is a fee for Purdue coop but that companies would pay that.</p>

<p>So many things to consider - I would love to hear other’s thoughts. Thanks.</p>

13

<p>From my understanding, if you drop your co-op with your company, you’re not allowed back into the co-op program. You might want to contact the profession practice office though for a better answer: <a href=“https://engineering.purdue.edu/ProPractice[/url]”>https://engineering.purdue.edu/ProPractice&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>As for location, you’d just have to keep that in mind when choosing companies to interview. </p>

<p>Housing allowances and partial tuition reimbursement are not available for every co-op. My co-op in Chicago just pays me an hourly wage (first term it was $15.25 I believe). No housing allowances or anything. That being said, some of my friends (aero and mechanical) were given generous benefits. </p>

<p>It is not the norm for companies to pay your co-op fee. Currently the fee is ~$900 every working term. As far as I’ve heard, all the co-op students pay it themselves. </p>

<p>Every company’s offer will be different, but don’t go into the interviewing process expecting housing allowances, tuition reimbursement, car rentals, or anything else. I’m just happy I have a co-op.</p>

14

<p>Thanks so much for the info. Was it a lot of work to search for a coop position?</p>

15

<p>No, as long as you know your major. Then the office just gives you a list of all the companies that will come to interview specifically for Co-ops, along with potentially how many they’ll be hiring, where they are located, nationality requirements (not sure if right wording, but some jobs do not allow international students, potentially for security reasons). You rank your top 5 companies, then (I believe) the company chooses who they want to interview, otherwise you get assigned to whatever fits in your schedules? Not too sure on that process. Then you go to the PMU ballrooms to interview with your company some time in the spring (all the interviewers are in the ballroom, all have one table in a grid formation, basically speed dating with 30min max interviews). Interviews occur over 1-2 days I think? You then might be called for secondary interviews. Then you wait for potential offer letters.</p>

<p>It’s not the search that’s hard, it’s just the way interviewing for any job is I guess.</p>

16

<p>Thank you! Your info has really been helpful. It sounds like a very well structured program for helping students get coop positions. For those of you trying to compare programs - I believe the Northeastern program does not have this same school sponsored interview process? Correct me if I’m wrong. For you Oregon parents - MECOP is two, six month coops with different companies. You are guaranteed positions if they accept you into MECOP but you are assigned to companies so I don’t think you get the choice that you do at Purdue where you get to name your top five choices.</p>

17

<p>Mine is graduating from Purdue in less then a month. We are out of state, although midwestern folks! He did a five term co-op, in the state of Indiana but not around W Laf. They paid a housing allowance, a travel allowance and he was paid very well. He had a car so he went back and forth every semester. He rented apartments and rented furniture with it. He always rented with other co-op guys as they put out a roster before they went. He moved himself after the first couple of times. He absolutely loved it and it made a difference in his whole education
They have a job fair for the co-ops every semester. He went and did the interviewing the last couple of times at Purdue and at a few others.
For transportation to campus from airports, we flew in and out of Indy and there is a Purdue shuttle that picks up right outside the baggage claim. It drops off a few places on campus. Once he had his car though, he always drove to the airport.
A car isn’t a necessity on campus. The apartments he rented off campus always had a free bus service that took you right on campus and dropped off various places. His first apartment it ran every ten minutes or so. The one he’s at now goes a bit less often. He only drives when he has to go somewhere off campus or has to be there too early.</p>

18

<p>I am learning so much from all of your info, thank you. Yes, my AJ is admitted to OSU and with her top SAT, she was invited to join the MECOP interview process 2 years ahead. There is no guarantee you will get the job, based on economy of the company 2 years later but it is nice to know you are at the front of the line. </p>

<p>We chose Purdue based on varieties of classes NOT offering at OSU and how the professors teach there. We did sit in classes at OSU, UO AND PURDUE and these contribute to decision making. </p>

<p>Question on Co-Op, it seems 5-year has the final Co-Op at the end, so students cannot graduate in 4 years for Bachelor program then. Am I correct? This is a mystery to us. </p>

<p>Can anyone share?</p>

19

<p>Mine has taken five years to graduate, but he is graduating with two years work experience- real engineer stuff not paper work intern stuff. His first roommate at co-op did it three blocks and is working now so I would bet he finished in four. Mine had the option of three or five and took the five, a rarity in that company but I do think made everything about school better</p>

20

<p>Subinor,</p>

<p>Can you share your travelling experience? Fly into Indianapolis only offers red-eye but going to O’Hare, the flight schedule does not match up with the 2pm shuttle schedule. What is your trick on this? </p>

<p>As out of state student, we have to buy so many beddings stuffs, so how do you take care of them during Co-op or summer break? I am wondering -> pillow, comforter and other stuffs. </p>

<p>My daughter will travel alone so this will be a learning experience. She has to carry/drag all her belonging from the Union bldg to resident hall. If we arrive 11pm, it will really be something, isn’t it? Thanks.</p>

<p>-k</p>