Hi, I am an international student looking to study Aerospace Engineering in the US…
So far I have been accepted to Purdue and Embry Riddle (Daytona Beach).
The issue here is that Purdue has accepted me for Fall 2016, whereas Riddle is ready to take me in Spring 2016. (I graduated from HS this year)
Now if Purdue had spring enrollment for the College of Engineering, I would take it in a heartbeat. But in the current situation, is it really worth it to wait 6 more months to go to Purdue? Or should I just take the offer from Riddle?
That might be a good call to make mostly on cost.
OTOH, I don’t feel strongly one way or another about Purdue, but personally, I’d rather have a Purdue degree than one from ERAU. Other opinions exist, however. Also however, if you think there’s a chance you’ll be doing ME work in the future, Purdue is probably the better call.
Both schools are excellent for Aerospace Engineering. It’s really a question of what do you want out of your college experience here? The two schools are very different in that regard.
@50N40W Cost is more or less the same for me in both since I’m an international
@fractalmstr I’m not too sure about that, I have heard very polarizing opinions about Riddle hence I am quite skeptical, especially given that I have not visited either campus, and won’t before I attend one… Whereas all I hear about Purdue’s engineering college is praise
Riddle is a highly specialized, small technical school. Purdue is a big, fairly typical American university with top level sports, lots of clubs, etc. That’s more what @fractalmstr meant, not what do you think about the engineering (which will have some small differences, class size and instruction by TAs being the main ones), but what do you want the REST of your college experience to be like. For example, one thing that will be VERY different is the weather.
Humzee, I am an ERAU Prescott alum so I have first hand experience with the school. Is there something in particular you have questions with? I had a great experience there FWIW.
@fractalmstr, from what I have read, many students seem to think that the professors are not that great, the school is just there for the money and does not really care for the students, the social life is terrible. Also a few employers have mentioned that they have been very underwhelmed by Riddle grads.
Even if all of the above is not true/subjective, the AE undergrad program at Riddle is far too specialized for me (the need to chose Aeronautics/Astronautics/Propulsion in the 3rd year), whereas the Purdue program seems to provide a solid base in everything aerospace.
Well, the Playboy Jet didn’t get serviced at Riddle 
(Google for the real answer)
Purdue, but keep in mind the Aero program and engineering in general are not for the faint at heart. Purdue undergrad engineering is a bit on the hard side but that’s what you get for a top program…
but he’s not looking for a mechanic. =))
Bragging rights
@humzee97 Not sure what you’re looking for here. I have told you my experience there and you choose to blow it off. If you like Purdue then go to Purdue, but why start a thread like this if you have already made up your mind?
@fractalmstr
Riddle is offering spring admission so I don’t have to waste any more time… with Purdue I’ll have to take a gap year
I have still not made up my mind, the issue is that most of the negativity sprouts from the DB campus whereas you studied at Prescott. Now I don’t know anything about either campuses at all being an international.
Let me offer some more useful advise here. As an international you need to decide what you want to do with the Aero degree. If Riddle is known in your country in the places that matter (i.e. the place you want to work has an established industry of sorts) then that is good. Purdue is an internationally known university with a vast alumni network. This could mean that if you need to work anywhere or outside Aero a Purdue degree may be more helpful.
It really depends what you have in mind upon graduation. If you’re Brazilian and have an eye out for an Embraer job and there’s lots of Riddle people there, that’s great, if you’re coming from a country without aerospace industry of its own and plan to hit the international job market, then a Purdue degree may be more helpful.
Another thing - if you plan to work in a place that requires formal degree equivalence (my birth country does) then the place issuing such degree equivalence may have a thing or two to say about one school vs the other. This is fairly esoteric but as an international student you need to know what the degree will be worth once you’re done. If you’re thinking of staying in the USA after graduation that’s not an issue of course but in that case consider what the employment potential of an Aero degree in the USA really is vs a more ‘general’ degree. I know a few Aeros from Purdue in non-aero industries, for example…
In either case it’s a lot of money as Purdue out of state is quite expensive and Riddle is private so…
@turbo93 thanks for the advice… very helpful
so the general consensus is that the Purdue degree will be more ‘known’ by potential employers, whereas people outside the Aerospace industry go ‘what?’ at the sound of Riddle. I am taking this course to take up a job later in the aerospace industry, but that does not mean that I will not be open to jobs in other industries… it seems like Purdue is a better option for a more general and well known degree (which is what I want).
Thanks everyone for your input, I will be choosing Purdue
Let me put it to you this way. Thirty odd years ago I came to the USA to study in Lafayette, LA. NOT West Lafayette, IN. When I mentioned Lafayette, some of my relatives (in the middle of nowhere in Europe) immediately asked “Zee are goinz to Purduez Unizersityz?” to which I responded “no, Univerzity of Zouthweztern Louiziana” :). I eventually attended Purdue as well and graduated from there also. Overseas there are some schools that have this big appeal / name recognition. Embry Riddle is one, I wanted to study Aero initially and was familiar with it. But the name recognition of places like Purdue, OSU, UIUC, Michigan… It’s an international thing more than anything else.
I know a couple Purdue Aero kids that after having CFD hammered into their heads for years ended up taking software jobs writing CFD software :). But I’m not sugarcoating it - Purdue is a serious institution and they really demand a lot from their students. Student life is good and access to overseas travel is good (Chicago), but be prepared for a lot of studious kids :). Dorms are average, housing is not bad in the grand scheme of things, weather ain’t the best, but you’re in one of the top schools in the planet for Aero, so…
To understand what top ranked means. There is a heavy emphasis on basic math/sciences to build a core knowledge. They don’t teach off-the-wall topics and such, but its a LOT of work. Lots of homeworks, projects, etc. I attended Purdue for Industrial Engineering (graduate) and had a lot of college experience beforehand, and thought that the quality of education was phenomenal (we had lots of well known faculty in IE). And projects were not difficult, just lots of them. What I saw was interesting compared to other schools. The good students are good everywhere. But the ho-hum students in some schools were, well, ho-hum. The ho-hum students at Purdue were still VERY good. I thought homework was a bit too much till I saw the rankings :).
@turbo93 I am a pretty studious person myself… especially given my obsession with anything that flies
‘weather ain’t the best’ that is probably subjective, I would love a change of weather since I have never lived in a cold place in my life, and most certainly never seen snowing. Sounds rather fascinating.
Purdue is close to Chicago? I thought the closest international airport was Indianapolis. Then again almost every airline in my region flies to Chicago but none operate directly to Indianapolis 
not a big issue though.
Snow is over-rated :). Nothing says Purdue except a good sized snow and Calculus at 7:30 AM… Air travel is interesting - There is shuttle bus service to both Chicago and Indy, and I think there is train service to Chicago and with a bit of luck to the airport. It’s further and a bit more expensive to go to Chicago compared to Indianapolis but cheaper for air travel from overseas so many people prefer Chicago since it connects to anywhere in the world. I just checked and Purdue to ORD is $100-110 round trip shuttle - probably 2.5 hours, and Purdue to IND is $50-60 round trip, maybe 1.25 hours. Lafayette, IN is probably 2 hours away to downtown Chicago by car and 1.5 to downtown Indianapolis.
It’s probably a safe bet to tack on 30 minutes to an hour to that estimate based solely on the awful traffic that usually plagues I-90 and I-294.