Purdue vs tOSU Mechanical Engineering

Colleges and Universities A-Z Purdue University
1

I have been accepted to both Ohio State University and Purdue. I live in Illinois and I have narrowed it down to these 2 (Out of State) schools. (I want to leave Illinois, and I hated UIUC.)

At Ohio state I have received the National Buckeye Scholarship for $11,400/yr and a couple other smaller merit scholarships. (Total: about $18,000 off)

At Purdue I basically a lone for $5,000 (Basically useless for me)

My parents are able to help with both (giving more help if I go to Purdue), however they said I CANNOT fail classes or go for more than 4 years for a BS, or the cost difference will be all on me.

When I ask people for advice, I get about 50/50 between choosing the Universities.

Ranking wise, I feel that I am ranked somewhere in the middle of all admitted engineers at Purdue, and diffidently top 25% of admitted engineers at Ohio State. (I got a 31 ACT, and a 4.2 weighted GPA. I have taken AP Calc BC, AP Physics 1 Jr year [Got a 4 on the exam, I know, its useless for engineering], AP Physics C: Electromagnetism and Mechanics, and other AP Classes such as Gov and Econ.)

I have visited both campuses, and I love both of them. The only advantage Purdue has campus wise is that it is ~1.5 hour drive from home. OSU is much farther away. (5+ hour drive)

I know some people that go to both school, however not engineering. They all love both schools, and I swing no way when it comes to all of the “campus social life” aspects.

However, I am going for Engineering… (C’s get degree’s, right?) So here are my questions, please answer honestly and help me with whatever information you guys can give!

1.) I hear that engineering at Purdue is REALLY hard. I understand that is is a GREAT school, so it should be hard. Here are some statistics...

The latest data we have is as follows:

First year retention to engineering = 85.7%
First year retention to university = 91.8%

Graduation Rates:
Engineering 4 yrs 24.32%

5 yrs 49.97%

6 yrs 58.04%

University 4 yrs 33.14%

5 yrs 70.37%

6 yrs 77.90%

HOLY SH*T! Only less that 1 in 4 students make it through the universities engineering program in 4 years! I swear that has to be all Asians! No to be stereotypical, but I am white and I am not going to study 12 hours a day (Lets just be real here, how do Asians do it?!) I am so scared of how low that retention rate is, I am willing to put in a lot of work for a great degree. (Like if a class is 1 hour, then 2-3 hours of studying, but not much more) WHY WHY WHY is the graduation rate in 4 years so low?!

2.) Is Purdue worth the extra money? I know that tOSU is slowly rising in the rankings, and outside of engineering it is a better school overall. I calculated that Purdue is going to cost ~$180,000 dollars IF i graduate in 4 years. OSU will cost ~$90,000 for 4 years. Is Purdue worth $100k extra?

3.) What are the “weed out” classes at both schools?

4.) I feel that I am a lot more safe graduating OSU in 4 years than Purdue. About 85% of students finish in 6 years, and about 70% in 4. I don’t want to go for more than 4 years for a BS, so how hard is it to finish in 4 years at both schools?

5.) I hear Purdue grades really harshly, and that the average GPA is substantially lower than OSU (2.81 vs 3.17) I believe that I will get about the average grade or just a bit higher at Purdue, but I can get a 3.3+ at OSU. Which option will be better to get a job after I finish school.

2

Purdue has a great Professional Practices office and engineering career fairs. Some of the graduation rate can be attributed to students co-oping. Purdue has both 3 term and 5 term co-ops. Purdue also accepts more engineers than OSU. It is an Indiana Public University with a mission to educate Indiana students. Indiana has about 3/5 the population of Ohio so OSU can be more selective with its instate student population. Purdue also has a tremendous Polytechnic Institute which makes it easier for students who may find themselves unable to handle the engineering workload to transfer and still receive a degree that will be useful I engineering. In my opinion at OSU engineering is just a part of the university. At Purdue it is a major part of its identity. I also believe that Purdue will better provide the resources you need to achieve the goals you are seeking. They are available at OSU I am sure, however, you will need to be more proactive to find them. I say this as a father who has a D who is a Chem E at Purdue and who has spoken with parents of OSU engineering students (we are Ohio residents). We are very happy with the opportunities afforded our D. The OSU parents seem to think resources could be more available. Good luck.