<p>Hello,
I am international student and I have been accepted in U of Minnesota and Purdue. I am planning to major in computer enigeering. U of Minnesota is far cheaper then Purdue, however as far as I read Purdue has a big reputation of engineering school. Can you give me more pros for both sides?</p>
<p>Hey Dimcho, I’ve been accepted to the University of Minnesota and I was interested in Purdue and let me tell you, obviously how one thinks of the campus differs from person to person but I thought West Lafayette was a dead zone. No one seemed happy who I saw walking around campus and I didn’t get a great college vibe when I toured. In contrast, University of Minnesota is a beautiful campus which gives a small town feel while located in a huge metropolitan area. Not to mention the UMN Engineering Program is also nationally recognized.</p>
<p>Thank you! That is good to be known and it will affect my decision. However, I am more interested in the accademic comparison between them…</p>
<p>I agree with MaxBayer on the whole “dead zone” thing. I visited Purdue during the parent weekend/homecoming weekend and something just seemed off about it, even with a ton of people there. In the areas where festivities were not going on, the students seemed lifeless. However, I liked the town of West Lafayette - it felt like your typical college town.</p>
<p>The school also has an overwhelming amount of Greek life. The houses are HUGE, like the ones you seen in movies. 1 in 3 Purdue students is a part of a sorority or fraternity. Like I said, pretty overwhelming. That is definitely something to keep in mind.</p>
<p>Both schools have excellent engineering programs - Purdue is 10th in the country and University of Minnesota is 11th (although now I can’t find the site I found this on…). Purdue for some reason is just better known. In my opinion, UMN is extremely underrated. It has a beautiful campus that I fell in love with when I visited. UMN was my last choice school before I visited, actually. I know that being an international student makes it hard for you to visit these schools, but check out some campus tours on YouTube. They have a couple videos out there.</p>
<p>My academic comparison? Both schools are pretty much equal, academically. Purdue is just more well-known. But for your specific major, Computer Engineering is ranked slightly higher at Purdue.</p>
<p>Thank you, ablasco! I will definitely try to do a compus tours on youtube.</p>
<p>Hello,</p>
<p>My D has got admitted to UMinn, Purdue, GTech and Wis-Mad for Chem Engg starting Fall 2014. She is still waiting to hear back from UCB. But currently her top choice is UMinn as it is always in the top 5 for her stream. For Comp Engg, I would suggest taking a harder look at Purdue if academics is your main criteria.</p>
<p>BTW, I am a Mech Engineer and always thought that Purdue was a top notch school.</p>
<p>Good luck !</p>
<p>Dimcho, I can’t say I know alot about Purdue, but S1 is a senior in engineering at UMN. The College of Computer and Engineering takes the “brightest” kids and I think the average ACT is around 32. S in mechanical engineering so I can’t compare, but his classes have been good but challenging (he’s worked hard for his As and Bs). The classes are big…even in his senior year it is not unusual to have close to 100 students in class. The campus is more urban, but it does have some beautiful green areas. The light rail, Minneapolis’ transit system, has just been built to go right through the campus so it will be easy to get to the city, or out of the city for job purposes etc. Finally, UMN attracts ALOT of international students.</p>
<p>I think both schools are great for engineering, but they are very different in terms of location, environment, and size. My D is also accepted by both plus a few others engineering schools in the region. UMN is definitely more affordable than other out of state public schools. However, the climate may be challenging for students not from that area. Indeed, the whole city was dead for a few days this week because of that. Purdue is in the middle of corn fields and does not offer any metropolitan city life. The campus is much much smaller but most of their engineering buildings were recently built. Purdue has excellent meals on campus. UMN is particularly strong in ChemE while Purdue would be Aero, MechE, etc.</p>
<p>Billcsho summarized it best. The only point I would add is strictly looking at academics only for your intended major, the choice is Purdue. If you include other factors or different engineering majors then it could definitely be UofMN or one of the other Big 10 schools. Case in point made already by one of the other posters UofMN is best at ChemE within the Big 10.</p>
<p>Thank you guys! Really helped me!</p>
<p>Hey Dimcho, I posted on ur other thread “Is Purdue worth the risk”. U can check that out in regards to Purdue.</p>
<p>Just want to add a point that, although it is important to look at the intended major at both schools, you are only accepted into engineering but without declaring major yet. It may be more competitive for certain program that you may or may not get in eventually. In addition, most students actually graduate with a major different from they originally thought. So one may need to look at other alternative programs in the school of engineering as well before making decision. We are going through the same process right now. My D is very much interested in the ChemE program and UMinn is the best among the 5 schools she is admitted so far. It also offered the best scholarships at this point. However, the other schools seems to be more balanced in various engineering programs and mostly have much higher ranking than UMinn (just with the exception of ChemE). So, do look up a couple more programs when you compare the 2 schools.</p>