<p>You do seem very bitter about something, swimboy. I'd suggest you look into transferring since you really don't seem happy about attending Purdue. This is perfectly fine as many people don't like their first school.</p>
<p>Some of the iTap computers are slow, but many of the department computers are fast. I can't believe how quickly the ME computers run.</p>
<p>I agree that rankings can be a bit overrated. Go to a school you like. No sense in going ANYWHERE (including MIT) just for the name if you are going to hate it.</p>
<p>As far as academics, the only reason Purdue is sometimes seen as a "lesser" school than some others in the Big Ten is because the liberal arts are horribly strong. It surely isn't because of any discipline that Purdue was created for as a land-grant institution. UM, UIUC, and Purdue are all comparable in engineering.</p>
<p>I would say that within engineering, Michigan, UIUC, and Purdue are all equals. However, the difference comes outside of engineering. In that case, I feel that it goes Michigan, then Purdue, then UIUC. Michigan has the best reputation (from what I've seen and heard) in the NYC metro area. Compared to the other two, Michigan has the WOW factor to people outside of the engineering world. In fact, a friend of mine who is going to UConn attended a banquet for admitted students in which one of the speakers spoke about how UConn wanted to improve and be at least at peer level with Michigan (Michigan was singled out, not Berkeley, UCLA, UVA, or UNC) as a public school.</p>