<p>So I got accepted into Purdue Engineering. Something people on this site are dyeing for. But why is this decision so hard? I am also debating between Trine University. I think I have to start from the beginning to explain myself. I for years wanted to go to Purdue like many other Engineering inclined kids. Then senior year kicks in and you start getting practical and freaking out. I started to think i wouldn't get in. I basically convinced myself that and started sorta preparing myself for Trine which I had just found out about over the summer from Girls state. I got an amazing academic scholarship. The. Purdue admissions started coming closer I was dreading a response. I would be sad if I got rejected but also......sad if accepted because then I would have to make a hard decision. So many kids in my school wanted in so bad. I literally was dreading at this point. My friend was on the phone waiting with me and she was more excited then I was. The. I saw i was accepted. I didnt have the same reaction other kids would. Just stun. Only three of us out of twenty got in at my high school. At this point I was emotionally confused. For years I had felt "committed" to purdue but recently i did that to trine. I felt like a traitor at the thought of going to another school. I have since been trying to make a rational decision but its hard when people are pressuring me. People tell me to go to Purdue for the prestige and because its that kind of thing you dont deny like harvard. But would I be crazy if i did? When people tell me to go with what is most important i get annoyed because i dont know. Trine has more one on one attention, purude offers all those attractive thing that a big college does. Literally when I visited trine i swear the dean of engineering read my mind. I was thinkng sbout. The two colleges and he randomly said like he read my mind " its between a big school like purdue or a small school trine." I can give you a list of pros and cons but they seem equal with pros and cons and i dont know what i prefer more in a college. Sorry for this long post but this is something i have been struggling with and maybe other people are. What I am asking is opinions on my situation and thoughts about purdue and trine engineering if you went to either or preferably both. Just tell me anything with value in why I should choose one and not the typical stuff you hear. Btw with my trine scholarships trine is cheaper than purdue.
Please help me this bothers me so much trying to figure this out. </p>
<p>I don’t know about engineering, but my parental advice would be that if there is no pressure to decide now, then don’t. At the moment it is emotional and it may always be, but usually time to think helps.</p>
<p>If the finances are significantly better, or the scholarship comes with other benefits than this may be a strong consideration. If you are eligible for merit aid from Purdue that may be decided later. Continue to get information about both programs. </p>
<p>Also if anyone went to either school let me know about anything you didn’t like. Thanks</p>
<p>Yeah, I agree - likely you don’t yet have to make a decision, so take the time to think.</p>
<p>What I will say is that you have to think about why you are attached to each school. It seems to me like you really wanted to go to Purdue, but you convinced yourself away from it because you thought it was unattainable. That’s why you fell in love with Trine - because you didn’t think you could get into where you really wanted to go. Now that you are in Purdue, you still do have this attachment to Trine, because of the time you spent convincing yourself to like it.</p>
<p>I don’t necessarily think that other people telling you what <em>they</em> didn’t like about the universities is going to help you that much, because this is a very personal decision. There are going to be things that you both love and dislike about each university no matter where you go.</p>
<p>I do have to say, though, that you can’t assume that Trine has more one-on-one attention simply because it’s smaller. What’s important are departmental connections and the number of faculty. Purdue actually has a smaller student-to-faculty ratio than Trine (14:1, vs. 15:1 - not a huge difference). In your upper-level engineering classes, you might find similar levels of personal attention. However, your general ed classes are likely to be far larger.</p>
<p>I’m still in high school, but I took dual enrollment classes at Trine so I have experience there. For me, trine is not the right place. Angola is too small and depressing a town, and I dislike the 70/30 guy girl ratio. Now this is coming from a girl who wants to go to a woman’s college and is feminist so the influx of guys may not bother you. I didn’t find the students in my classes to be very friendly, but that may be because they were basically all residential and i commuted so didn’t spend much time on campus. I enjoyed my classes but didn’t find them very hard. However for the classes I took, I was not allowed to make up for anything; they were very strict on missing assignments. I was in the hospital for a week and subsequently missed quizzes/in class assignments and got a B because of that…enrolling in classes is awful awful awful. They fill up very quickly and there just aren’t enough spots in the classes for many people who need to take the courses. I know this is a common issue, but it’s worse there than other universities I have encountered. Like, classes were basically all full before the freshman class enrollment even opened. They added in a couple of early morning classes for like physics and english but a lot of the freshman were screwed over. I’m not even taking classes next semester because the classes I needed were full, so they literally just enrolled me in random class sections I couldn’t attend without asking me. They also billed us without letting us know I was even in any classes.
Now keep in mind that these are just my experiences. You may prefer a smaller school and have a blast there. I mean, one of my friends loves Trine, and my best friend is thrilled to be going there next year. So take what I say with a grain of salt, wait for financial packages, and just evaluate what is really important to you in a college. </p>
<p>U r right juillet about the convincing and attachment. However I am not sure if it is exactly the way you said or if maybe I moved on like in a relationship and found something I liked better or not. I really struggle with knowing what I truly want. And this is definitley the worst timing for that. Thanks for the advice. GB1904 could those issues have been because you were a high school student and not in college? I wish I could spend a week as if I was a student at each to truly see if I would like it there. Thanks for your insight.</p>
<p>Also to keep in mind. I got good grades in high school but it was a major struggle and it took a lot of studying. Some might argue I would do good in a big school because of this and some would argue small. I do like getting to know my teachers. I did use to think I wanted a school with a social scene, but now as I have matured I am trying to straighten out my priorities to whats important, however I am still trying to figure that out, so I do not know how important to me that social scene is. My mom this I would be good at trine because. She thinks it would be better for me academically. I get to make a final decision though so don’t think my mom is forcing me or anything. But you do take into consideration what your parents feel so even though she isn’t trying I feel pressure from her too. I feel pressure for both schools whether intentional or not. I really wish I could figure out what is most improtant to me. Sadly I lost myself a few years ago and I am still int the process of figuring out who I am now. Also I could get a higher scholarship at trine or a full ride depending on how the scholarship day goes. So far from purdue i can audition for a music one. But its relatively small.</p>
What about applying to another school (like Illinois Institute of Technology or Kettering) so that it’s not just one or the other? This way, you’d have a larger perspective and it wouldn’t be either/or. It’d take some of the pressure off. 