I can’t wait until I can post on which university my S chooses! So far no news from Purdue. That being said, which will give him a better engineering degree, and if you had the choice, which school would you choose for engineering? Cost would be an issue. U of MN will be mostly paid for. He has not yet been accepted into the engineering school there, only liberal arts. Purdue will result in some hefty student/parent loans. And it is pretty far away, about 10 hours. ( This is how we determine distance here in MN btw!:)).
If I had the choice between going to engineering for either one, I would probably go with U of M, but Purdue isn’t a bad option either. However, from what I’ve heard, there’s really nothing to do in Purdue, it’s pretty boring there. Plus, as you said, U of M will be paid for, so in my eyes, that’s the better option.
Purdue does have better engineering in some areas, not for ChemE. But if it is far away, much more expensive, and no admission on hand, why bother to spend time thinking about it. Note that Purdue has a high drop out rate.
UMN has a better environment. However, if your son is in LA, he’ll have to ace calculus 1, physics 1, and English 1, in order to switch to Engineering… could be a tall order. How good at math and science is he? Does he have AP credit possibilities (if so, he shouldn’t “take” them and redo the classes in a college setting, with their college pace which is double that of an AP class).
If UMN is paid for and Purdue would mean debt, there’s no reason for you to choose Purdue.