Purdue University

[mickey4ver]

Looking for some comments pro/con/indifferent about this university, perhaps from someone who attends now, alumni or even some folkes in the Indy area.

 

[Deb in IA]

Best university in the country!!!


(B. S. in Biology, 1981)

Serena's daughter will attend there this fall, and Lanshark is also a Boilermaker alum. . .

 

[mickey4ver]

Good to hear!

 

[Indyman]

Gene Keady has the worst combover on the planet.


Sorry, that's all I've got.

 

[mickey4ver]

Originally posted by Indyman
Gene Keady has the worst combover on the planet.


Sorry, that's all I've got.

He's retiring, right? So you won't have to look at it anymore

 

[Indyman]

I think he'll be around for another year or two.

 

[mickey4ver]

Originally posted by Indyman
I think he'll be around for another year or two.

Sorry to say, I don't follow basketball, is that a good thing or a bad thing??

 

[MaryJ]

My Son-in-law's alma mater. Great engineering, computer science and veterinary programs. Gets cold in Lafayette in the winter though! Pretty good football team. I think.

 

[KarenC]

I graduated from Purdue in 1980...my dad got his engineering degree from there in 1957. It is a very good school and still looks good on my resume all these years later.

Where is the prospective student from? I grew up in suburban Chicago and I found the campus to be somewhat less cosmopolitan than what I was used to.

I think it is imperative on a big campus like Purdue's to find a niche to make the big school smaller--get involved in greek life, music, a church group, whatever, but you have to get involved.

 

[mickey4ver]

We are east coasters, but tend to fit in well with most folkes... I would say we are not "city" people, more small town, although we live in close proximity to very large cities and recognize the difference in small town life and big city life I think less cosmopolitan might be a good thing

 

[accomp]

Originally posted by Indyman
Gene Keady has the worst combover on the planet.


Sorry, that's all I've got.

 

[KarenC]

Originally posted by mickey4ver
We are east coasters, but tend to fit in well with most folkes... I would say we are not "city" people, more small town, although we live in close proximity to very large cities and recognize the difference in small town life and big city life I think less cosmopolitan might be a good thing

I don't think you realize until you live somewhere else how much close proximity to very large cities affects your outlook and expectations. I grew up on a 40 acre farm (in suburban Chicago) and yet I found my world view to be quite broader than many of my classmates. I never thought of myself as being a city girl, but its all relative!

My daughter went through her college search last year. The counselors talked to us about the different types of schools and their locations. They cautioned us that a lot of the kids from our area really struggle at the state schools in rural states. I know that most of the kids from our school that went to Purdue are still pretty much just hanging out with each other. Apparently its not such an issue at the private schools in rural areas because they tend to draw from a broader geographic area.

 

[mickey4ver]

Thanks Karen, will certainly keep all your thoughts filed away and certainly heed the advice!!!

Any new lifestyle takes time to adjust to, so here is hoping that my student will adjust well. Actually, they have been out in the "real" world since high school graduation for several years, so I think being a tad older will help the situation...not like an 18 year old that has never been away from home before and newly graduated. Time will tell... again, thanks for insight.

 

[Serena]

From everything that I've heard, Purdue is a good school. My dd is starting there in the fall. She wants to be a vet, and she's heard that's the place to go.

It isn't in a big town, but it's on the main highway between Chicago and Indianapolis. With either city being a couple hours in opposite directions.

 

[Dopeygirl]

My husband and I graduated from Purdue in 1999 (computer engineering for him, education for me). We both enjoyed our time spent at Purdue. I found the campus to be much too cement-y for my tastes. I had gone to IU for two years prior to transferring and loved the beauty of that campus. Beautiful in its own way though. While Lafayette and W. Lafayette aren't big cities, they are both growing so much. When we were at Purdue last spring (our first time since graduating), we were shocked by how much W. Lafayette had developed in just a few years.

Do you have specific questions about the school? I'd be happy to answer what I can!

 

[LurkerLisa]

Hi,

Hubby went there and loved it BS 1980 in Civil Eng. However, has your child done any of the personality testing to find out if Purdue is the right type of campus for him/her? You know, big/small, rural/city/surburban, greek/not greek, large classes/small classes, sports/no sports, etc. Has he/she visited - according to everything that I've read and everyone that I talked to, that is the most important thing to do. My daughter is in the process of looking for a college and thru these "tests" she was able to figure out that she would not be happy in such a remote location. They have these tests in most of the books about colleges or the guidence office should be able to help you. They should also have a good list of questions to ask and things that you should do on a visit.

Also, here is a link to colleges that includes some really cool search features. You can find all the schools that offer your major, or look at schools based on size, location, sports, or all kinds of other things. The best thing is that there are reviews of the college written by the students for you to read. There aren't tons, but enough to give a taste of what the school is really like.

http://www.studentsreview.com/

Good Luck,

Lisa

 

[Lanshark]

Best University in the country I totally agree Deb.

DH and I graduated in 1982

West Lafayette has a great small town feel. I was in Earhart Hall my freshman year. As I recall it took about 20 minutes to walk on campus. I used a bike when weather allowed it. The campus is beautiful. We still try to make a trip up there at least once a year. Football Saturdays have an electric atmosphere. If you have any specific questions please let me know.

Purdue has a great reputation. I still get comments on it when people look at my resume 22 years later. Mostly about the reputation as a highly academic school, football and basketball (not necessarily in that order). Gene Keady's hair does come up in most of these conversations



GO BOILERS!!!

 

[momof2inPA]

Purdue engineering graduate, 1990. My husband is a second generation Purdue grad. It's a pretty big school, and depending on the size of high school a student attended, he or she might feel like "just a number" in some classes and fields of study. It's important to find that niche of friends (like someone else said) and make contact directly with the teachers and TA's as needed.

The campus may be a bit isolated, but I would also say it's pretty safe with better parking than most campuses and relatively cheap housing, compared to a city school; but these comments are based on 15 years ago, I wonder how much it's changed. Oh well, college days fondly remembered, but I don't miss the classes.

 

[momof2inPA]

Oh, and we went to Purdue's bowl game in Orlando on New Year's. So going to Purdue can even get you extra Disney time, in a round about way.

 

[mickey4ver]

Originally posted by Dopeygirl


Do you have specific questions about the school? I'd be happy to answer what I can!

Not really, but thanks for asking! My youngest is going in the fall, just being curious about the place. As stated earlier, they have been out in the "real" world for 3 years, so they have a little "life" tucked under the belt, so to speak. Just wanted others opinion as to how they felt about the school. I'm very proud to have one of my own going to such a university! I thought Purdue was at one of the football bowls recently. Sounds good!