What Purdue and GT have going for them are super strong industry ties. Both schools bring a huge number of companies to campus every year and the career centers are top notch. Even for a student interested in grad school, engineering is one of those fields that internships and co-ops are super important. Those would be my top two picks and for aero, would give the edge to Purdue.
My D is a second year chem e at Purdue. We’ve been super impressed. I’ve posted a number of very detailed responses lately (which unfortunately I don’t have time to do right now) but if you search me on the site, you’ll see my responses.
Purdue is in the middle of nowhere BUT, W. Lafayette is a bustling town with everything your student would need. 1 hour from Indy, 2 hours from Chicago.