Any tips for a great LOCI? Should it be more about the kid or more about how the school is my favorite because of XYZ…
Congratulations to your daughter.
My daughter is a freshman in FYE and we went through these decisions last year. She committed around this time and got housing in Hillenbrand where the rooms are configured with 2 students in each room and 2 rooms sharing a bath in between them so that is 4 students sharing one bathroom. We think it very comfortable and reasonably spacious.
We had selected our priority in the housing portal as the costs are different with different configurations. E.g. my #1 priority is a a double with A/C, #2 priority is …. Etc.
our sense is that if you commit and apply early for housing then you should get one of your top choices. My daughter found her room mate through the Purdue IG class of 2029 posts.
She has friends that held out on their commitment and applied late for housing and they didn’t get their top priority.
I think there is also some housing affinity to LLC’s so if you apply to a certain LLC you are “likely” to get housing where the LLC is based.
Happy to answer any questions.
On other thing I wold like to add is that Purdue is building new housing as someone mentioned above and in certain instances also taken over private housing “3rd and West” as an example to have more housing options for students.
Purdue housing says this is not the case. As long as you apply before the housing deadline, everyone has the same shot at their preferred housing. I think your D just got lucky.
And, yes if students apply for an LLC, you’ll typically get into the dorm that houses the LLC.
My D experienced many different dorms over her time at Purdue - Honors North in a quad, Duhme Hall in a double (one of the all women dorms that is part of the Windsor complex), and First Street Towers in a single. She also lived in Hillenbrand one summer when working on campus, and Third Street Suites for a pre-college summer program. She also spent a lot of time in Earhart with friends. There was something to love about each residence hall.
Every year there is a a lot of worry about housing, especially on the Purdue parent FB pages, and every year after the first few weeks, parents come back to report that their kids love their dorm.
My D’s freshman and sophomore years were the two where Purdue really messed up on yield projections and had to turn study lounges into dorm rooms and put freshman in graduate housing. When Purdue was able to move kids into more traditional spaces, most didn’t want to move out of where they were because they were enjoying the experience!
And there is a new dorm on track for opening Fall of '26. I really don’t think housing should be on the list of worries!
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A few more thoughts -
Your D should look at the four year plan of study for her major. Not just the required courses for graduation but also what electives are offered, concentrations, minors, and opportunities for certifications.
Purdue has a very robust first destination survey page where you can sort by college and major and get all kinds of information about percentage employees, top employers, average salaries, and location. I have to believe that IU has that information as well so you should be able to compare outcomes.
I’d also look closely at clubs and ease of participation. My sense is that Purdue gets an edge there but you’d have to do a deep dive if that’s true for the business clubs.
Can your D go back to visit both? She could visit both back to back and see if she has the same impression.
(As I noted in the other thread, I don’t think you should worry about housing).
Thanks yet again. We are going to visit both in March. I wish she was more excited about the opportunities but it appears as the dates are getting closer and the choices are coming in the reality of the situation is overwhelming her. She knows she is very fortunate but making this decision is probably the biggest one she has taken on.
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One big difference between IU and Purdue is that Purdue’s campus is run by the engineers. That is the vibe. Engineering is a college at Michigan, at Illinois, at Wisconsin, at Ohio State—a part of the place. Engineering is the dominant culture at Purdue. Yes the business school is a strategic priority right now at Purdue, but I’d argue the IU has been long viewed as an excellent program with a strong network and has a Purdue-engineering-like reputation nationwide.
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It’s definitely the identity of the school. I know a lot of people who went there for aviation many many years ago and loved it for that program which has really grown too.
She just got into UMD now too and that was the last one she was waiting for. I’m going to try and figure out how to nudge her without pushing.
I received an email stating I was waitlisted from JMHC. Do all honors college applicants not selected for the program get placed on the waitlist? What are the odds of getting off the waitlist? Honors college or not, Purdue is one of my top choices. That said, I am excited about JMHC’s approach to learning.
No, they do not wait list all applicants. If I recall from posts last year, there were people who came off the waitlist for Honors. I just have no idea of the numbers/odds.
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For those that may already have a child at Purdue and are familiar with the off campus rental market…we are trying to gauge housing costs beyond the first year. What is price range to budget for a single room in a shared apartment that is in a good, safe area and easy walking distance from campus? Also when do leases get signed…is it much before the start of the academic year ?
There is a very very wide range of off campus housing options. Everything from uber luxe to really basic. The complexes that are a bit further from campus are less expensive but have very convenient bus service to campus.
We paid significantly less than we did for the dorm+food plan when our D moved off campus and started cooking for herself. Her first year off campus she lived further from campus and we paid $450/month (in '22). She was in a 4 bdrm/4 bath, very nice apartment complex with lots of amenities but a bus ride to campus. She subletted that room when she returned from co-op. As a senior in '23, we paid $550/month for a bedroom in a 4 bedroom/1 bath in Chauncey (adjacent to the memorial union and super convenient/walkable to campus) but it was very, very bare bones. (So much so that I wanted her to live somewhere nicer but she wanted to live with friends and that was the apartment that was in everyone else’s budget).
Students living off campus cannot be on a traditional meal plan so your child will need to plan on doing their own cooking.
Leases typically are signed in the Fall for the following academic year! The earlier the better! If you have a big budget, you’ll have more flexibility as the more expensive places move a bit slower. Lots of the cheaper apartments are “passed down” among friends.
Here’s the guide that Purdue puts out for off campus housing. There is really good information about time lines, local ordinances, and there are also a lot of ads for the popular apartment complexes so you can look up prices: https://www.purdue.edu/odos/offcampus/docs/guide.pdf
Note that there is on campus housing for sophomores! It will give your child time to make more friends and really figure out who they want to live with when they move off campus. IMO, having a new freshman trying to figure out off campus housing their first October right after starting is really hard!
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Thank you so much for sharing. This is very helpful!
Yes, for freshman year, regardless of where he ends up going he will live on campus. We’re just trying to gauge costs over the 4 year period for all his college options so we have a plan in place for when he does move off campus.
Sorry if this question has been asked before and answered, is there any advantage to apply for housing now? On their website, it states May 5th is the deadline for housing application but April 15th is the preferred date. What does it mean? Do the students get their picks based on when they submitted the housing application?
No, there is no benefit in applying for housing now. It is not first come first serve at Purdue. Just make sure you meet the deadlines.
(The April 15th deadline is if your student is interested in a living learning community.)
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Thank you so much.
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do you know if the 4/15 deadline is applicable if in JMHC and honors housing or is 5/1 sufficient?
My understanding is it’s 4/15 if your child wants to live in an honors residence hall. If you wait until 5/1, you will still have on campus housing but it won’t necessarily by in the honors halls.
Note to all that you need to accept your admission offer first, before accessing the housing portal and there could be a 2 day delay so really, students need to accept their offer before 4/13 if they want to live in an LLC (which Honors is considered) or requesting a specific roommate.
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thank you for the clarification.
Pricing skyrocketed when the undergrad population exceeded yield expectations and upperclassmen couldn’t choose to stay on campus and have stayed high. It went from a renters’ market to no capacity in a snap. Apartments on/around State Street are asking $1400 and up a month per person for things built in the past 10 years. (The new Purdue-leased 3rd &West is $16,000 per school year for a single studio and $11,000 for a bunk bed spot with a roommate.)
There are farther out apartments that have monthly rates $500 and up per person. Some of these are all-electric and the utilities come as a rude shock for both heating and cooling costs. Factor that into your estimates while shopping.
Realistically expect to pay more than $700 per month for off-campus. Another option is to apply to a co-op. There are chores to do and it’s not for everyone but it’s the cheapest close to campus housing.
A lot of apartments start re-signing people after Labor Day. Kids sign leases and then plans change and there are sublet postings. The local market used to have more landlords but there has been some consolidation in recent years—more corporate-y than mom and pop rentals.
The student legal services office has info for potential renters to consider when looking for apartments.
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