I have a question for those of you familiar with the engineering program. I have heard from multiple sources (forums, social media, and even questions from families on Purdue webinars) that the engineering program at Purdue is very stressful, and there are “a lot of unhappy engineering” students at Purdue compared to other good schools.
First, I know that engineering is tough regardless of where you go - otherwise, we all would have some kind of engineering degree.
Second, Purdue is a top-ranked school, one of the best in the country for engineering, so I expect it to be more rigorous than other schools.
But how accurate is this rumor? I have a kid who is a high achiever who I know will do well. But I always want him to be happy. If he works in a constant pressure-cooker environment surrounded by stressed-out kids, some of that will inevitably rub off.
I am just curious what others know, either from direct experience or have heard from students they personally know who are in the engineering program. I prefer to get feedback from those who know rather than those who gossip.
My D graduated this past spring from chem e. Her experience with Purdue engineering: Rigorous, yes. Stressful, no.
She had a very, very positive experience with Purdue engineering and a very happy time as an undergrad. Most of her friends were engineers too and had similar experiences.
She certainly worked hard in her classes but still had time for clubs, sporting events, concerts, hiking, and a boyfriend.
There are a lot of students at Purdue who were superstars in their high school who find that they are merely average at Purdue. On top of that, they have to work both harder and smarter than in high school. That is an adjustment for just about everyone. Each student reacts differently, but they typically figure it out in one or two semesters, and they’re usually not struggling alone. Both the engineering and computer science students have reported that their classmates are supportive and collaborative. So don’t be afraid to reach out. There are five different academic supports in place, and students learn about them in Boiler Gold Rush orientation. They come out on the other side highly prepared, and higher than average starting salaries support that.
You’re such a great resource, thank you in advance!
Can you explain why not stressful? I heard from a recent AE grad that there was a lot of homework, but if you kept up on the homework the tests weren’t hard, so perhaps that’s why? Anything else you can add?
I have a Junior at Purdue and a high schooler that applied for fall. (My high schooler was deferred so still waiting). My son at Purdue was in honors FYE and intended to go in to Aerospace Engineering. He had the GPA to do that after his freshman year but chose Computer Engineering because he loves programming so much. So his experience is mixed. Honors Engineering in particular is EXTREMELY hard and stressful. My son had 5’s on Calc AB and BC and 4’s in AP physics and the level of difficulty was surprising to him. He did well, but it was at a cost to his social life I would say. Some of the difficulty came from being put in groups for projects and having “duds” in his group that didn’t show up to meetings and did zero work. The profs didn’t really give the tools to handle that situation so my son ended up doing most of the work along side one other person. Also the math at Purdue is off the charts hard. My son had one professor that came from Cornell and that professor thought the math at Purdue was even harder than Cornell. I think it really must depend on the kid though and how they handle stress. My son might choose to do it all over again (even honors because he learned A LOT and that is the point. But for my younger son who also wants to do CE, he might not choose honors if he got into honors. The FYE honors program is really geared towards preparing AE and ME majors much more than EE or CE in my son’s opinion. I think someone else mentioned that all other top programs are probably equally stressful. So even though Purdue has been very challenging to my older son, Purdue is still my younger son’s first choice. Also I wish I had thought through telling my son that he can take a lighter load and do engineering in 5 years rather than 4 which many of the kids do. My older son is going to complete everything in 4 years, so I think that might have added to the pressure. So maybe that is one way to release some stress (if you do 5 instead of 4 years). I hope that helped. I usually don’t comment, but I thought I might shed some light for you. Good luck.
My D was also in honors engineering. She found that there was a lot of homework and project work but she found it reasonable. She also felt exams were fair.
Her advice is to go to all the office hours and review sessions before you think you need them ;).
@collegemeyhem Thank you so much for sharing! My son will be in honor FYE as well so what you said is very useful for him to be mentally prepared. BTW, did you son claim Calc BC’s credit and skip Calc I and Calc II?
We have this question for quite a while on what AP credit he should claim. On one hand, Purdue is generous with AP credit, but on the other hand, everywhere I read it seems that Purdue’s courses are hard. Do you recommend skipping Calc I/II and start Calc III, or re-do both Calc I and II, or re-do Calc II only? and what about AP Physics?
The honor FYE also indicted the smaller class size. Usually How many students are in popular honor courses?
Purdue has all the old finals for calc on line. If your son can get 80% or higher, he should feel confident skipping. My D’s advice is to skip everything you have credit for. She felt the higher level classes were easier.
We just attended Purdue For me on Friday. My daughter was accepted into the Daniels School of Business for integrated business and engineering. We were told during our briefing that over 80,000 people applied to Purdue for a class of under 10,000. They are freezing tuition again for year 13 but I will tell you the biggest concern that we heard from current students is getting housing. That said the business school jumped nine spaces up to 21 in the nation and the engineering program is number four in the nation. They are pouring a lot of money into the business school.
Of course there are stressed students. Purdue is huge and there are a lot of kids who are shocked that they aren’t the top student like they’re used to and there are students who aren’t ready for the workload. What’s important is how your student is equipped to deal with whatever challenges come. Purdue wants students to succeed but students have to engage. There are peer and staff supports at all levels.
Wow, 80k applications? That’s more than I’ve heard elsewhere! I thought freshman class size was going to be closer to 9k, not 10k. I feel like their class sizes are maybe too big for the infrastructure exasperating housing issues.
IBE is a really good major by curriculum and one of the flagship majors at the Daniels Schools which is positioning itself as THE STEM based business school. And yes, Purdue is pouring a lot of money into its Business School.
A teammate of my son went to Irvine last year, very strong student. His advisor there encouraged him to take one less class (3 instead of 4 I believe) to ease into college life. It was the first time I’d heard of this strategy, and honestly it makes a lot of sense. Is this a common strategy these days? Is it at all common at Purdue to take a lighter load freshman year?
FYE is a very prescribed series of courses. There would need to be a discussion with the advisor to figure out how to meet all the requirements for transitioning to major.
Full time load for engineering is typically 5 classes/semester to graduate on time.
Reminder that Purdue would not have accepted a student they didn’t think would be able to succeed!
My student jumped to Calc III as a freshman after using the AP credit. A friend did the same. Mine made it through fine; the friend had to retake Calc III after failing it. Both went on to 1st choice majors & great internships (retaking replaces the grade) during undergrad. Go for it. Take your AP credits and create room for something else…
“Lighter” is relative. For a lot of engineering students, it’s taking 16 credits instead of 19 or 21. Purdue puts a lot of effort into the field of engineering education. The FYE is a highly structured pathway that’s meant to get you ready for what’s ahead. Trust the process. If taking a summer course helps your student feel like they’ll have the hang of college better come fall, choose the summer start option. If they want to wait till Fall, they’ll have thousands as company.
Taking credit for a partial sequence can expose gaps in curriculum and knowledge because of the higher rigor at purdue. People wanting to skip the calc sequence should ideally add a dual enrollment for calc III. They do have a website that shows which courses(from community college or 4 year schools) transfer over.
“Is it at all common at Purdue to take a lighter load freshman year?”
It is honestly not a bad idea to take a lighter course load. However, it might affect financial aid and maybe the loans too. Some majors really require a four year progression, so you don’t necessarily want to cut anything. Also, Purdue doesn’t charge by the credit hour, so taking 1-3 classes is one price, taking 4-6 is the next tier, and then 7+ is a higher tier. My daughter is kind of a go-getter, and after taking 18 credits as a second semester freshman and nearly driving herself into the ground, she has started to appreciate the flexibility all those AP and dual enrollment classes actually offer her, so she is down to 14 credits this semester, and probably having her best semester yet. A high performing humanities major could probably save some money by packing in 18 credit semesters and graduating early, but a STEM major might struggle with that workload. There is a balance between difficulty and finances, and no one right answer for everyone. The advisor will introduce your student to an online tool where they can plug in different classes to map out a four-year plan. They probably won’t get access to it until the first semester.
