Reputation of Purdue?

Thread Starter

magnet18

Joined Dec 22, 2010
1,227
Hi all,
as some of you know I recently started attending Purdue, planning to major in EE.
I know a lot of Purdue's reputation from inside Indiana, basically we know it as that school that's really big and reputable and everybody goes to because everybody knows about it and employers will hire you if you're from there. But that's the thing. Everybody goes there, if someone gets in you're like "cool, whatever" and it's just a school like ball state or IU. My neighbor from back home is going here to major in law and scociety and be a cop. When I didn't get into MIT i was literally "darn, guess I'll just have to go to purdue :p"

Then I get here and realize there's people from india and china paying small fortunes to go here, and people paying out of state, and it makes me wonder...

How is Purdue's reputation across the world/country?
Especially those of you outside of the state of Indiana, what is the general consensus on the quality of purdue compared to places like MIT Harvard oxford or whatever local colleges you have?
I know it's number 4 in the world for engineering, but do people really think that highly of it everywhere?
 

Sparky49

Joined Jul 16, 2011
833
I'll be honest - I'd never heard of Perdue. Sorry.:(

I believe that Cambridge is the best for engineering - I'd be suprised if Oxford was higher as Oxford has more of a reputation for humanities and classics rather than sciences and Engineering.

I don't have much knowledge of the unis around the world, but I would be entirely suprised if Oxbridge didn't come out on top for most things.
 

maxpower097

Joined Feb 20, 2009
816
Its a high end school. Everyone who's ever gone to US college knows Purdue. Purdue is whats referred to as a public ivy league school. Its the public school equivelent to Cornell, Harvard, etc...
 

steveb

Joined Jul 3, 2008
2,436
Their reputation is good all over the USA. It will be interesting if you update this post over the time you spend at Purdue. Tell us your experience on a year-by-year basis.

What matters more than the school reputation is the quality of the teachers you encounter and the level of dedication you put into your education. A school can have a good reputation due to lots of research money brought in by great research professors. But, if those same professors have no interest in teaching and developing students, then that doesn't mean much to the student.

If you post your experiences here, and those turn out to be positive experiences, then the good reputation of Purdue and its #4 ranking as an engineering school, will be well-earned.
 
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DerStrom8

Joined Feb 20, 2011
2,390
I've only heard of Purdue once or twice, and even that only in an English class I had back in High school, and a little in my first year of college. I have never heard of it in regards to any technical/engineering programs, to be honest. Then again, I live on the East Coast, so the only real engineering schools I've heard of are MIT, WIT, RIT, and a couple others. MIT is obviously #1, but it's very difficult to get into. Even before you can send an application you have to go through a lot of testing. WIT is where I went to college. Very decent school, overall, though I've heard the costs for out-of-state students have increased dramatically. That's where I work now, in the laboratory, but the professors are good and the setting is in a very nice part of Boston. I have a friend who went to RIT. Her experience wasn't great, but she told me it was okay.

After some quick research, Purdue is #10 in the country. happyganl's stat of 53rd is probably in the world. So it's definitely not bad. It's a high-end school and a good name.
 

Thread Starter

magnet18

Joined Dec 22, 2010
1,227
IDK where i got 4 from, must've been some other statistic :p

Cool, thanks for the input guys
Don't be sorry if you've never heard of it, that's why I'm posting this thread, I'm curious not about statistics, but what everyone thinks :)
&sparky, it appears your cambridge and oxford rank 5th and 6th in the world - http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2011-2012/engineering-and-IT.html

@steveB, I might do that, however right now the thing predominating my mind is the first year engineering- http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ENGR 131
everything stated is true :p

Also, while we're on the topic, everyone should post where they went/are going to college, I'm curious :)
 

Georacer

Joined Nov 25, 2009
5,182
http://www.webometrics.info/en/Europe/Greece
No 3 in the list, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA).

Theoretical knowledge in a very high level, zero applied knowledge. It has quite a good reputation for what it is, and some professors are very renowned in their domain. That, of course, is irrelevant to their performance as a teacher.

Does anybody have a better list site?
 

Sparky49

Joined Jul 16, 2011
833
"&sparky, it appears your cambridge and oxford rank 5th and 6th in the world - http://www.timeshighereducation.co.u...ng-and-IT.html"

That suprises me. They won't like that one bit.

Another website says that Cambridge is second to MIT. :/ Everywhere has a different list - but with the usual suspects at the top.

Massive fees for MIT though! :eek: Cambridge is like a third of the cost!
 
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SgtWookie

Joined Jul 17, 2007
22,230
You might find this website helpful:
http://www.arwu.org/
It ranks higher learning institutions worldwide. It is run by the Chinese out of Shanghai. Wikipedia reports that it is heavily biased towards universities that publish in English scientific, math, and natural science journals, and that have been awarded Nobel prizes.

According to the Engineering & Computer Science list, Purdue is tied for 13th place with the University of Maryland.
University of Cambridge ranks 16th, University of Oxford ranks 49th.
 

Georacer

Joined Nov 25, 2009
5,182
Mine doesn't even exist in that site. It's kinda weird how the other 3 universities in Greece rank higher than mine. I believe we have a pretty good think tank around here.
 

maxpower097

Joined Feb 20, 2009
816
Those listing sites are like credit rating reports. Their done by like 120 different non profits and each one is a lil slanted. Usually an engineering firm or union will list a ranking. Basically each one counts different criteria for where they score. Hell with overall college rankings they figure in the football teams income.
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,976
Also, while we're on the topic, everyone should post where they went/are going to college, I'm curious :)
I got my bachelors (Engineering Physics) and my masters (Engineering Systems) from the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), and my doctorate (Electrical Engineering) from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS). I am presently back at CSM as a Visiting Professor in computer science and electrical engineering.

Mines is a highly specialized school with an outstanding worldwide reputation. Since I grew up in Colorado, CSM was just another small college on the edge of Denver. My senior year in high school I got a real bad case of mono right when all the school's I wanted to apply to had their application deadlines, so I literally applied to CSM because they were the only school that was still accepting applications (less than four weeks before the start of classes). It was one of those accidental things that turns out to be a really good thing -- I believe I got an outstanding education here. I continue to be amazed at how many people I run into from all over the country and even other countries that have no connection to the energy and minerals industries that know about CSM and believe it to be an outstanding school.

As for Purdue, I have always heard that it has a solid reputation. I have worked with and for Purdue grads and have no qualms about their education. By the same token, I have interviewed some Purdue grads that I had to shake my head wondering how they ever made it past their freshman year. Then again, I have had similar experiences interviewing Mines grads as well as several other highly thought of schools.
 

loosewire

Joined Apr 25, 2008
1,686
Learn how to search sites, there is too much connection to China,the

new normal. I would be suspect of the education you get for the money.

I would find some of the same thing at any school,if research,wake up

America.Don't make any dumb remarks until you do your research.

This has nothing to do with nothing,I'm asking you to read,you guys

should read more about whats happening in todays world. Its there

on the sites.
 
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Thread Starter

magnet18

Joined Dec 22, 2010
1,227
I got my bachelors (Engineering Physics) and my masters (Engineering Systems) from the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), and my doctorate (Electrical Engineering) from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS). I am presently back at CSM as a Visiting Professor in computer science and electrical engineering.

Mines is a highly specialized school with an outstanding worldwide reputation. Since I grew up in Colorado, CSM was just another small college on the edge of Denver. My senior year in high school I got a real bad case of mono right when all the school's I wanted to apply to had their application deadlines, so I literally applied to CSM because they were the only school that was still accepting applications (less than four weeks before the start of classes). It was one of those accidental things that turns out to be a really good thing -- I believe I got an outstanding education here. I continue to be amazed at how many people I run into from all over the country and even other countries that have no connection to the energy and minerals industries that know about CSM and believe it to be an outstanding school.

As for Purdue, I have always heard that it has a solid reputation. I have worked with and for Purdue grads and have no qualms about their education. By the same token, I have interviewed some Purdue grads that I had to shake my head wondering how they ever made it past their freshman year. Then again, I have had similar experiences interviewing Mines grads as well as several other highly thought of schools.
I know of that school!
they sent me like 9 letters my senior year of highschool trying to get me to go there!
I seriously considered it for awhile, but figured purdue was a better mix of reputation/close to homeness
 
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