Purdue University-Main Campus Top Questions

I know my teachers by name, some of them know me well enough to ask specific questions about my family. Some teachers are at Purdue for generations, such as Robert Taylor. Everyone who has had Bob Taylor says he is the greatest teacher known to man, even though most people don't like the subject he teaches (economics). Class participation is common even in large classes. The most interesting class I took was entomology with Tom Turpin. I bet it isn't as fun now that he has retired from teaching it, but when he was teaching it people fought to get in.

I only have a few professors that know my name. Most classes are really large (200+) and there are too many students for profs to get to know each one. My favorite class was my social psychology of marriage class. My professor got to know each one of us personally and applied the class to our real lives. We read four novels during the semester and I ended retaining the most information out of this class than any other I have taken. My least favorite class is Spanish. As a liberal arts student you must take Spanish through level four to graduate and I hate it!! They make you participate in stupid games like in high school. It's the worst.

Classes are big for the most part, some professors will learn your name others won't. So far I've been in a class of 14 (honors higher level class) to a class that couldn't fit everyone in a very large lecture hall plus balcony. Least favorite class- CHM 115 and CHM 116; engineering weed-out classes that are designed to be extremely hard There are opportunities to work with professors in your field, but you have to make your own opportunities, you can't expect things to fall into your lap Depending on the college you could have a large variety of core requirements or a small amount that aren't as far reaching. In liberal arts, there is a very large ranging list of core requirements. These range from art/dance classes to natural science classes however there is a decent amount of classes to choose from in each category required

I am an Animal Science major.. my FAVORITE class was Animal Science 245. It is NOT for the faint of heart! But it was great to actually go out and practice on real animals instead of just learning about them in the class room. One time we castrated pigs, another we gave shots to calves, another we freeze branded cows. It was really interesting and the professor was kind of tough but really fun!

It seems to be half and half with classes on what is good and what is bad. 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the classes I've taken have been ridiculous, unnessesary, and are a pain in the butt. The ones that are on topic with my major, and have good professors are GREAT and I thorougly enjoyed them.

Academics at Purdue vary greatly by department and level of the course. Some classes require attendance/assign attendance points (these classes are usually exceedingly dull and a lot of hoop jumping), others take the approach that it's your money, your education and your responsibility. There are a lot of requirements to get through, (I will refer to this as hoop-jumping), some of which are valuable and some of which are lame. State requirements for certain programs and inter-departmental disagreement and confusion add to this problem. If you are a high school student looking to go to Purdue, first off know that Purdue takes very little AP credits, and secondly know that if you can find out what credits Purdue does take through AP it could save you from a few classes here and there. I got a 4 on the AP biology and tested out of Biology 110 at Purdue as a result. So if you are going into liberal arts, this gets you out of one of your science requirements. However if you're pre-med, you have to take Biology 121 any way, so it's kind of pointless. My AP gov and econ exams got me no credit at Purdue. Purdue does have language requirement test outs when you come to campus after you decide to enroll at the university.

The academics here were a bit harder than I anticipated, but after getting used to them, I find I hardly have to study at all. My friends and I often have intellectual conversations outside of class, and as a computer science major, I like to educate my less computer-literate friends, and program in my free time.

Some of the professors are great, and if you take the initiative to go to office hours and see them, they'll definitely remember your name. However, there are a lot of professors who are here for research and nothing else. My favorite class was senior aircraft design, by far. It was the most difficult class I'd ever taken, and also the most rewarding. My least favorite class was probably signals and control systems, but that's mostly because I don't like the subject that much. I think it depends on the major, but in my major, the students study a LOT. There are a lot of different places where people can choose to study. So don't worry, if you're the type of student who doesn't like to be distracted, there are plenty of places to just focus on studying. Class participation is very common. I don't think I've had many classes, if any, where there wasn't any class participation. The best classes have always been the ones where the class participation is what drives the class. I think the students definitely have intellectual conversations out of class. You'll find all types of people on this campus. Sometimes you just have to be proactive enough to find the type you like. Students in engineering are pretty competitive as it's a very competitive field, but you're trained to work in groups as engineering teams. So I've always found the people in my major willing to give a helping hand to try and teach me a concept or how to do a specific problem. The most unique class I've taken was Student Leadership Development. It teaches about the different aspects, methods, and theories of leadership. It's really a great class, and I ended up being the TA for a year, too. Pablo Malavenda, Associate Dean of Student Activities and Organizations, teaches it. You'll never meet a person on campus who can lead you to more opportunities. My major was Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering. It's really a great program. Although not the most personal, the program makes great engineers. It's like a factory for engineers. Once you're done, Purdue's reputation will take you far. Many large companies only hire straight out of Purdue. I just got a job with The Boeing Company, and I have no doubt that having "Purdue University A&AE graduate" on my resume was a large factor in me getting it. We don't usually spend much time with professors outside of class, but there is an annual Aero Social Night where the professors come to a rented out bar w/ us, drink, eat, and socialize w/ all of us. Most schools at Purdue have something like that I think. How do i feel about Purdue's academic requirements? haha...I'M DONE! The education here is geared towards whatever you want it to be. If you want to learn, learn, learn, then you can do it here. If you want a job, just work hard, and Purdue will find the opportunities for you. You just have to know what to do with them.

Some professors know my name; depends on the class and the professor. My favorite class is Structural Analysis. Great professor that cares and material I am interested in. Students, if engineers, study a lot! More than 40 hours a week. Class participation depends on the class and the professor. Purdue students are often extremely smart, most of us are engineers! Students are competitive but also help each other out. Most unique class I have taken would be Civil Engineering 221-Estimating. You could not understand the professor, but he was a great guy and did a lot of unique things to make sure we learned and passed the class. The department of Civil Engineering is cool. Don't really know what else to say. A few hundred per class. I often go professor's office hours. Purdue's academic requirements are a little lax. They don't let dumb people into engineering schools but if you're on the fence you have a sporting chance. Purdue wants your money. The education at Purdue is geared toward getting a job. The School of Construction Engineering Management, my school, and we have 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} job placement after school.

*Yes, many professors know my name. Call me a goody-goody, but I make sure to introduce myself early on in the semester or go to their office hours. I'm also in much smaller classes now than I was as a freshman, so it's not hard for professors to know your name. *Favorite class=Com 491 Introduction to Health Communication, because it sparked me to consider going onto graduate school *Least favorite class=Com 204, I don't even remember the name of the class but we had a lot of assignments and it had something to do with rhetoric and we read a lot of Aristotle...it was awful and it was required and HARD a.k.a. a weed-out class *It really depends how much students study. For me, I'm pretty productive with my time and can get a lot of homework and studying done in a short amount of time. It also helps that I rarely miss class, so I never have any make-up stuff and always know how to do things if they were explained in class that day *Class participation varies. In large lecture halls, it really doesn't occur. You just sit there and take notes. However, I have been in many classes recently where participation was part of your grade and most of the class dealt with discussions rather than listening. *I have intellectual conversations SOMETIMES, if it's right after class or in between class. I rarely go home and talk to friends or family about intellectual stuff, but I will mention things I've learned. *I feel that there are many students who are competitive and many students who could care less and just want to do the bare minimum required for graduation. *Most unique class=I haven't had the opportunity to take wine appreciation, flower arranging, bowling, etc. but I did take a pretty cool com class called Com 408 FastTrack news magazine. Students in the class wrote and developed weekly stories for the broadcast and also did all the production of the show, it was pretty cool and it was broadcasted on cable tv. My parents thought it was cool to watch it from their house and hear my voice on the television. *I'm a 5th year student in Communication, mass I think but I should have changed it once I worked for The Exponent, no offense. I started out as a pre-vet student and didn't even take a class because once I looked at my 4 year plan full of math and science I was out of there! So I switched to communication because I like to read and write! But after a job at The Exponent, I realized I didn't want to be a journalist and after an internship at Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. I realized I didn't want to go into public relations. I am grateful for these experiences, however, because they caused me to grow and change and find out what I really wanted to do. I've currently applied to a few public health schools in hopes of getting my Masters in a few years. *I don't really spend time outside of class with teachers unless it's to meet them during their office hours *I think Purdue is a good school and requires a lot out of its students as far as academics are concerned. Most students can't blow off their classes and expect to pass them. *I'm not sure if my education is geared towards getting a job or learning for its own sake. I know that I didn't want to find a job in communication because i felt public health was a better fit for me, so my Purdue education has been more learning-based but still information from my undergraduate degree that I can tie into my future jobs.