Purdue University-Main Campus Top Questions

The thing that I like about Purdue's classes is that you can stick out if you choose to, or you can hide in the crowd. The way Purdue has their recitation and lecture schedule set up, you can meet with a professor easily during their office hours if you would like to know them on a more personal level. Then they know your name and recognize it. This is a good way to meet people for recommendation letters. If you don't want your professor to know you or recognize your name, they easily don't have to have a face to put with the name. My favorite class has been my COM 100 class. It was so helpful. It helped me layout my future four years at Purdue, which will help me graduate in four years. My least favorite class has always been Spanish. It was just very difficult for me. Students study depending on how much they feel necessary according to their major. Obviously, if you are a science, pharmacy, pre-med, or engineer, you will probably study more. Class participation is very common, especially in the smaller classes or recitations. I think that since being at Purdue, my intellectual conversations out of class have increased. I constantly find my friends and I talking about politics. I think that students are a little competitive, but we realize that we're all here for the same thing and should help each other. My department is great. I am in the communications department, majoring in public relations. The professors are so friendly and helpful. The graduate program is also very highly ranked in the nation and typically fully funded. I believe the education at Purdue is geared toward getting your dream job. There are constant job fairs with very well known companies and if you talk to a professor about your dream job they will help you take the steps to obtain it.

I'm in Construction Engineering & Management. Purdue is one of the few schools across the country to offer a construction engineering degree. We are required to complete 3 summer internships before you graduate. I ended up in San Francisco for 2 summers, and Boulder, CO for the 3rd.

As an English major, my classes are pretty small and close-knit. I have made some great contacts through my professors and often meet for coffee in their office or grab a drink outside of class. The required core classes, generally taken freshman year, are much less personal but the professors here try really hard to respond to student emails and make appointments to meet outside of class. It's been my experience that there's no reason you couldn't get the help you needed, you just can't be afraid to ask for it. My favorite class has been Tolkien, an intensive author study class. The professor, Kip Robisch, is one of the most influential people I've ever met and every one of his students absolutely adores him. He makes an effort to know everyone's name and a little bit about them and will go miles out of his way to accomodate us. Last semester he even had small groups to his house for snacks and a novel discussion. The professors in the English department want to be involved in our lives, and that has made my college experience priceless. The academic requirements vary widely depending on your major, but the core classes provide a very thorough base of education. In addition to my English courses I've taken lab sciences, math, philosophy, 4 years of Spanish (our foreign languages department is amazing!), film criticism, and tennis. Within my department there are several courses to fulfill our requirements, so there is a lot of freedom in choosing what classes you take. In the English department at least the students are here to learn, learn, learn--we are incredible nerds and so proud of it. Grad school is the logical next step for most of us so we are very geared toward settling into our interests and eating up as much as we can.

In the smaller classes, professors do know your name. In the larger lectures of 100+ students, they do not know your name. My favorite class was my tennis class and theatre class. My least favorite was COM 204 and COM 324. Students spend a ton of time studying. Atleast a couple hours each day. Class participation is extremely encouraged and most classes give you participation points. A lot of the students in my classes continued to have intellectual conversations outside of class. Students are very competitive when it comes to academics becuase everyone wants to be "that A student." The most unique class I've taken is definitely COM 314:Advanced Public Speaking. This was a very fun class and you got to express and share your personal experiences with everyone in your own unique way. The Communication Dept. is full of outstanding professors and TA's. They all know what they are doing and are willing to share their knowledge with you. THe only way I spent time with my professors out of class was when I went to their office hours. Purdue's academic requirements are very reasonable. The only complaint I have is for the Communication major requirements. There are a lot of classes that are useless to us (Ex: COM 435) and we need more classes on how to write PR material and more campaign classes. A Purdue education is very prestigious and many employers know right away that you are a great worker just by having PURDUE on your resume.

Granted, im from a small, rural community up in Michigan, but when people found out I was going to Purdue I may as well have said stanford. Purdue is well respected around the country for many reasons. First, more astronauts have attended Purdue than any other school in the nation, including the military academies. Several of our programs rank in the top 25 in the nation, with a few ranking in the top 10 continuously. The classes are tough, but not unfair. My physics exam last week for example, i got a 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}. But because half the class did worse than I did, the teacher curved it so that a 60 ended up being a B. Also, like anything, you get out what you put in. I am on a first name basis with a few professors and most of my other professors know who I am. The ones who don't, I personally have no desire to talk to. Students are competative here, but in a way that we help each other out. My friends and I are all competing for the top position in our class obviously, but we also send each other our study guides so if someone caught something that the others didnt, we would all have it. We have study groups and quiz each other. We remind each other of upcoming tests and quizzes so that were all prepared... We help each other out.

When you are a freshman, there are lots of large, introductory classes that you have to take. These classes are meant to challenge you in order to weed out the not-so-serious students. Do not expect all your classes to be like this! As you get into specialized classes for your major, some teachers learn you name (some still do not) and class size gets smaller. I cannot talk about Purdue's academics without mentioning our top-ranked Agriculture, Management, and Engineering programs. Although these are the most recognized majors at Purdue, we have other great programs like Pharmacy, Veterinary School, and Hospitality and Tourism Management. Our Liberal Arts majors are not acknowledged much, but Purdue's standards would not allow there to be a mediocre program, except maybe Organizational Leadership and Supervision. This major is notorious for being deemed easy.

Classes at Purdue can range in size from a 300 person class to maybe a 15 person class. Typically your freshman year you will have larger classes and then as you start to get into your core area of study, your classes will get smaller and smaller. Most people are able to finish their core curriculum (which is required for every major, but generally differs in some way for each school) by junior year. Or, you can choose to spread it out over all four years. Our advisers tend to be really flexible and let you choose what you want to do with your plan of study. I have definitely had some classes I hated here and some classes I loved. The classes I hated were never because of the subject though, they would be because of the professor. Before I scare you this has only happened twice, but if you really hate a class, or a professor, see if it is offered by someone else at that same time. I've made the mistake where I've stuck with something not realizing that I could have switched out and easily taken it with someone else. I probably would have learned a lot more and enjoyed it a lot more had I taken it with someone else. On the other hand, I've also had some classes I completely loved. Right now I am in History of Rock and Roll. It is probably the best class I have ever taken, I recommend it to everybody. I wasn't even all that interested in Rock and Roll to begin with, but I have had Professor Morrison in previous history classes and have learned so much from him. Also, for communications or journalism majors, make sure you take a class with Professor Jane Natt. She knows what she is doing and she will prepare you for a job in the field.

Most of my professors know my name. I am in communication classes, however, not engineering. My class size is about 20-50 students per class. I know engineering classes are much larger. My favorite and least favorite class was COM 408 Newsmagazine Production. It is a lot of work. You put on a news show every week. During the week, you shoot and edit field productions that will run in the show. Because there were only about 13 people in the class, you become really close to your classmates. The instructor is also really helpful and kind. It is fun because you get to learn a lot about what is happening at Purdue. The class had its high and low moments, but I recommend taking it. The amount students study all depends on their major. I study about 2 hours a day, but again, I am a communications major. My boyfriend is a senior in Mechanical Engineering, and he can spend up to 6 hours studying a day. Class participation is pretty common in my classes. I am in a class now that discusses racial and ethnic diversity issues. Sometimes, the entire period is a political debate about affirmative action or race-sensitive college admission. It depends on how the class is structured. Most students do have intellectual conversations outside of class. There is a lot of discussion about politics. Students are competitive in engineering. In communication classes, the competition is less. Competitiveness increases with seniority. The most unique class I have ever taken is Mass Media Effects Research. The class is taught by a world-famous researcher in this field, Glenn Sparks. We discover how all types of media affect body image, obesity, perspectives, fear and much more. It is really interesting. My major is Communications, however, there are concentrations within this major. Some of these concentrations are organizational communiation, mass media, public relations and a few more. We do not have a journalism major, but those interested in journalism take the mass media concentration. It is good because you learn all parts of the media, but it bad because there is a limited amount of journalism classes offered. I occasionally spend time with my professors outside of class. While in COM 408, all of the class would come down during lunch hour to edit and hang out. So, we would have lunch with our professor and chat, while getting some work done. A few weeks ago, a group of classmates and I went to see one of our professors play in a band. I speak to my journalism professor about my online portfolio and job opportunities. They are always there to speak to you after class if you want. Purdue's academic requirements are fair. I've never had a problem with them. You can retake classes up to 3 times. You also have the option of redlining, or dropping class grades that are not needed by your major. Also, you can take classes Pass/Fail, which means you get credit, but not a grade if you receive 70{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} or higher. The education in engineering is geared toward gettng a job. They have great co-op opportunities for engineering students, which allows them to work for a semester and then go to school for a semester. For Liberal Arts, it is more for learning or its own sake.