Maan on the Street: Why is Purdue the best school in Indiana if not the entire Midwest?

West Lafayette, Indiana. The middle of nowhere — correction — the cornerstone of cornfields, tall grass and unpredictable weather. Who would want to miss out? Apparently, not many! For the sixth year in a row, Purdue sets a new record of prospective student applications for the upcoming Fall 2016 semester. Year after year, Purdue attracts more and more students to hop on the Boilermaker special. While this feat is noteworthy, it comes as no surprise to current Boilermakers.

In this small and cozy town in the middle of God-knows-where lies a vibrantly colored campus run by it’s students. Purdue is well known for its tough academics, its resourceful line of facilities and faculty, its promising degrees and its long, stressful nights at Hicks accompanied by unhealthy beverages and snacks.

The rigor of being a Purdue student makes the Boilermaker name truly outspoken. So it is no surprise that with the right competitive spirit, there is some joy in proving that you can pass for a Boilermaker. At least you can say you survived the challenge! However prestigious, Purdue’s academic reputation is not the only thing setting it apart from other academic institutions. Purdue’s colors don’t come from its Google Earth satellite images but from its students.

First off, Purdue students do come in all sorts of colors. But Purdue students are not just diverse in racial backgrounds, but in mindsets too. With students coming from all over the world, the campus itself becomes a cultured atmosphere for people to share their stories and learn from one another.

For example, due to it’s racial diversity, it is easy for me as a Saudi Arabian student to learn about other countries such as Turkey, Malaysia, India, Mexico, China and many more through the many events that each of these cultures host through the student run organizations representing them.

Also, although known for being a STEM focused campus, Purdue’s liberal arts, visual arts, sports sciences and other divisions prove to be resourceful. The Purdue Writing Lab is a wonderful place to revise all sorts of written work from essay assignments to personal statements. Although there is no music degree at Purdue, Purdue offers access to several music organizations and studios to practice music and fine arts. Purdue sport science students work part-time as personal trainers at the CoRec. It really helps an engineering student such as myself find a healthy balance in life. Alas, Purdue is a heck of a nutritious fruit salad for the mind (credit goes to my ENGL 106 instructor for feeding my love of metaphors).

Maan on the Street: What do you think distinguishes Purdue from other Universities?

The beauty is, you don’t have to take just my word for it. Here’s what the streets of Purdue had to say about this.

Jenni Fifer, junior, Materials Engineering

“The lack of grade inflation. Other universities put a buffer and making their GPAs better so they’ll get good companies. Purdue is known for not having any form of grade inflation. So when companies come to Purdue, they take our GPAs more seriously than other schools.”

Thomas Neary, senior, Nuclear Engineering

“It has a great STEM program, not to alienate liberal arts majors. It’s a great engineering school, so a lot of international and out-of-state. It’s got a great ‘other programs’ too, so it attracts all communities.”

 

Nicholas Vander Velden, junior, Mechanical Engineering

“Purdue is globally distinguished. Our President Mitch Daniels is economic-based, which is very good. He froze tuition, which is very beneficial. It gets more and more people to come. He pushes us farther to get even more international students. We are one of the most diverse campuses in the country, especially since we’re in Indiana. It does have the ‘good old Midwest’ feel. You cannot deny that people are very nice. It’s a trusting campus. We are top at everything we do. Big bang for the buck.”

Lamingo Tomlin, senior, Fine Arts

“Purdue is very diverse and growing compared to other schools that are a PWI (Predominantly White Institute) setting. Purdue gives you a mix of everything. Between all the Big 10 universities it is most diverse. It’s crazy! Like, I met friends from parts of the globe I know I’ll never travel to anytime soon.”

Mathew Chi, freshman, Computer Graphics Technology

“Purdue gets its name out there. I’m from D.C, and over there Purdue is a huge name. Everyone knows the name Purdue, and it’s continuing to grow.”

Sophie Van Oostenburg, junior, Movement and Sport Sciences

“I’d say that you walk around and it has the feel of a big campus, but something about it makes it feel small. I don’t know if it’s the people, but something’s special about it.”

Deepthi Naidu, sophomore, Computer Science

“The fact that it’s internationally known makes it super popular to apply because a lot of people know that it’s a really good school.”

It goes without saying that being a Boilermaker is no easy task. Still, it is as awesome as it is tiring of an experience when there are tens of thousands of other interesting people to share the pain and pleasure with.