1
3 years ago
Admissions Advice
Discussion
college
decisions
engineering
Purdue
university
Universityofmichigan

Purdue or University of Michigan?

Please only vote if you read the whole post! I'm planning on studying mechanical engineering in college and have narrowed down my school decision to the University of Michigan or Purdue University. They both have about the same engineering rankings, are the same size, have the same % of women in engineering, and cost very close to the same amount so I'm having a hard time deciding.

Purdue University offered me a $16k/yr merit scholarship and acceptance into their Honors College, where I get priority class registration, nicer dorms (right by academic buildings, air conditioning, built in 2016), and special honors classes. With out-of-state tuition and my scholarship, it ends up costing about $28k/yr, and their tuition will be frozen through at least spring of 2022. Purdue is about 5 hours away from where I live, and they offer MS/MBA degree options, along with lots of available minors, certificates, and concentrations. I plan to live in off-campus housing for at least two years, and it costs about $700/month. I really like the vibe of the campus and how willing the school's president is to listen and respond to the needs of the students. Their sports teams aren't the best, and I'm not sure if they have as much energy and school spirit at games as I'd like.

The University of Michigan will cost $28.5k for my first year (I got a $4k freshman scholarship from an affiliated group) and $32.5k/yr for the rest of my time there, as I'm an in-state student. The school is less than an hour away from where I live. They do not have frozen tuition, so it will increase a little each year, and also increases by $2k for junior and senior year. I love the main campus, but the engineering courses are on North Campus, which I think is very plain and boring. At Michigan, I would be able to earn a business minor from their Ross school of business, a top-ranked business school. I plan on applying for the Sustainable Living Experience theme community, which is housed in old apartments turned into dorms, so they're also very nice. Off-campus housing costs about $900/month. I know about 25 people who will be going here for various different majors, including a lot of my close friends, and I love the school spirit and energy at their sporting events.

I have not yet heard back from most scholarships I've applied to, but hopefully, both schools will end up costing less as I have applied to a ton of scholarships. Please let me know which school you think I should go to and any specific reasons!

 
Purdue University
44%
 
University of Michigan
55%
Poll closed36 votes
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3 years ago

Just wanted to comment and say I really appreciate all the detail you added to this post — it helps the whole community understand the situation and provide more meaningful input. Thanks for modeling awesome post content!

Btw congrats on both acceptances — choosing between Purdue Honors with a merit scholarship and UMich is a great position to be in — that said, I voted for Purdue because I’m increasingly impressed with their engineering career pathways and your positioning in the honors college will open up a ton of doors for you (basically first pick at all career opportunities on campus, big fish in a small pond dynamic)

4

3 years ago

I agree with ZPX I value the smaller environment as well as the lower cost more. Additionally I think Purdue is better than UMich for engineering. The only remaining question is how much di you value the friends at UMich. As someone whos the epitome of introverts that not a huge concern.

2

3 years ago[edited]

Even though UMich is generally more prestigious, saying you graduated with Honors will have a greater long-term positive effect for you because not many people can actually say that they've done that.

Also, since you've gotten the scholarship, you can save up and get something like better accommodation or facilities on the Purdue campus - because their campus is beautiful.

So, I would recommend Purdue!

And a MAJOR congrats for getting into both these unis!

1

2 years ago

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