Finding YOUR Perfect University - A Student Perspective

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Beata Strubel 

How do you find a college that provides the “perfect fit”? The college search can be daunting, stressful, overwhelming.. It can also be exciting, inspiring, and engaging. The element of the new and unknown can be both thrilling and terrifying. In less than a year you will be living in a new place with new people and limitless opportunities ahead of you.

But how do you choose? The number of burger varieties at the dining court? The steps from dorm room to classroom? (Close counts – you might need to get there quick some mornings! Or maybe you’re looking for a nice stroll..) Countless sites provide rankings in various areas, but it’s often hard to understand what they mean. How do you get a feel for a campus in a one day tour?

The key that helped me choose Purdue was the people here – the students, the faculty, the professors, the community. From the moment I arrived on campus, I was welcomed by everyone I met. I could really visualize myself spending the next four years here. I saw the excitement in the students and their passion for what they were learning. I could tell they genuinely enjoyed their classes and meeting new students. They happily answered all of my questions.

I am now part of this Boilermaker family, and I can attest to all the great things I was told back when I was in high school. I love meeting future Boilermakers and sharing my experience. In every personal story I hear from a Boilermaker, I see a new perspective about the opportunities at Purdue.

Furthermore, Purdue partnered with Gallup this past spring to create the Gallop-Purdue Index, a new measure of the value of college. It uses “rigorous data about the overall success—at work and in life generally—of America’s college graduates.”

Confirming what I learned through personal stories, the poll shows that graduates who said they had a “mentor who encouraged my hopes and dreams,” “professors who cared about me” and at least one professor who “made me excited about learning” are three times more likely to be thriving and twice as likely to be engaged at work. Personally, I have experienced all of the above at Purdue. That is pretty exciting news.

I encourage you to browse through the results and see how else you can make the most of your college experience. Maybe you’ll find a few questions to ask students on your college visits. (Do you have a mentor who encourages your dreams? Do your professors care about you and make you excited about learning? Yes, yes, and yes.) Reach out to a student and ask away. We’d love to help you find YOUR perfect fit.

*If you’re interested in learning more, you can find the Index report here.