Decision Day

         While decision day for many colleges (including Purdue) has been pushed back to June 1st, the difficulty of the decision and anticipatory emotions that come with this day remain the same. You may be feeling excitement or nervousness, fear or hope, but no matter how you are feeling, we are here to quench some of your fears or lift up your joys even higher.

         Personally, I was very conflicted with my college decision. I took a long time to decide and weighed as many factors as I could through the use of pros and cons lists. When I first applied to college, I was looking for those that offered Chemical Engineering, since I intended to make that my major. However, through speaking to many other engineering students at various universities, I learned that people often change their mind. I therefore narrowed my choices to the colleges that offered a wide variety of engineering degrees and allowed the students to gain exposure to all of the degrees before they had to choose. Purdue, with 16 engineering majors and its First-Year Engineering Program, was at the top of that list. Looking back, I am so glad that I made these aspects priorities, as I ended up changing my mind during my first year at Purdue after being exposed to the opportunities that Agricultural Engineering had to offer. Had I chosen a college without as many engineering majors or an open, non-committal first year, I would likely have been trapped in a major that was not fit for me or faced with the decision to transfer, neither of which sound appealing.

         The second important feature that I considered was the community and atmosphere of the campus. When choosing a college, you aren’t just deciding what program you want to pursue your education in, you are choosing your home for the next four or more years. Therefore, look at the campus life, the clubs and organizations offered, and the aesthetics and layout of the campus to see if it is somewhere you can picture yourself living. For me, I wanted a campus that allowed me to easily get involved and socialize outside of classes. I also wanted to be able to exercise and run around the campus and community while feeling safe. Purdue checked all of these boxes. With almost 1,000 clubs and organizations, there are endless activities outside of class offered to students. Also, the campus is mainly residential, meaning that the students don’t often go home for the weekends, allowing deeper connections to be built with friends and classmates. The layout of the campus is such that the dorms are relatively all on one side of campus with the academic buildings on the other. This allows for students to move between dorms easily to visit friends while also maintaining a division between school and recreational life, helpful for a school-life balance. Lastly, Purdue is an extremely safe campus. With Emergency Telephones always within sight, an on-campus police force, and lighted walkways, I have never felt unsafe on campus, which is something that I am sure both you and your parents will appreciate. 

The last big feature that I examined was the demographics of the student and university body as well as the diversity in programs and majors offered. Part of being an engineer is learning to collaborate with others, and understanding that team members are often of diverse race, gender, major, background, and more. Therefore, while you are learning about how to calculate forces, design waterways, or innovate fuel, it is imperative that you also gain experience with interacting and progressing in a diverse team. Also, as teams are often composed of people with different expertise, it's important to learn how to value and trust these people and the input that they have. Because of the vast variety of students that come to Purdue from all different backgrounds and all around the world, I chose to make it my home. From my first team in First-Year Engineering to the five class groups that I am currently involved in as I finish up my junior year, I have been exposed to so much diversity and LOVE IT! I have gotten to connect and learn from students from India, Malaysia, Brazil, China, and more as well as with people from different majors, all of whom offer refreshingly different ideas and contributions to the team. With the intense team building and inclusive focus that Purdue has, I present myself as a desirable and capable candidate to potential employers, which is the ultimate goal.

As you are making your own decision, be sure to consider aspects that are important to you. The three that I mentioned above are a good starting point to help you make your choice, but be sure to consider other features as well. For example, do you need to have a place to workout or a religious center on campus? Do you want to get involved with Greek life or volunteerism? No matter what your list is, go through it many times, and then hopefully (not to be biased..) your list leads you to Purdue! Boiler Up!

Brittany Kent, ABE 2021

Recruitment Project Committee

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