Get to Know: Purdue Honors College and Goss Scholars Part 2
For your first year engineering (FYE) class at Purdue, you have a few options as to what class you want to be in. Typically people will take ENGR 131/132, but I wanted to share another program that I took part in called the Goss Scholars Program. Goss Scholars is the “Honors Engineering” FYE course, but you also do not need to be in the Honors College to be in this class. You can apply for the living-learning community that is associated with the course which is ENGR 161/162.
If you are accepted into the Honors College you are automatically part of the Goss Scholars Program. I remember clearly when I found out I was a Goss Scholar, and in all honesty, I had no idea what it meant. I looked everywhere for more information, but it was really difficult to find. So, I accepted my Honors admission and enrolled into Goss Scholars. I would never change my decision to be in Goss, but I wish I knew someone who would tell me more about the program.
This is what I am here for now.
As mentioned before, as a Goss Scholar, you will take the ENGR 161/162 sequence for first year engineering. These classes are four credit hours each, count for honors credit, and roll in the first year engineering physics class requirement (PHYS 172) with the class. This frees up a lot of room in your schedule to take other classes such as your first year honors seminar and any other fun or interesting classes you may want to take.
This class brings many engineering principles together from the design process to coding in Python and MATLAB to engineering ethics. You learn calculus-based physics mechanics and statistics, and you will also work in teams which are assigned at the beginning of the semester to work on three major projects each semester (teams also change between semesters). For my first semester, we did a catapult project--which was meant for team building--, a coding project, and a robot project that combines all of the real engineering skills you learn in class. Second semester, we did an egg drop, another coding project, and another robot project. While this may seem a little overwhelming, especially if you are like me and don’t know how to code or have any idea on where to start when building a robot, I want to let you know that you do not need to worry. Everything you do, you will learn about in the class. There are so many people who come into the program not knowing how to do anything you learn in the class and they come away in the end being a lot more confident in all of these skills.
One thing that I think is really unique about this program is how well it prepares you for your engineering major you choose after your first year. I feel so prepared for my major because I have many of the technical skills that are needed to actually run an engineering project. Because the class is also team-based for projects and learning, you will learn so much about working on a project team which is something I get asked about in interviews all of the time. Goss really prepares you for the work world as well. My first year roommate, Lizzy Colip ME ‘24, talked to me about her internship this past summer and how the things we learned in class helped her to succeed. She explained how in her internship she used, “...the content we learned about laminar flow during Project 2. I was working on designing a layout of cooling fans within an electric car to maximize air flow...Definitely not something I expected to need for my internship, but it saved me some research.” There are so many things that you will learn in the class that in the moment may not feel useful but will definitely come up again in the future. Goss really helped her learn the professional and technical skills that engineers in the workplace use all of the time.
An important thing to note is that the class is challenging. It would be unfair to hide the fact that the course itself is rigorous. It has a decently quick pace and the problems you may work on will be difficult to understand at times. However, this is exactly what engineering in the work world will be like. You will not always have the answers and sometimes have to reach out and ask for extra help or clarification. Luckily, you have so many great resources in that class such as the Professors, TAs, and your peers. You will be surrounded by some of the brightest minds in your class. Everyone in that class helps everyone because we all want to do well. That was by far my favorite part: the Goss Scholars community is so incredible and we all help each other to succeed. Also, by helping others, you can help yourself since you reinforce the content you learn by teaching and working with others. The team you are assigned during the semester is also a great resource since everyone in your group will have something special and useful to contribute to each project.
Goss Scholars also does a lot of social programming as well such as the Goss Scholars picnic, mentorship programs, and in previous pre-COVID years they went ice skating, a ropes course challenge, and so much more.
I really am grateful for being in the Goss Program. I learned so much in that class that I continue to use today. This class gives you an authentic look into what you will be doing as an engineer and teaches you many specific skills that will make you extremely desirable when it comes to future projects or internships and jobs. I would highly recommend applying for this learning community even if you are not going to apply for honors. If you are applying for honors, know that this is what you have to look forward to if you are accepted. If you have any more questions regarding the Goss Scholars Program, make sure to check out their website at:
https://engineering.purdue.edu/Honors/future-students/About%20Goss%20Scholars
I really hope you take advantage of this incredible opportunity!
Becca Jennings, MSE '24
Recruitment Project Committee
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