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Purdue may be a Big Ten school; but I still have a sense of knowing everyone! Not literally, but you get to know people in your classes, in your residence hall, that you happen to meet at the library, etc. I don't feel Purdue is too big at all; and I'm glad I am constantly able to meet new people and share new ideas and experiences. I am not part of the Greek system, and that's fine. I have friends both in and out of the Greek system, it's not a requirement to having a fulfilling college experience at Purdue to be Greek. Our mascot is a bit odd...but that makes it that much cooler to say I'm a Boilermaker. One of my biggest complaints is the computer labs/set-up of computer services at Purdue. We are about to undergo a big overhaul and it's really a mess. You would think that with our computer sciences department being so prestigious we would have a better handle on our campus technology! Hopefully that will get ironed out a little more in the next year or so...but we'll see.
Jen Senior
The best thing about Purdue is that it is a Big Ten school. When you graduate from Purdue you can be almost guarenteed to get a great job, regardless of your major of study. One thing I'd change about Purdue are the people. I know it sounds broad but generally as a student population the people at Purdue just aren't friendly. I transferred from another college in Indiana where everyone was nice to everyone, says hello, and holds the door open for the person behind them every time. At Purdue you will get none of that. Everyone only cares about themselves and their group of friends. The school is TOO BIG. It is so hard to meet people unless you are a greek. And the greek community is outrageous here. If you're not greek, you're in the minority. I spend most of my time on campus outside. I love the grounds. There are two fountains on campus that are absolutely beautiful and are so nice to sit by and socialize or study. It is so nice to walk to class during the spring and fall, very beautiful. The best thing about being a Purdue is the all-famous "Den Pop". A local store near campus called the Den sells fountain sodas for way cheap. There is usually a line going out the door during finals week for students looking for a caffeine fix. Purdue's administration is acceptable. I like the new President, France Cordova. She seems to have the students interests in mind with a lot of the changes she has been making (new website, new and easier ways to register for classes, etc). The salaries the administration makes are completely out of control but I guess that is the same at every university. Another great thing about Purdue is the Purdue student newspaper (independent) called the Exponent. Everyone and I mean everyone reads this paper on a daily basis. The writers are decent and stories for the most part unbiased. I especially like reading the letters to the editor. There are some seriously heated debates in this section, sometimes the debates go on for weeks. The biggest recent controversy on campus was the Wade Steffey case. Wade Steffey, a Purdue Freshman, went missing one friday night. The police and community searched for Wade for weeks (including Purdue staff) and finally his body was found on campus. The body was found in a dorm electrical room that was supposed to be off-limits to everyone except maintenance. There are locks on the doors and small signs that say "keep out". Obviously someone (a Purdue staffer) did not lock the door as they are supposed to and Wade ended up losing his life. It's not talked about too much about how Purdue screwed up and that bothers me. Also, when Wade went missing I didn't see a comradere I would expect from a student body. Sure, people volunteered to help look, but not near as many that should have. I didn't 'feel the love' as you should during a tragedy. Like I said, in general Purdue students only care about themselves. As far as school pride, there's only really a feeling of pride during the football season. Other than that, school pride goes only as far as wearing your Purdue tee to class. The most unusual thing about Purdue is the foreign population, it's one of the biggest in the nation. Purdue educates a lot of Asians and Indians. When you come to Purdue you don't expect that. Also another unusual thing about Purdue is the smell. The city of West Lafayette and Lafayette smell awful almost 24/7. There are several factories in the area that create seriously foul smells that can almost knock you over. Most of the time it doesn't reach campus but it's there as soon as you step outside of campus. It is the worst in the summer! One last unusual thing about Purdue is the roads. We go to a school full of engineers but the roads around campus and West Lafayette were put together with no sense. Most of the roads are one-ways and it takes forever to get anywhere.
TanaMarieBee Senior
One great thing about Purdue is that there are so many clubs/organizations, etc for students to get involved in. You can get involved in anything you want, and there are tons of opportunities for leadership. Another great thing is that the town Purdue is in, West Lafayette, IN, is built around the camus. Therefore, there are lots of restaurants and things to do. One other great thing about Purdue is the Greek Life. Being Greek is big at Purdue. A lot of people "rush" sororities and fraternities, and there are coutnless Greek houses on campus. Purdue has the 2nd largest Greek community in the nation. Bad things...Purdue is not very safe. There are always attempted abductions, rapes, assults, robberies, etc in the paper and on the news daily (even stabbings, shootings, etc). The police spend most of their time giving traffic violations, instead of taking care of important things. The facutly at Purdue, at least in my experience, are not very helpful. I am in pharmacy, and the faculty seems more interested in failing students than helping them to pass.
Kirsten Junior
Purdue is a place of tradition and innovation. A place where not only are books read and papers written, but where lifelong friendships form and character is molded. An institution rooted with the likes of Emilia Earheart and Neil Armstrong, Purdue is the type of school that inspires excellence from those that associate themselves with it. The administration is strict. Purdue has a reputation to uphold and therefor they don't bend much for academic dishonesty or breaking laws. They are pretty lenient on one thing though - drinking. Even in the dorms if you are caught drinking underage they will rarely get the police involved. The preferred method of punishment is to be "written up" and have to chat with the resident life manager. You get an almost unlimited number of chances so long as it was just alcohol and not drugs involved, with the worst i'd ever heard anyone having to do was go to an alcohol awareness class. Purdue IS West Lafayette. Everything here is designed to facilitate the campus and students. Purdue is unique however, in that the campus is just the campus. With the exception of a few restaraunts in the student union, there are no diners, no bars, no gas stations, no stores of any kind on campus. In fact, there are no buildings not owned by purdue on the purdue campus (cept a few apartments i think). Because of this, you can walk pretty much from one end of campus to the other in 20 minutes no problem. The CityBus system shuttles students around for free during school days and at night and is a LOT of fun if you catch the drunk bus. We had one bus driver let us sing using the mic and bus speakers so we had the whole bus singing to journey. Purdue is awesome
AeroBoiler007 Junior
The best thing about Purdue is the campus and the pride. The campus is gorgeous. We have two giant fountains on campus, as well as a bell tower in the center. We have old, beautiful buildings as well as new ones being built. There are also lots of fields and places to sit and hang out outside when the weather is nice. Being a native of Indiana, there is a sense of pride going to Purdue. It is where my parents, brothers and other family members have graduated from. If I could change one thing about Purdue, it would be the gym. The co-rec is extremely small considering the amount of people using it. On campus there are 40,000 students. The co-rec has about 15 treadmills to accomodate all of these people. It gets even more jammed in the winter, when the weather drops to the single digits. I evidentually caved and bought a gym membership at a local gym. Purdue is just right. It has enough people to keep the campus diversified, but small enough to still get to know people in your class. My class size is about 25-50 depending on the class. However, I am a communications major. Engineering class have a MUCH different class size. People will usually ask what discipline of engineering I am in when I tell them I go to Purdue. When I tell them I am studying communications, they ask why I didn't go to Northwestern or Ball State. I spend most of my time on campus in the Union. Purdue recently remodeled the Union, so there is a lot more variety in the food court. The restaurants have their own individual seating in their areas, or you can sit in the commons area. It's a great study atmosphere, but don't expect to get a table the week of finals. Purdue is located in West Lafayette, Indiana. It is definately not the most exciting town in the world! Aside from eating, there is very, very little to do off campus. The good news is that Indianapolis is an hour south, or you can take a train to Chicago for the weekend. Purdue's administration seems to be doing a good job. The only major complaint I would bring up is the problem with parking. I feel like that is a problem in a lot of campuses though. The biggest recent controversy on campus happened last year. A freshman disappeared on campus for months. Purdue Police searched everywhere for the freshman. When they finally found the body, it was located in the basement of a dormitory. The door was left unlocked to a room full of high voltage equipment. Having left his ID card to enter the dorm in his room, the student tried to sneak back into the dorm. He ended up getting electricuted. Some blame Purdue for leaving the door unlocked and for not hanging a caution sign on the door. Others blame the Purdue Police for taking such a long time to find the body. It was a very sad situation. It made national news. There is a lot of school pride. Our school's claim to fame is that we have the most astronauts graduated from Purdue. We really love our football team through thick and thin. Recently, our basketball team is doing extremely well. There are student fan groups you can stand by during the football and basketball games. Purdue is unusual because it is the last airport Amelia Earhart flew out of before she disappeared. There is an Earhart dormitory named after her. I will always remember doing a "fountain run" or running through the fountains at 2 a.m. when it was 50 degrees out. It is a Boilermaker tradition. The most frequent student complaints are about parking. There is hardly anywhere to park on campus. Parking tickets cost $20.
Melissa Senior
One thing that really stands out about Purdue to me is the people. Almost always, if I'm walking a few steps behind someone and they get to a door, they'll pause and hold it for me instead of just letting it close behind them. That seems like a small gesture, but it really speaks to the atmosphere at Purdue. Regardless of if you're at a football game or just walking down the street, there is a strong sense of unity and the feeling that everyone is looking out for each other in a way. The faculty and students are all really down to earth, which makes the campus seem a lot smaller and welcoming.
Christine Sophomore
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