Purdue University

Date: Dec 01 2011
Major: Other (This Major's Salary over time)
Here's an email I recently wrote to a prospective Purdue student: I could go on for days about life in West Lafayette! We have so much to do here, for the students because it is indeed a "college town." Honestly, coming from Minneapolis, I was apprehensive about moving here but over time I found that I really love the area. There's something for everyone. If you're into the bar scene we have an area next to campus called Chauncey Hill. There, you'll find a handful of bars, hookah bars, burrito places, sub shops, ice cream, coffee shops, etc. Most businesses are suited for student life so our Noodles and Co. for instance is open until 4am on the weekends.

Even though it's rare to find a student who doesn't love the bars, I'm more into finding random free events on the weekends. For example, Purdue offers free movies to students in a "movie theater" setting every couple weeks called Flicks at Fowler which plays movies that haven't yet been released on DVD. I also love to go to the free improv comedy shows that we have around campus. The other things to do around campus are random evens hosted by the Purdue Student Union Board… for instance this weekend I'll be going to a music festival hosted by them called "LollaPURDUEza" and next week we have Holidays at the Union (the main student center on campus). Purdue also hosts a couple huge concerts throughout the year—for instance I saw the Blue Man group last year. Big artists like coming here to perform… Lady Gaga, Jason Mraz, and Augustana to name a few.

We have a bowling alley and billiard on campus, there's movie theaters, there's hiking trails, there's a nearby mall… you name it. A big piece of advice I'd have for anyone coming to Purdue is to always always read the flyers posted around campus if you're looking for something to do—that's how I find out about most all activities and events.

As for the people, buildings, bus systems—I really have enjoyed all of the aspects. Purdue has such a wide variety of students that you're guaranteed to find people with similar interests as you. After all, we are a school of about 39,000 students. The campus, as you probably saw, is absolutely beautiful. We have a tooon of libraries and computer labs scattered all around campus so you'll always have somewhere to go to get your work done. During finals week, they keep the libraries open 24/7 but on a regular week they have one of the main ones open until about 2am. Our computer labs are predominately windows but we also have a Macs to accommodate the mac users too. We have a spot where students can rent cameras and video cameras for free. As for the bus system, it's super convenient. There always seems to be a bus running but you're going to have to get to know the different bus loops because the handful of bus route options can be overwhelming at first.