Purdue University

Purdue is a great value with national acclaim but has major issues (pun intended). This is the critical paper taught in COM114. Purdue cost me $54,000, just in tuition, here's what I learned for my $54,000 - sadly many take on much more debt to learn the same. But for maybe 50% of you, I can say (happily) you engineers, math/stat, science smart people, you have good chances here to make your investment worth the while. Ignore this wordy mess and apply to Purdue! I'm talking to all the others like me who go to Purdue for a more general area of study many other colleges and smaller local places offer for much less tuition but we try Purdue thinking it will offer options those lesser colleges are unable to provide. I started in Industrial Design, had a semester in Computer Graphics, graduated in Financial Planning: 11 semesters, 55+ faculty. I had things to work thru so don't mind me! I observed about 35% of the faculty to be an ideal, what a world class education center should hold dear. Shout out to Mr. Haywood in Business Law! What a master of education who combined his lawyer experience in Chicago with his current shampoo making business for fantastic class moments. But Dr. Ma, both Risk Management and Investment Strategies, he never graded HW and made us help with his thesis research in labs. We found out that grades were RANDOMLY assigned to fit the bell curve. This is hilarious right! And entirely true. Dr. Snuggs sadly was also a failure in both "teaching" Ethics and Cultural Marketing classes, graded only on formatting not content. She hinted at unresolved childhood issues and made comments out of place outside of therapy, low standards for a WWI orphanage. It is hard to see your money funding issues you can't fix. Some will say that bad teachers are a part of life! "College helps you learn responsibility" and "difficult teachers prepare for difficult bosses" - that is dumb talk. If I'm paying big money for an education, I better get that big education. I can go to any of those lesser colleges if I want to prepare for a difficult boss! Purdue seems to be looking for kids too lazy to try online courses but just motivated enough to walk to a class at 7:30am taught by a pinata. Purdue is like an Apple Watch; sure it's cool and carries a lot of hype with it. But it'll be outdated next year and worthless in three so as long as no one points that out let's all buy one! Maybe you aren't so concerned with the argument of worthless teachers at Purdue. May I just say try attending just one class with any professor rated 3/5 or lower on ratemyprofessor.com - I have a strong suspicion you'll quickly come to agree with me that however wide and generous the gradient is between a Fantastic Teacher down to Acceptable, there is no excuse nor reason to tolerate those below an acceptable quality in the classroom. But I can see some are perfectly fine with accepting an unacceptable professor so let's move onto what I anticipate to be an entirely universal issue. Issue #2 I recall students acquiring solutions to exams in German and a few other classes. This is about Purdue's complete lack of control on cheating among its students. My group's white paper in ENG420 was on cheating. We concluded Purdue (and all large colleges) unintentionally turn into a masterclass to enable kids to get away with cheating. This is why my Issue #1 was first: remember all those worthless teachers? what will their students do? They will figure out how to get away with cheating! Many students are now in a GroupMe with other classmates not to enable positive classroom conversation but (you guessed it) to share solutions to HW. This leads into the reality Purdue throws countless dollars and effort hours to keep hidden. It is the dirty reality we all ignore, like that cheap watch costing $350 because it has a fruit on it. It is the reality of cheaters, drinking parties, hazing, suicides, athletic coaches making more income than the Purdue president, and seniors graduating yet unprepared for their next stage in life even though they just spent 4+ years and a Midwest house cost for it - things we ignore yet continue to hold us down. Yes, US News ranks Purdue highly (hardly an unbiased assessment according to an Adam Ruins Everything episode). I ask: where are college rankings that include police report per student? How well trained a grad feels a month into a new job? Where are the rankings of tuition costs compared to graduating starting salaries? That would be a really interesting graph wouldn't? All this to do yet the grim truth carries on just inside the news of sports and front page titles. Purdue has little real world aid for mental support just as readying for the workplace. Purdue has built some beautiful buildings since I graduated but Purdue students commit suicide every year. That is awful. Pete is blowing the endowment on new buildings and marketing while a couple kids blow their life each semester. I want everyone to succeed and become the best they can be. As a Purdue grad, I sadly cannot say Purdue is worth its recognition across the whole campus nor is there any certainty for the career boost one may anticipate with a Purdue diploma. People play this Apple Watch game as each new Gen comes out we blab about how cool it is and shell out $350 for a $45 item. What will it look like for Purdue grads in 10-20 yrs? I see a growing suspicious generation curious how much they can learn in a classroom compared to on their own. At the least, Purdue needs to ensure classrooms don't waste time, student's psychological needs are met, and education quality is examined and improved for more than those who get a good job and answer a survey. No one should go with the hype to rush weak (another bad pun sorry) into debt cuz friends are. Purdue might be right for you but chances are it is not.