Purdue University-Main Campus Top Questions

What is the stereotype of students at your school? Is this stereotype accurate?

Lingyun

purdue is an engineering school!

Nicole

A common stereotype at Purdue University is Frat kids! Greek life is a major part of Purdue's Main Campus, and a very large number of students participate it in. Purdue encourages frat life, but a major stereotype regarding Greek life is that frat boys only party and try to be "cool." Although this stereotype is somewhat accurate, not all frat boys focus on partying. Instead, it is easily noticed that some frat students focus more on school work.

Kara

There are several stereotypes, both good and bad describing the Greek system at Purdue. The first common stereotype is that people in the Greek system party excessively, do not choose challenging majors, and think they are better than everyone else. The second stereotype revolves around the belief that people in the Greek system are more involved than others, having higher GPA's, and have a massive amount of school spirit. People generally believe one of the two depending on their own personal beliefs, values, and judgments. Engineering majors are generally though of as anti-social,socially awkward, yet well-respected because everyone knows they are going to make a lot of money someday. People from overseas and all other non-caucasian individuals are generally thought of as being rich for affording out-of-state tuition. Athletes are stereotyped as being unintelligent, yet well-respected for their athletic achievements.

Kara

There are several stereotypes, both good and bad describing the Greek system at Purdue. The first common stereotype is that people in the Greek system party excessively, do not choose challenging majors, and think they are better than everyone else. The second stereotype revolves around the belief that people in the Greek system are more involved than others, having higher GPA's, and have a massive amount of school spirit. People generally believe one of the two depending on their own personal beliefs, values, and judgments. Engineering majors are generally though of as anti-social,socially awkward, yet well-respected because everyone knows they are going to make a lot of money someday. People from overseas and all other non-caucasian individuals are generally thought of as being rich for affording out-of-state tuition. Athletes are stereotyped as being unintelligent, yet well-respected for their athletic achievements.

Mayura

Way too many international students in engineering. Especially Asians! It is very true as Purdue ranks very high in terms of international student population (looked it up in the year 2011 annual report) especially in the engineering majors.

Hilary

Purdue is mostly known for its engineering program, and I believe the stereotype is engineers and ag majors. However, this is not accurate at all. Purdue also has outstanding programs in Communication, Fashion Design, Hospitality and Tourism Management, and many others which students travel out of state for. There are so many different majors at Purdue, it's hard to keep track of them all. We really do have a very diverse student population!

Emily

A common stereotype of students who go to Purdue University is that we are intelligent! I think that this stereotype is very accurate. Purdue does an excellent job of recruiting the nation's most hard working and involved students. As a Big Ten school with over 39,000 students, Purdue is able to offer nearly 200 majors to cultivate the growth of intelligent individuals. Some excellent programs that Purdue is well known for include engineering and aviation. Many successful and intelligent people such as Amelia Earhart and Neil Armstrong have excelled on the foundation of a Purdue education. Although this university has stereotypically intelligent students, another thing that the school prides itself on is having a very diverse and well rounded student body. Purdue has students from all 50 states as well as over 130 countries! So many different types of individuals with different backgrounds, interests, and opinions attend the institution. It is very easy to find people with similar interests to your own at a school like this. The fact that Purdue is so diverse allows the University to constantly move forward and stay on the cutting edge of societal advancements.

Emily

A common stereotype of students at Purdue is that we are all male "enginerds". Although Purdue does have a large percentage of engineering students, we also have many other majors represented. Also, although the male population is slightly larger than the female, there still isn't a noticeable difference when you are walking around campus. A difference can be seen in the classroom though, depending on your major. Many of the engineering and science courses (upper level especially) are more male dominated, where as nursing and psychology have many more females. There are also many Greek students, but they don't necessarily have a negative reputation.

Sadie

What is the stereotype of students at your school? Is this stereotype accurate?

Gang

I would say there is no stereotype student in Purdue University. It is really a diverse environment. However, one trend will be that the international students community has increased dramatically recently.

Ning

At Purdue, one of the toughest universities in mid-west, we have tons of due date and deadline every week -- that's why people says "half of Purdue is due". So most students here are busy with their coursework, project, quiz and exams. But this doens't mean we are nerdy, instead, we are well trained engineers & boiler makers!

Jinglin

boiler maker!

Sadie

One stereotype of Purdue is that it is a strictly conservative area. This, however, is not the case. There are many liberal minded people, clubs, and organizations to be involved with at Purdue. The great thing about college is you have the opportunity to be exposed to many different types of people and Purdue is no different. Purdue is a diverse campus with people from a variety of political, religious, and cultural backgrounds here. The opportunity to learn from different types of people is an invaluable experience.

Sadie

The first stereotype of Purdue University I can think of is that Purdue is a strictly conservative area. This, however, is not the case. There are many liberal minded people, clubs, and organizations to be involved with at Purdue. The great thing about college is you have the opportunity to be exposed to many different types of people and Purdue is no different. Purdue is a diverse campus with people from a variety of political, religious, and cultural backgrounds here. The opportunity to learn from different types of people is an invaluable experience. The amount of personal growth an individual student experiences is partially in their hands though -- you have to put yourself out there and get involved!

.

I would argue the most common stereotype at my school is that people from outside think that every person here is an engineer with no social skills. Purdue has many excellent programs aside from engineering including a very fine liberal arts college, so clearly this is a misconception.

Harkrishan

Dynamics is hard

Jessica

At Purdue University, there is your usual groups. You have the greek community, athletes, nerds, foreign students and then average people. Even though there are a lot of different groups, everyone still interacts with each other. I've been in groups with different sorority girls and they put that aside and work on the project. Everyone has their place, but when it comes to school work, everyone works together.

Jason

There's a large number of students here who are from countries in Asia, which gives the overall impression that there are a large number of foreign students here. Demographically speaking, though, Purdue does not, in fact, have a "majority" of foreign students by any means! Diversity is always welcome and embraced at Purdue, nonetheless!

Tiānlín

Love going to library and love studying on weekdays. Crazy on weekends PARTY TIME YAY!!!

Mike

The stereotype of students at our school is agriculture and engineering students. So there is a mix of a small town farmer/math-science nerd stereotype that is completely untrue. Yes, we are have big agriculture and engineering programs which are both great but we also have a large variety of other disciplines. The stereotype of your typical engineer and typical agriculture student simply are not true. I see Purdue as a very work hard, play hard University where our students get work done in the classroom and it shows. But as a student body we also know how to get involved on our campus in our community and just relax and unwind in general. There are plent of nights spent studying up late at night, but there are just as many nights spent out and about experiencing all of our campus has to offer. I can say from my own experience that I fit into many different "categories" and "stereotypes," by the fact alone it goes to show that even with the stereotypes we break the mold and the persona of what those outside of the University may view us as.

Nicholas

Anyone who has been to Purdue can tell you that the gender imbalance is obvious, and does have social implications. There are few minorities, and those that do come here remain within a segregated social circle. Finally, the campus does skew right of center politically. But the students here are more ambivalent than anything, most would probably sell their right to vote for a drink. Down the line, Purdue is an odd group of neck beards, stoners, hipsters, farmers, and frat guys, and all stay away from one and other except when forced to intermingle, and it would seem that's the way individuals intend to keep it.