Welcome to Purdue University!

So you want to be an engineer? Engineering is an extremely rewarding and challenging career, but to get there first you have to graduate college, and the first step of that is surviving your freshman year. We are all upperclassmen in Purdue’s engineering program and we are making this blog to share the things we wished we knew as freshmen. You may not realize just how many things in your life change when you move into college and this guide covers them all. Everything from freshmen classes, dorms, food, budgeting, and even the weather at Purdue. Reading this guide will give you the knowledge to not only survive but thrive during your freshman year at Purdue. Boiler Up!

SI Sessions

Sometimes, it is easy to get overwhelmed with classes. Know that you are not alone, and many engineers initially struggle with balancing course load and getting settled on campus. There are many resources available for the hard classes, and one of those resources is SI Sessions. SI, or Supplementary Instruction, are weekly evening workshops led by a past student who did well in the class. These sessions involve interactive activities that help reinforce the material learned in class. Depending on the SI leader, these sessions may or may resonate with you, so make sure to try a few different leaders out if your class offers more than one SI leader. Some particularly difficult “weeder” classes include Calculus II (MA162 or MA166) and Physics (PHYS172). A good way to survive these are to attend SI sessions.

Money

The commodity that every college student seems to lack: spare change. Here, we will describe ways to be smart about your money to get through college and still keep your wallet thick.

1. Know where the money in your tuition statement goes. A large portion of what you pay for may be for room and board. A key consideration is the decision to live on campus or off campus. Often times, it is cheaper to live off campus. However, most freshmen elect to live on campus because of the convenient location it offers as well as the ability to meet new people when starting out in college. Still, dorms are priced differently based upon the amenities it offers. 
2. Meal plan: key word 'plan'. When living on campus, students, with the exception of a few apartment-style dorms, must purchase a meal plan. Don’t purchase a meal plan that you realistically won’t use. For example, for a person who eats cereal in the morning in their room and 2 other meals a day, the 13 meal plan is sufficient. The unlimited meal plan only really makes financial sense if you eat every single meal in the dining halls, including breakfast, or you like to eat more than 3 meals a day. Do the math and choose a plan based on your personal realistic habits.
3. Keep a track of your budget and spending. Many meal plans include dining dollars, which are paid for already. Make sure to use them up before the end of the semester. Often times, commodities like coffee can be paid for with dining dollars at on-campus locations which will reduce out-of-pocket expenses.

Food

Food is an integral part of life, and there are many locations on and near campus where you can grab things to eat. In this section, we will detail the various places you can visit, what is the “speciality”, and other miscellaneous details that you should know about each location.

Dining Courts: These are the big cafeterias located throughout Purdue’s campus. We have five main dining courts: Wiley, Windsor, Ford, Hillenbrand, and Earhart. These can be accessed through using a “meal swipe”, using “dining dollars”, or by paying real money. Once inside, it is an all-you-can-eat buffet style offering various types of food. Each dining court has certain food options that are popular and stand out. Earhart offers a “make your own pizza” on some days and “make your own stir-fry”. Wiley is known for the meats and cookies. Windsor offers an entire section of vegetarian options. Ford has asian food and pizza. Hillenbrand hosts “Hillenbrunch” on Sundays. Beware of long lunch lines at Ford, Wiley, and Windsor due to close proximity to academic buildings.

On The Go / Dining Dollars: Often times, we are too busy to have a nice sit-down meal. Purdue offers many good choices located on campus for those times. “On the go” is located at Ford, Windsor, and Earhart, and enables you to use a meal swipe to but a meal to-go. In addition, there are many small cafes like Starbucks, Au Bon Pain, and restaurants in the PMU where a-la-carte options can be purchased using dining dollars. Occasionally, some of these locations also accept meal swipes. Download the “Purdue Meals” application to see full menus and receive notifications on when certain places accept meal swipes. Also make sure to budget your dining dollars, it’s easy to run out and still have half the semester left to go.

Chauncey: This is the commercial area just to the east of Purdue’s campus, along State Street. Chauncey offers a wide selection of restaurants for when you might be tired of dining court food, or on Sunday night when the dining halls are closed. Fast food chains like Subway, Taco Bell, Jimmy Johns, and Chipotle are found along with nice sit-down places like Basil Thai.

Grubhub/Doordash: This is for the times that you’re too busy working on an engineering project. This is a way to order food from locations in Chauncey and beyond, and have it delivered right outside your building on campus. It’s perfect to power through the 3am exam grind.

Career Fairs

In engineering it is very important to get experiences outside of the classroom to show that you are well rounded and can apply what you learned at school. One of the best ways to build your resume to be an attractive candidate once you graduate is to get an internship with a company in your field. I know it might seem early to start thinking about getting internships and it’s true that many freshmen are not able to find an internship for their first summer, but there are opportunities out there specifically for freshmen and sophomores and starting early gets you just that much more prepared for next year and the next set of career fairs.

Career fairs are events where representatives from companies come out to talk to students, collect resumes, and conduct interviews. According to the Center for Career Oppertunities’ (CCO) website, Purdue holds over 30 career fairs every year. Most of those are divided by major, so most engineering disciplines will have their own career fair in the fall. As a freshman, you can stop by the career fair for the engineering discipline you are interested in to see what companies are represented. From my experience in AAE, the Aerospace career fair has a relatively small selection of companies represented, but the lines to talk to representatives are shorter than at the larger career fairs. The three most important career fairs for freshmen are Industrial Roundtable (IR), EXPO, and the Professional Practice Days. Some relevant links are listed at the bottom of this section.

Industrial Roundtable and EXPO

Industrial Roundtable (IR) is Purdue’s largest career fair. It spans two days in the fall semester and hosts over 400 companies on Memorial Mall. Before the career fair, some companies hold seminars to help you get to know the company better and to answer general questions about the experience working there. These seminars can be helpful if you are unsure of what a company does and want to get a better idea of the company’s culture.



EXPO is another large career fair that hosts over 160 companies. Though it is not as large as IR, EXPO is mainly focused on STEM fields so a larger percentage of companies there will be in your field. While IR is held in the Fall semester, EXPO takes place in early Spring semester.

How to Prepare: When going to IR or EXPO, you want to make a plan ahead of time. Think about which companies you want to talk to and plan the order in which you want to talk to them. Keep in mind that some companies are only at IR for one of the two days, so make sure you look at the schedule while making your plan. If you want to talk to a large/popular company (Google, SpaceX, Cummins, etc.), you will likely end up waiting in line for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours and you will be told to apply online once you get to the front. The best thing you can do for a company like this is to have filled out the online application before IR so if they ask, you will appear well prepared and interested in the company. While it is attractive to just talk to the larger companies, do not overlook the small companies with no lines. They’re recruiters tend to value the individual interactions more, so a good conversation is more likely to score you an interview with a small company.

How to Dress: Another thing to think about before the career fair is what you’re going to wear and what you’re going to bring with you. The dress code is business casual, but it is not uncommon to see people dressed in professional clothing. If you are unsure what business casual looks like, take a look at the graphic below. It gives a good explanation of the difference between business casual and professional. If a suit and tie is all you have or what you feel most comfortable wearing, that is fine, but one thing to consider is what the weather will be like. Most years, it tends to be quite hot and sunny which might make a suit jacket a bit unbearable.

What to Bring: When considering what to bring, one thing you do not want to be carrying around while talking to recruiters is your backpack. Both IR and EXPO provide a backpack drop off area, but it is accessible to everyone. If you are not going to be comfortable leaving your backpack sitting on a table with a couple hundred other backpacks, don’t bring it. You should bring a black portfolio (or folder if you don’t have a portfolio), at least double the number of resumes as companies you are planning on talking to, some paper to take notes on, and a writing utensil. It is useful to be able to take notes so that you can jot down any questions or interesting information you learn about the company.

Professional Practice Days

What is a Co-Op: Co-Ops are different than internships and should not be entered on a whim. When you agree to do a Co-Op, you are agreeing to work with the same company 3 to 5 times over a 2 to 3 year time frame. A Co-Op guarantees you at least a year of work experience before you graduate, but it will push back your graduation by at least a semester, typically a full year. A typical Co-Op schedule involves alternating between school and work sessions, so if you work in the summer, you’d take classes in the fall then work again in the spring. This alternating gives you a break from school but does mean that you are moving about once every 5 months. The schedule is generally not rigid, so you can talk to your employer about doing 2 work sessions in a row or staying longer at school. The Co-Op program can be very flexible depending on your company.

Flex Co-Op: If 3 years with the same company sounds like too much of a commitment, there is a new program that OPP offers called a Flex Co-Op. In a Flex Co-Op, you commit to working 2 sessions with the same employer. After those two sessions, you can decide to either stay with the same employer or switch to a different employer to finish the rest of your work sessions. This allows you reevaluate the company you are with to decide if that work is what you want to keep doing.

The Professional Practice Days takes place in February and is a career fair solely focused on Co-Ops. The Professional Practice Days fair is much smaller than either IR or EXPO, typically less than 100 companies. This can mean that there can be limited options for some majors. Another big difference between Professional Practice Days and other career fairs is that the it requires you to post your resume and other important information to their online portal a couple weeks in advance of the fair. This is because some of the companies that come to interview students don’t attend the physical fair. To make sure you’re ready for this, the Office of Professional Practice (OPP) will organize information and prep nights right around the start of spring semester, so keep an eye on your email for the dates and times of these events.


List of Purdue career fairs: https://www.cco.purdue.edu/Employers/CareerFairs#FallCareerFairs
IR information: https://www.purdueesc.org/careerfairs/ir/studentcenter/information
EXPO information: https://www.purdueesc.org/careerfairs/expo
Office of Professional Practice: https://opp.purdue.edu/
Flex Co-Op program: https://opp.purdue.edu/programs/Flex_Co-Op.html

Weather

If you are from the Midwest, you can skip over this. You probably know what you’re getting yourself into. For those of you not from the Midwest, here are a few things you need to be aware of:

Tornadoes: While Indiana is not in tornado alley, tornadoes are still a common occurrence here. If there is imminent danger from a tornado, sirens around campus will go off to let you know to get inside on the lowest floor and away from windows. If at any point you see the sky turn a dark green color, get inside as soon as possible. If the sky turns green it often means a tornado will form soon. Note: The tornado sirens are tested on the first Saturday of every month to make sure they still work. So if you happen to be walking around campus some sunny Saturday morning and hear the sirens go off, it’s just a test.

Humid Summers: Indiana has quite hot, humid summers. We often have a few days in the summer where the temperature reaches 100°F. This isn’t as hot as some other areas, but what can make it feel really bad is the humidity. After April, the humidity is always over 50%, typically hovering around 75-90%. This can make it feel about 10 degrees warmer than it actually is. In the summer, it is important to drink lots of water and to stay in the shade as much as possible.

Windy Winters: There are many places that have worse winters than West Lafayette, but if you are from a temperate climate, you need to know that it does consistently get below 0°F here in the winder. If you grew up in an area where you did not need a heavy winter jacket, you should buy one now. Once fall comes around it is also common for there to be wind gusts of over 20 mph which can make it feel over 10 degrees colder than it actually is. We also tend to get a couple inches of snow a couple times a year. Classes will probably not be cancelled, so a pair of waterproof boots is a good investment.

In Summary: The weather here in Indiana can be unpredictable and varies widely from season to season. Make sure you have appropriate clothing for all of the seasons. If you are not familiar with Midwest weather, you should find a weather app you like and check it daily.

Clubs and Organizations

One of the benefits of Purdue’s large campus is a lot of people with different interests and hobbies. If you are passionate about something, chances are there is a club at Purdue dedicated to that. The same goes for engineering. If you are interested in learning about the real life applications of the things you learned in class or if you want to be able to make something, or if you want to meet more like minded people then clubs are the way to go. There are clubs that focus on specific engineering disciplines and clubs that incorporate all of them. For example, there is an electrical engineering club that builds high speed electric carts and a club called the Society of Automotive Engineers, SAE, where any engineering major can join and contribute to a vehicle build. There are also honor societies within every engineering major that invite a certain percentage of the top students to join. These clubs usually do less projects and focus more on career development, event organizing, and fundraising. Even if clubs related to engineering aren’t your thing, Purdue has over 1000 clubs to choose from. More details about each and every one can be found here https://boilerlink.purdue.edu/Organizations.

Many students use clubs as resume builders which can be good, but only if you enjoy the club. Don't feel pressured into joining a bunch of clubs that are vaguely interesting just for career fair points, because honestly it doesn't help that much unless you have a leadership position within the club. This shows interest as well as commitment. Just make sure when you join a club that you do it justice, meaning make sure you have time throughout the week to dedicate towards it and actually show up to the meetings. Don't be that guy that joins a bunch of clubs just to put it on their resume, recruiters will see right through it. Besides that try not to think of how being a member of this club will affect my employment opportunities, join clubs because you want to. With enough interest in a club, leadership opportunities will open up and that always looks good on a resume; no matter the club.

Study Spots

With college, especially engineering, comes quite a bit of studying. Sometimes studying in your room/dorm can be difficult for instance if your roommate is playing loud music or there’s just too many distractions going on around you. A great way to counteract this is to go somewhere quiet on campus to do your studying. Unfortunately, you are not the only person with this idea and many places on campus are crowded for this reason. However, there are also some lesser known areas across campus that make great study places. Here are some areas across campus with a relative busy score, 1 being the least busy with 5 being rarely an open seat available.


Wilmeth Active Learning Center: AKA, Walc. This place is one of the most recent buildings added to Purdue which means it will be crowded. There is a computer lab in the basement as well as on the second floor and a multitude of chairs scattered about. Many people don’t know this but after class hours, around 5:30, you are allowed to enter the empty rooms to study. Just be careful about clubs and organizations that schedule rooms and respectfully leave when one shows up. The building is big but the open tables and chairs are limited.

Busy Score: 5



Hicks Underground Library: The classic study spot. This place is spacious, has a computer lab, and stays open late. For being a stereotypical place to study, finding a spot isn’t that hard. There will always be people there, but there are so many tables and chairs that you will almost always find one if you look hard enough. Hicks is the perfect place to go if you don’t mind being near other people studying or need to meet with a small group of people.

Busy Score: 4



Math Building Basement: For those who just want to get away from people and work on something or study in silence, this is the place for you. The math building has not one, but two floors underground. On the second underground floor, you will find a computer lab which not a lot of people know about. There may be a few people in there who actually know about it, but there will always be an open spot.

Busy Score: 2



Potter Lobby: I personally used this spot when working on a massive group project in a team of 6 people. Potter is the building between Walc and the Nuclear Engineering Building and the main entrance has a few big tables with many chairs to use. The only other people my team and I saw in there during our week of using the building was people eating the chinese food they bought from the vans in the alleyway behind the building. You’ll know what I’m talking about if you go there.

Busy Score: 1



Krach Leadership Center: Another classic spot. The reason is that it is the closest spot to residential campus and is fairly new. There are four floors with desks and chairs littered about and even a few computers. With its convenient location however, finding an empty table can be difficult, especially during exam season.

Busy Score: 4



HSSE Library: The Humanities, Social Sciences and Education Library, aka HSSE, is the library attached to Stewart and right next to Hick’s underground library. It offers many computers and large desks, however it is a library so talking out loud is frowned upon. During exam season or finals this place can be packed, but typically you can find a spot to study.

Busy Score: 3

ENGR 131 & 132

ENGR 131 and 132 are two courses that every engineering student will take at Purdue University, with the exception of honors college students who can take the advanced version of it; which is highly inadvisable as you gain no extra benefit and the class is much more difficult. Aside from this, these classes can seem very intimidating to new students, as they have the word “engineering” in them. When in reality the classes are more like information literacy and teamwork 101. Let’s start with ENGR 131.





ENGR 131


To begin your engineering adventure at Purdue, you are put into ENGR 131 with a large class of all different engineering discipline majors. You will be put into a team of four people and given a variety of tasks, mostly designing something hypothetical. You will also have to learn the basics of Microsoft Excel and the decision matrix. Ultimately, this class is designed to teach you basic skills like teamwork and get you familiar with common programs like Excel. This class should be a piece of cake, but don’t let it fool you, there are much more difficult classes to come!



ENGR 132


After passing ENGR 131 and thinking engineering won't be so bad, ENGR 132 gives you a wakeup call. Commonly referred to as “ENGR 131 but failable”, ENGR 132 introduces you to the world of MATLAB. MATLAB is similar to Excel in features, but utilizes a command window where you type in code to perform tasks. For many students this can be their first coding experience, and Purdue knows this so you shouldn’t be too worried if this is the case. The first month of the class is a learning process where they teach you the basics and slowly branch off to more complicated things. You will also be put into teams of four for this class and will be given projects related to MATLAB. The projects can be tricky as most of the time they are open ended and require your group to come up with an original solution. The pace of the class and difficulty of the subject matter is much more than ENGR 131, but it is completely manageable. There is the possibility of getting put in a bad group, so if this happens talk to your instructor as soon as possible. Good Luck!

Things to do in West Lafayette / Lafayette

If you take the time to wander off campus, the city of Lafayette offers a few things that might be of interest. If you are lucky enough to have a car (or a friend who has a car), here are some things you can do to get away from campus.


Riverside Skating Center – In the winter months, this ice rink is a popular spot for college students. Grab a friend or a date and $3 for skate rentals and brave the ice. Although small, this ice rink is very well maintained and will gives off Sweden vibes. Afterwards, grab some hot chocolate from the nearby Starbucks.


Trampoline Park – If you are feeling sporty, you can go to one of Lafayette’s indoor trampoline parks and bounce for 1- or 2-hour sessions. Jumping is great exercise and in turn can be a great way to relieve ENGR team member frustrations or exam stress. You get to keep the snazzy socks too.


Tippecanoe Mall – This shopping mall is the best (and only) place to get your name brand fashions in Lafayette. While this mall is rather lackluster compared to most, it does have many stores and all the brands you are familiar with. Also, they have a Cinnabon.


Columbian Park – This park has it all! If you want a day at the park, this is your spot. It has multi level playgrounds, picnic tables, a nice pond, and a train that goes around the park. There is free parking all the way around the park.


Columbian Park Zoo – Columbian Park also has a small Zoo. And better yet, it’s free! You can enter into the Wallaby enclosure, pet goats, and see the mini butterfly garden. They also have a Zoo gift shop so you can buy something to remember your trip.


Tropicanoe Cove – This waterpark is located in Columbian Park and has three waterslides and a lazy river. Bring sunscreen and some quarters for the lockers and cool off at the pool. This waterpark has two brand new water slides so go check it out between Memorial Day and Labor Day.


Happy Hallow – This Park is located just off of Purdue and River Road and has a few paved trails you can enjoy. People often walk their dogs or go for their morning runs here. They also have a playground if you are feeling young again.


Hike the Wabash Heritage Trail – If you enjoy walking or biking, you can follow this paved trail around West Lafayette and Lafayette. The trail starts, or ends, at Happy Hallow Park and goes all the way along the Wabash River.


Merlin’s Beard – Calling all board game players. At this spot in Downtown Lafayette, you can pay $5 and have access to 100+ popular board games! And if you don’t know how to play, the staff loves to give demonstrations to get you going. They also serve snacks and sandwiches.


Exploration Acres – If you are willing to drive 25 mins, this large farm will give the perfect Indiana autumn experience. They typically have a themed corn maze, pumpkin patch, hot apple cider, pumpkin related games, hay rides, and a farm gift shop where you can buy pumpkin rolls, maple candy, homemade candles, and more. Check out their website in the fall to learn more about their hours and annual events.

Freshman Guide to Parties

Welcome to college. Whether you like to party or not, you may still end up at one and some point throughout your Purdue experience. Parties are a great way to make new friends and take a deserved break from school work (although make sure you earn the break first). Going to that first college party can be really fun so here are a few things to know to maximize that experience:

The best party nights are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday - Make sure that you get your Friday homework done early in the week if you want to partake. A lot of engineering courses have labs and reports on Fridays, so plan ahead.

If you want to go to a frat party, make sure you get on the list - This "list" exists so everyone is accounted for in case of an emergency and is very enforced. Ask a friend directly from the house to get you down so you can join in. Don’t be that person that just shows up and expects to get in.

Always go out with a friend or a group of friends - This way you can all watch out for each other in case of an emergency. Also, who wants to party without friends?

There is no rush to go to a party - It takes time to form groups of friends and find people to go out with so don’t be upset if you are not going out the first few months of the semester. It’s more rewarding to wait.

All parties are different and not many are exactly like the typical college party you see in movies - People have movie parties, dance parties, board game parties, food parties, costume parties, and holiday parties. Go with friends who have similar interests and you can meet more people with that same interest! There is a get-together for anyone!


Avoid peer pressure from others - If someone is twisting your arm to get you to go to a party that you don’t want to, do something you are uncomfortable with, stay up later than you’d like, or anything else that you’ve already made clear you don’t want to do, then firmly say no and leave. Good friends will never make you do something you don’t want to do.

The legal drinking age in the United States is 21 years - If you are not of age, consuming alcohol is illegal and can get you in trouble. You are not required to drink at any type of party and many people don’t for a variety of reasons. If you are not 21 or don’t want to drink, you can always have something else and no one will question what is in your cup. Everyone is there to have fun and no one really cares if you are drinking alcohol or not.

Stress Relief

Engineering is stressful, growing up is stressful, maintaining friendships is stressful, being a millennial is stressful. Just about everyone will experience some sort of stress during their time here at Purdue. Here are some things you can do if stress is affecting your academic performance or mental health.


Talk to a friend or professor - Sometimes talking through how you feel or learning that someone else feels the same way can be very therapeutic. Holding in what is causing you distress is usually not helpful and can make you feel alone.


Plan time in your schedule to do things you enjoy - If you are constantly working and studying, you will get burnt out rather quickly. Make sure to leave some free time for friends, hobbies, or naps so you don’t feel like you are not living your life.


Get things done ahead of time - This might be the most important one. Nothing will stress you out like trying to do everything at the last minute. Have a game plan for every assignment and spend a little bit of time working on it every day. That way you will have time to ask for help if you need it and avoid staying up late trying to complete it before the deadline.


Exercise! - Taking some time to be physically active is a great way to relieve stress…and your body will thank you for it. Engineering requires a lot of time sitting in front of a computer so it’s good to get up and stretch every once in a while if you are feeling stressed. You also don’t have to run marathons or spend 4 hours at the Corec to do this. You can get exercise by walking around the mall, playing ping pong, or even walking to class.

Utilize the Corec’s mindfulness room - Meditation is not everyone’s thing, but if you are feeling stressed, it can be fun and worth a try. It’s free for all students and can be a great way to relax and practice some deep breathing.


Get plenty of sleep and rest when you need it - Sleep is important, especially for young adults. Having a demanding schedule and social life can leave you feeling drained and stressed. Catch up on some sleep on the weekends and don’t be afraid to take a short rest if you feel you need it.


Be yourself - Trying to fit in to a group of people you don’t feel comfortable with can really stress anyone out. College is usually a turning point where people feel they can finally be themselves and enjoy life. Students at Purdue are very accepting and friendly to anyone no matter their background, gender, major, sexual orientation, race, or SAT score.

Conclusion

That is all we have for you so far. We hope this guide was helpful in making you feel more comfortable and relaxed during your freshman year. If you have any questions about the topics we posted or other topics entirely, leave a comment and we’ll try to answer as best we can! Remember that everyone was a freshman at some point and you were admitted for a reason. You will do fine. The next four years will fly bye, so don’t forget to have some fun every once in a while. The age old proverb still holds true, “sleep more than you study, study more than you party, and party as much as you can”. Good luck and have fun, Boilermaker.


(Source: https://www.amazon.com/NCAA-Purdue-Boilermakers-Logo-Pin/dp/B005Y0MW48)