Unless you grew up in Indiana, it's where you go when you didn't get into Illinois.

I never had an interest in Illinois. It is a good school though.

Purdue has lower admission standards then Illinois. It's a good fall back school though. I would guess graduates with similar degrees have similar outcomes.

I love Purdue. Most of my family went there. I enjoyed teasing them about admission standards though.

That is a strange thought. I never applied there. Admission standards mean nothing if you don't want to go somewhere.

There is nothing strange about it. Purdue is seen as an option for people who don’t get into Illinois, especially for Illinois students. How would I know your inner thoughts on college choice?

UIUC is the settle school. Risky Business told us that.

Yeah, for potential Ivy Leaguers.

That is a strange thought. I never applied there. Admission standards mean nothing if you don't want to go somewhere.

Yup. I was shocked at how many of my graduating class ended up there. It was like a Calc B/C reunion.

And when I went there, tuition was only $5,000 per year for in state.

Yeah, for potential Ivy Leaguers.

So you're saying you actually chose to go to Purdue? Huh.

The nice part about UIUC was, at least when I applied, a certain ACT score and GPA basically assured your acceptance so for people who were applying for the Ivy’s or some of the more selective schools did use it as a safe school. Pretty sure I remember a formula on the application but it’s been 26 years so, like on many things, my memory is a bit foggy on the details. I’m told it’s a bit more selective these days than it was early 90’s though. Benefit of being born in the mid 70’s birth rate lull I guess.

The key to life is low expectations.

The key to life is low expectations.

The saying in Champaign always went:

If you're thinking about attending Purdue, Purdon't.

Here is the thing, Purdue makes it easy to get into, but then creates some of the toughest standards for achieving grades once you are there. While it seems most schools are employing grade inflation, Purdue proudly avoids that and instead creates classes which are designed to weed out students.