Purdue

Our next stop on the campus tour vacation was Tuesday at Purdue. We liked that the campus is old and all the buildings are constructed of red brick, giving it a cohesive feel. I liked that it's an easy drive from Chicago. The campus is bigger than we thought but everything seems to be within walking distance. Here's E and B sitting in Memorial Union before the tour:

Someone from the admissions office gave an interesting, short talk and the best part was that he was pretty funny. I think I saw B chuckle out loud three times! E loves the idea that freshmen move in a week before the other students and enjoy a week to themselves to learn about the campus, meet new people, play games and takeover the local Walmart store. Here are a few random shots during the tour - the Hello Walk, the bell tower and some classrooms:

They also showed us a dorm room. I think they said the building opened in the early 1970s so it was a typical dorm room. However, it was a bit bigger than the one E has stayed in at U of I for her engineering camp. She also liked the rec center here. Again, it had a huge climbing wall and everything is free to students. There's even a 45-person hot tub. And, of course, she and Andy found the golf course and a driving range.

After the general tour, Andy and E went on a special tour of the engineering department. I think this tour may have sold E on the school. She loved it. Meanwhile, I took B and L back to the union to wait for them to be done. Of course, I had to check out the Greek houses. Students get to ride the city bus for free, but this sorority house was incredibly close to campus (and beautiful):

Here's L getting into college mode - playing on her iPad, feet up, eating ice cream. She's going to like college life. In the basement of the union is the busiest Starbucks in the entire state. E wanted to get a tea, but decided not to wait in the line.

We did find it a bit odd that there were students sleeping everywhere. The one thing B proved to us on this trip is that he can sleep anywhere. Here he is napping in the Purdue welcome center.