Testimonials from Online Master's students
Aerielle Karr
What is your area of interest within CE?
Infrastructure, Resiliency and Sustainability
Why did you choose Purdue for your MSCE?
Purdue has one of the most respected civil engineering programs in the country. An MSCE from Purdue would be a steppingstone for my career as a civil engineer due largely to the diversity of course offerings. A little sidenote: I actually considered Purdue for my undergraduate studies but decided to stay close to home.
What do you like about the program?
The flexibility of the online degree allows great work-life balance given my demanding and challenging career as a civil engineer with the FAA. I also enjoy the classes because they are relevant to the constantly changing world of construction and civil engineering. Also, the program is very affordable.
How will earning the MSCE help you reach your career goals?
Civil engineering requires its leaders to have a broad and diverse skillset to successfully navigate and execute solutions to our world’s most challenging infrastructure problems. Obtaining the MSCE provides me the ability to continue to build on a solid career and academic foundation to tackle some of these issues.
What advice would you give to a prospective student interested in the online MSCE?
- Know your career goals and how this program aids in achieving them
- Ensure you can make the time commitment to devote to your studies
- Develop relationships with your professors and fellow classmates
- Reinforce your computer programming skills for programs such as MATLAB, Python, C++ or similar
Any additional information you would like to share?
This degree has been challenging but rewarding and character building. I now feel better equipped to take on the challenges that lie ahead.
Yan Zhu
What is your area of interest within CE?
Smart Mobility, Transportation and Traffic Engineering
Why did you choose Purdue for your MSCE?
Purdue is one of the top schools in CE in the nation. The CE program is also famous around the world for the high reputation academics.
What do you like about the program?
The fully online program allows me to obtain my graduate degree while working full time as a transportation engineer to maintaining my current immigration status. The flexibility of the online program also makes it possible for me to work around my full-time job. The faculty supports online students and provides the best educational experience. The cost is unbeatable comparing other online graduate programs.
How will earning the MSCE help you reach your career goals?
It helped me get a deep understanding for many most advanced technologies in the industry which I will never be able to learn by myself.
What advice would you give to a prospective student interested in the online MSCE?
I had been looking for an online MSCE program for years, the online MSCE program offers the most variety of CE course to pick from as well as online courses from other major. Many 3-credit courses are divided into three 1-credit courses to make the schedule super easy to fix.
Any additional information you would like to share?
As I used to take my undergraduate degree as an international student, I would like to mention that you don’t need to apply for or switch to the F-1 student visa to take the online MSCE program.