Purdue vs Emory: which has smaller class sizes for undergraduates?

Emory is more likely to give you smaller undergraduate classes, especially early on. Emory is a much smaller undergraduate-focused environment, and that usually translates into more discussion-based sections, easier access to professors, and fewer giant intro lectures than you would see at Purdue. Purdue can absolutely offer strong teaching, but its size and public research university structure mean large lower-division classes are more common.

The biggest difference is scale. Emory enrolls far fewer undergraduates, so many first- and second-year courses are taught in settings where participation is expected rather than optional. At Purdue, introductory courses in majors like engineering, computer science, biology, and business often serve very large numbers of students, so lectures can be much bigger even when smaller recitations or labs are attached.

Another differentiator is academic structure. Emory’s liberal arts orientation means undergrads are central to the classroom experience across many departments, not just in upper-level seminars. Purdue has plenty of smaller classes too, but they tend to become more common once you move past the broad prerequisite sequence and deeper into your major.

If being able to ask questions in class and know your professors early matters a lot, Emory has the clearer edge. Purdue is more likely to require you to navigate some large foundational courses during the first couple years before the class experience becomes more intimate.