<p>I am really sorry for starting such a thread but I am a little confused at the moment.</p>
<p>I have currently been accepted to a few universities and have shortlisted Purdue, UIUC and USC as my top options as Duke and Rice will surely reject me (no doubt about that) and I have to decide on which university to select. I am interested in majoring in Aerospace Engineering.</p>
<p>Purdue is currently ranked 4th in Aerospace Engineering and is highly regarded and recognized for this particular field. Overall it has a very good engineering program. But the downside is that it accepts 85% of its applicants.</p>
<p>USC is currently ranked 19th in Aerospace Engineering but its overall engineering is ranked 8th (just 2 ranks or so behind Purdue and 4 behind UIUC...if i am right). Overall it is better than both of them and is ranked in the top 30's in USNews Rankings. Plus it is situated in California which will suit the type of weather I am used to. But the downside is the high fees. Even though I would be able to pay for about 3 years in USC I might have to take a loan in the 4th year.</p>
<p>UIUC too is highly ranked in the Engineering department and currently shares 4th place with Purdue in the Aerospace Engineering rankings. It is more selective than Purdue but less selective than USC. But again, it has a higher fee structure than Purdue and lower than USC.</p>
<p>In addition to the Aerospace Engineering I intend to double major in Mechanical Engineering due to the overlap of many courses in the first 2-3 years.</p>
<p>And because I am unable to visit any of the universities to find out which I would feel more comfortable in I would like to know your views on which one of these 3 universities I should select as my university.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>What else is it that you want from your university experience? Looking at "rankings" of departments should not be the only reason for making a particular choice. You note that financial aspects would be different, but all 3 are known universities here, with strong departments, so given no other differences it would not be cost-effective to pay more for a similar program. But there are differences in the schools, in size, location, and student experiences. </p>
<p>You've done the right thing by starting these threads in the forums for all 3 schools: now tell us more about what you want your university experience to be like, and perhaps you'll get some useful input for you to make your decision. USC (~16,000) is half the size of Purdue and UIUC (~30,000). USC and Purdue each have about 5000 international students each vs UIUC's 1600. Is housing guaranteed or do you need to find it off-campus? Are there activities of interest to you at each school outside of academics? Would big school spirit and athletics be exciting to you (USC and Purdue) or of much less interest (UIUC)? And an important question to ask yourself: how much in this four-year adventure do you want to keep familiar vs experiencing something totally new (e.g. climate at USC in CA vs Purdue in IN/UIUC in IL)?</p>
<p>Knowing more about what you'd like from your experience would help readers provide you with some further things to consider. And best of luck with your excellent choices! Any of the 3 will be a good choice, so you can't lose.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input mootmom.</p>
<p>I shall look into those aspects as well before making my decision. And if I still am in confusion I shall post the required question.</p>
<p>Thanks again.</p>
<p>I saw your response to Himom on the USC forum and wanted to comment that although Purdue's student body is large (as is UIUC's), when we visited there we did not feel overwhelmed by its size as we'd expected to. We did not feel lost in the huge crowd as we had at other large universities. The facilities were well planned and laid out, and the campus was easy to get around. We felt comfortable and left with the impression that a student would get personal attention by the staff and faculty in their department. There was a LOT of school spirit and pride, and people seemed happy, open, and energetic. We felt as if it was almost the best of both worlds, with the feel of a smaller school while still being in a large student population that could offer something of interest to almost anyone.</p>
<p>Just because a school is large does not mean you will get lost in the shuffle. Perhaps others will comment on their experience also: we were very pleasantly surprised at how personal a large school could feel.</p>