<p>I got into UIUC and its Business school in February, and I am very excited. I live in Seattle, WA and also applied to University of Washington. I am planning to major in Accounting. I know that UIUC placed 1st or 2nd the past few years in the Undergraduate Accounting program on U.S. News. </p>
<p>I am really curious what makes the Accounting program so different at UIUC compared to other schools since it's ranked better than many famous Business schools such as Wharton. I am asking this because I still cannot make up my mind on UW / UIUC!!!</p>
<p>before we get to the specifics about the accounting program, u should first examine the two choices in front of you. what i mean is that UW is in Seattle (URBAN) whereas UIUC is pretty rural. location is a big deal and it goes far beyond whether u feel comfortable or not. esp. for business majors, since business is not entire learned in the classroom, having great internship opportunities around you is essential. with all that said, UIUC is a few hours away from chicago…</p>
<p>uiuc’s business school has one of the top rated business career services in the nation. they have always been able to draw top recruiters, specifically the big 4, to their campus every semester. accounting firms consistently go to u of i to recruit because they know of the quality of accounting students they churn out compared to other universities in the region.</p>
<p>Can’t say much specifically about UW (generally I know it’s a good school), but I majored in accounting undergrad at Illinois and I think it is hard to beat. I joined a Big 6 (now 4) firm after college in San Francisco, where others in my start group were from top CA/west coast universities (UC Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, etc…don’t recall anyone from UW), and frankly my preparation blew theirs away in general. Smart people all, but none had passed the CPA exam (most hadn’t even sat for it - I passed in May before graduation) and I felt I had a much better grasp (on average) of accounting concepts and fundamentals. My impression has been vouched with others in the profession out here who’ve worked with UIUC accounting alums. I was able to make a good name for myself, got rated at the top of my class, set my own career path (I moved out of accounting after about 2 yrs), and ended up getting an MBA at Harvard (where UIUC alums in my class outnumbered all other state schools save a few usual suspects). I feel like I owe a lot to Illinois for helping me get where I am.</p>