<p>Is there really any significant advantage of going to illinois for civil engineering over psu or virginia tech? in terms of getting a job, getting a higher salary or anything like that?</p>
<p>The advantage would be fairly minute, as all those schools are very good. Is there any reason you don’t want to go to Illinois?</p>
<p>no i was just wandering since it is constantly ranked 1 and 2 for civil engineering while psu and vt are more around 10-20 so i didnt know if it was that much of a difference.</p>
<p>It won’t make a difference for 95% of students, but for a few it will be a slight edge that gets them that better job or into that better grad school. Okay, mostly the grad school thing - employers probably won’t care that much.</p>
<p>Of course… if you go to Illinois, you’ll get to study all the time (wouldn’t that be great!). If you go to Penn State, you’ll spend four years partying your rear end off, chasing hot girls, and probably still end up with the same job. It’s a no-brainer.</p>
<p>BigAarst, that just demonstrates how little you know about Illinois.</p>
<p>I might have been exaggerating, but you really think Illinois has anything on Penn State when it comes to partying? And when it comes to football, Illinois is the prom queen of the Big 10.</p>
<p>Saturday, October 9th, 2010.</p>
<p>University of Illinois Fighting Illini, 33.</p>
<p>Penn State Ninny Kats, 13.</p>
<p>In Penn State, by the way.</p>
<p>I did undergrad at PSU, grad at UIUC - you can party at both schools. Although I should say that if your primary interest in college is partying, then you might as well choose PSU - the easier courses will not distract from your partying as much.</p>
<p>If you got into VTech and Illinois for engineering, there is really no reason to consider Penn State.</p>
<p>The big dog throws them a bone one time… Illinois will be celebrating that win over Penn State for the next ten years. I was wondering why you weren’t considering Michigan for engineering, but then I realized Michigan hasn’t beat Penn State at football since 2007!</p>
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There could be LOTS of reasons, including different tuition rates and the simple fact that different people will prefer and do better at different schools.</p>
<p>Cosmicfish, what kind of a Benedict Arnold goes to another Big 10 school for grad school? 
I question your loyalties.</p>
<p>Well, for my particular area of interest many of the best schools happen to be in the Big 10, and for a variety of reasons (many of them logistical, not academic) UIUC happened to be the best choice for me. At least I didn’t go to Ohio State!</p>
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<p>Ummm…what is wrong with that?</p>
<p><strong><em>the SpartanBadger</em></strong></p>
<p>I don’t know guys… I sleep a lot easier being a rabid NittanyLionBulldog (of the Handsome Dan variety) because they rarely cross paths. Which side do you route for?</p>
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<p>Well for me, U-Wisconsin was mostly done online and as a grad student so I am much more attached to Michigan State because I actually lived there, got drunk there, slept there, etc. I cheer for U-Wisconsin when MSU is not the opponent.</p>
<p>Likewise - when Illinois plays Penn State, I root for PSU all the way!</p>
<p>rankings are for people who know little about a college. I wouldn’t rely on them too much; it’s how you utilize what you are taught and the way you can apply that knowledge is the most important.</p>
<p>I’ll be attending vt this fall as a freshman engineering student. and personally, i have a feeling I’m going to like it there. the campus is SO FREAKING GORGEOUS. and the eng program is pretty challenging. </p>
<p>hope you attend where you truly want to attend and not a place that a ranking system told you to go.</p>
<p>Rankings are fine to get you into a ballpark, give you an idea of what schools to look at, but should never be a deciding factor. Most people find that certain schools “click” with them better, and you will do best at those schools, regardless of their ranking.</p>