<p>I am an international student from china, wanting to major in engineering. And the options for me are UIUC and Carnegie Mellon and UCLA. I have pretty much knocked out UCLA since their engineering progarm doesn't seem as good as the other two.
I am not sure which specific engineering I want to do but I am interested in Chemical E, ECE/EE, Material E or maybe BioE. I know that UIUC is ranked higher but is it that different bewteen 4th or 9th on the engineering ranking? I am drawn to CMU by it's reputation considering the fact I might come back to China to work. But I might go for grad school too, not sure.
I went on both school's career center website and looked up their recent graduate salary report. In some majors UIUC have higher starting salaries. But are those statistics reliable? Am I relying too much on the statistics?
Since I am internation, I can't visit them and feel which one I might fit in. Ang suggestion of which I should say yes to? Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks~~</p>
<p>I’ve never visited UIUC but I have visited CMU and was very impressed. I do know that UIUC is in a rural area but CMU is in the middle of Pittsburgh and feels very much like an urban campus. If you like cities you would be happier at CMU. Also CMU has a very international feel to it, I saw many international students there and it seemed pretty diverse.</p>
<p>My nephew visited both of these (and other) schools. He and his parents were immediately turned off by CM. They said the presentation for prospective students focussed almost entirely on the art program. When discussing engineering, their claim to fame was an alum that worked on the Manhattan Project. You’d think they could come up with something a little more current than that.</p>
<p>UIUC is pretty rural, but does have a diverse student body with a lot of international students.</p>
<p>UIUC has an outstanding engineering college. Each program is highly ranked. And you’re within a couple hours of several large cities including Chicago and St. Louis. You’ll have incredible internship and job opportunities.</p>
<p>CMU…
great school and in a wonderful place
plus, you could see amazing plays</p>
<p>UIUC is a good school, but it is a huge public U in the middle of nowhere - literally!</p>
<p>CMU is a GREAT school. You will get top notch education, lots of personal attention if you want it, and it is located in the heart of Pittsburgh, with UPitt across the street, and tons of things to do at your fingertips.</p>
<p>CMU is in a city, but it’s a residential neighborhood for the most part and right next to a park.</p>
<p>My son was accepted at and visited both schools; also had been to UIUC for high school programs. He’s attending CMU.</p>
<p>Academically, you would get an excellent education at either school, especially in engineering. You might want to look at the department web sites that interest you to see what kinds of programs and courses are available; also the non-course activities in those fields. The difference between 4th and 9th in rankings is not significant enough to affect your decision. In terms of salaries, no one knows yet how the economic situation will play out. Keep in mind that salaries and post-graduate information is generally self-reported by only some of the students. It might be more informative to consider the companies that recruit and hire at both schools. </p>
<p>Outside of the academic issues - UIUC is a huge state university in the Big 10 conference and the towns (Urbana and Champaign) don’t have a lot other than servicing students with shops, restaurants, etc. Probably all cultural activites will stem from the university itself. You can go up to Chicago but it’s about 3 hours away. Big 10 schools are very sports oriented and the entire campus will revolve around home football games in the fall (this is not soccer, btw). There will be no urban feel, even though it’s next to Urbana LOL. As noted on many CMU threads, Pittsburgh is very accessible and is a very nice city to explore.</p>
<p>In terms of size, UIUC is far bigger. On the plus side, there would be more social options and clubs, groups, etc. CMU has a lot of organizations but nowhere close to the UIUC total. You can find lists of organizations on both schools’ web sites. Both schools have plenty of international students - CMU almost certainly has a much higher percent but of course a lower absolute number. On the minus side of UIUC, it’s a huge campus in the middle of the Illinois prairie so you get the tornadoes in the summer and the blizzards in the winter. You might need to take the bus to get across campus depending on where you live and where your classes are. Not that Pittsburgh weather is all that great, but at least everything is very close together.</p>
<p>If you want to travel, it should be easier to get out of Pittsburgh than out of UIUC. You can catch a bus directly from the CMU campus to the airport. You can also take Amtrak (train) both east and west, plus bus service. I don’t know much about traveling out of UIUC but flying it looks like you’ll have to connect through Chicago, Dallas, or Detroit.</p>
<p>If you have an idea of what kind of college experience you’re looking for, it will be easier for parents to address your specific interests. The two schools have very different environments and ambience.</p>
<p>Everything said above.</p>
<p>You can catch a bus from UIUC to the airport too (O’Hare)–it will just take about 4 hours :)</p>
<p>UIUC has its own airport… I never had any problems leaving UIUC for interviews.</p>
<p>Flights out of CMI are usually expensive though. I prefer Indianapolis personally, but that’s hard to get to if you don’t have a car. There are also close(ish) airports in Bloomington and Springfield with free parking if you have a car that are always cheaper than Champaign’s (Bloomington is served by a bus as well).</p>
<p>I would give CMU the edge in CS/CE.</p>
<p>thanks very one for your comments~~Does anyone know how are the opportunities to do research and hand-on projects at each school? And how can having those opportunities going to affect me in the long run??</p>
<p>I would pick UCLA over those other twos if I were you. UIUC is in small town while CMU is in Pittsburgh. Nothing against both area, but those are in cold weather area and nothing compared to UCLA’s location. The ranking is minimum difference between the those schools, IMO. In fact, UCLA is better known in Asian countries than both CMU and UIUC. California has a lot more firms (silicon valley), I think that it is better choice to pick UCLA.</p>
<p>We’re in a cold-weather area, and most of LA in the third world :)</p>
<p>There are plenty of opportunities to do research at UIUC. Just get to know professors and make it look like you care by coming to class and studying for the tests.</p>
<p>We also have a “Research Park” with companies seeking to hire students part-time (State Farm, Wolfram Research, etc.). This is neat because it allows you to work in some field-related work into your schedule–e.g. with State Farm, you can come in anytime from 7Am to 7PM during the week. Great way of supplementing internships with part-time experience.</p>
<p>I’ve recruited at UIUC’s Engineering Career Fairs for years and companies from all over the country are represented - including the major players from Silicon Valley. CMU and UCLA are highly regarded programs also.</p>