Choosing between two peer universities: UIUC & Purdue

<p>I am a prospective engineering student and based on my stats, I expect to get into only these two universities. However, after doing a lot of research I have found that these two universities are very similar. They are similar in the following aspects:</p>

<ol>
<li>Both are public</li>
<li>Both are HUUUUGE (32K+ undergrads)</li>
<li>Both are not very selective (70%+ acceptance rates)</li>
<li>Both are in the middle of no-where.</li>
<li>Both have an engineering focus.</li>
<li>Both are not very highly ranked undergrad institutions. (UIUC- #40, Purdue- #60)</li>
<li>Both have a large number of international students.</li>
<li>It seems that almost all Indian students get accepted to both these universities. (Every year almost everyone who applies to UIUC, Purdue from my high school get accepted.</li>
<li>Party schools</li>
<li>Huge greek scenes.</li>
</ol>

<p>These are the similarities. I have not yet found any differences between them, but after speaking to a couple of people I have found that Purdue has a better global reputation.
Could any current/former students help me make a decision by pointing out some differences between these two universities.</p>

<p>Both r gud univs bt UIUC is much better than Purdue
Purdue’s Acceptance Rate- 73%
UIUC’s Acceptance Rate- 58-59%
And no UIUC’s not dat easy to get into
most of d CCers got into Purdue bt I noe abt a few who didn’t get into UIUC…
If ur major is Engineering, den definitely go to UIUC coz it is one of d top 5 schools in US fr engg.
Bt Purdue gud too…</p>

<p>If you want aero/mech engineering, go with Purdue. For electrical/computer engineering, go with UIUC.</p>

<p>LOL, UIUC is very selective for internationals! Most of UIUC’s engg progs are in the top5</p>

<p>^^seconded</p>

<p>And.</p>

<p>It’s a reach for MANY and pretty difficult to get into.</p>

<p>Almost every Indian gets into Purdue. Not the same dandy situation at UIUC.</p>

<p>UIUC has a tendency of accepting a large number of students from my high school every year, many of them with pretty ordinary stats.
My cousin was accepted at UIUC engineering last year. His SAT was 1700ish, and his grades were horrible. He ultimately went to drexel.</p>

<p>@pulkit: I dont know where you obtained your information on UIUC’s acceptance rate, because it is definitely around 70%.</p>

<p>Purdue and UIUC have the exact same acceptance rate, at 65%, however UIUC’s applicant pool is much more competitive.</p>

<p>lol UIUC accepts almost anybody who’s willing to pay, but its still better than Purdue in my opinion. And for a subject like CS, its FAAAR FAAAAR better.</p>

<p>blue_box, i think you are right about the current situation. Acceptance rates are somewhat misleading. Many state universities have an obligation to admit in-state students and naturally the acceptance rates at large state schools like Purdue and UIUC tend to be higher than private colleges. Main difference between UIUC and Purdue is in the states they belong. Indiana is noticeably more rural/blue collar than Illinois. So, I think in-state applicant pool in Illinois is generally stronger than in Indiana. </p>

<p>At one point Purdue’s EE dept had an all star cast like Hayt (his text book on electromagnestism is still used in many universities around the world), Kuo (control theory), Fu (computer vision), Kashyap and several more like that. I am not sure if their replacements have the same reputation.</p>

<p>Edit: I somewhat disagree with gary’s assessment of undergraduate CS programs. Undergrad CS @ UIUC is NOT FAAR FAAR better than undergrad CS @ Purdue. Purdue CS graduates have done very well in the real world. I have also seen placement data. There is not a noticeable difference between two schools. UIUC has definite edge over when it comes to graduate studies. I don’t disagree there.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-illinois-urbana-champaign/654918-uiuc-easiest-college-hardest-college-get-into.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-illinois-urbana-champaign/654918-uiuc-easiest-college-hardest-college-get-into.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>this can help… both are excellent schools for engineering though and if you look at the mid 50% SAT scores of admitted freshmen for UIUC engineering, it is pretty higher than that for purdue</p>

<p>Purdue’s middle 50% SAT score range is lower because all its other schools (like business, fine arts, etc) admit people with very low scores. Also, some of the highly qualified in-state applicants choose to go to IU (which does not have engineering). At Illinois there is only one decent public school.
I think that the student body at the engineering schools of UIUC and Purdue would be pretty similar. However, I have noticed that more people from my high school seem to prefer Purdue. Maybe it is because Purdue is more well recognized.
UIUC and Pudue have a large number of International students because both these universities are easy to get into. GTech and Umich are significantly better in terms of quality,selectivity. However, both Purdue and UIUC are good safety schools for those with SAT>1750.</p>

<p>Most people prefer Purdue because it has a large Indian community. I would choose UIUC over GTech and Purdue for comp engineering, because its program is top 5, and I would probably choose it over U Mich too.</p>

<p>presence of NCSA is definitely in UIUC’c favor.</p>

<p>Many people have told me to avoid UIUC and Purdue at the undergrad level. They say that, at the undergrad level, both UIUC and Purdue are “glorified trade schools”. Also, when I spoke to relatives in Chicago, they said that about 80% of the student body at these two schools have no interest in academics. They instead told me to look at Top 15 National Universities, irresepective of whether they are ranked high for engg.
Also I am a bit wary of UIUC after sseing it on the following lists:</p>

<p>Top 20 Party Schools
Top 20 Schools where Professors get low marks
Top 20 Schools where Students study the least
Worst College Town in the Big Ten</p>

<p>Source: Princeton Review, an article I read.</p>

<p>yimo123, the statement “80% of the student body at these two schools have no interest in academics” is too harsh. I have seen the composition of engineering classes in schools like these. It is very much unlike how you have been told. Yes, there is a mixture of good, bad and the ugly when it comes to academic abilities. My observations is that the system weeds out the ugly in one or two years (if not earlier) and they tend to impact surveys and resulting ranking. When you get to jr. and sr. years you will find classes dominated by capable students. </p>

<p>Sorry, I can’t help you if you are looking for reasons to ignore schools like UIUC and Purdue.</p>

<p>Party scenes are mostly during weekends and generally not a distraction for those who want to focus on studies. It is not uncommon to see engineering students from schools like Purdue and UIUC winning national and international student contests. Publications like PR totally miss info like that.</p>

<p>You will definitely want to avoid attending UIUC and Purdue if you loathe the idea of mingling with kids from middle class families.</p>

<p>Dude TippuSultan…I am sorry if I offended you in any way. However, I was merely expressing my concern that UIUC and Purdue do not seem to have a very good reputation among the general population, and this could be because of their high acceptance rate, and party school image.
Purdue and UIUC (along with VTech, PSU) are currently my top choices. I believe that due to their high acceptance rates I have a fair chance, since my high school grades are not very impressive.</p>

<p>I am not looking for reasons not to attend UIUC and Purdue. In fact, I joined this forum to find out more about these schools, and to remove the incorrect perceptions (if any) that I have about them.</p>

<p>^ lol, don’t worry this kind of dialog doesn’t offend me at all. the only thing you should worry about attending large state schools like UIUC and Purdue is the class size during freshman year. Most capable students come with enough AP/IB credits that they can totally avoid having to take those classes.You also have the option to take placement test and move ahead.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>It is rather impossible to do engineering if you have no or little interest in it. Its one of the toughest majors there is, and both the schools have comprehensive engineering programs. The Princeton review rankings for worst professors probably apply to the school as a whole, and not the engineering department, and so is inaccurate.
UIUC has a top 5 computer engineering program, Purdue is top 10. You’d be better off studying there than at Wash U St Louis, Johns Hopkins, or Northwestern, where all are top 15 nationally.</p>

<p>UIUC is a really good university, especially for Engineering and Computer Science!
The YouTube guys are from there.</p>

<p>To explain the whole “party school” thing, Hugh Hefner is from there too :P</p>