College Decision Engineering- International Applicant

Applying to College
1

Hi Guys!

So I’m an International Student from India applying for engineering to the US. I’ve gotten acceptances from quite a few schools including Purdue, University of Wisconsin Madison, Purdue, Virginia Tech, Boston University, University of California San Diego, University of Illinois- Urbana Champaign and University of Southern California.

I am currently in a pretty happy dilemma choosing between these few schools. I have shortlisted UIUC and USC as my top two schools but am still confused as to which is the better option.

USC is a phenomenal school and is ranked highly in the US-News National University Rankings. It is ranked as a top 25 university in the nation and is well known throughout the world. It is also located in Los Angeles and is known for its strong alumni network.

UIUC is no less with one of the highest ranked Engineering Programs in the Nation with only MIT, Stanford, UCB, Caltech and Gtech being ranked higher. UIUC is located in relatively small cities of Urbana-Champaign and it is relatively less selective.

UIUC has a much better ranked engineering program (#6) as per US News and USC is ranked significantly lower at #24
UIUC seems to be less competitive school with an acceptance rate of 60%. USC is far more selective with an admit rate of about 17%.

The primary factors I want to base my decision on are (in order of importance):

Strength of Engineering School
Job Prospects for International Students
Rating of Engineering Program of UIUC vs USC for admissions to Graduate Programs
Rigor of Engineering Program
Class Size
Student Faculty Ratio
Public Vs Private University
Accessibility of Classes/ Wait-lists for classes as I’ve heard that sometimes students at Public Schools don’t get the classes that they require ( for eg. UCLA)
Prestige
Type of Students
Location
Social life

USC is probably the more prestigious overall among the two schools, but its engineering program isn’t as highly ranked as that of UIUC. Will this affect job prospects and placements later on??/ I have been admitted to both schools for Mechanical Engineering.

Any opinions will be greatly appreciated! Really hope those who are attending UIUC and USC can comment on the social life, career prospects as well as academic rigor/reputation of both schools. Thanks!!!

2

Apart from UIUC’s extremely high admit rate, there is nothing wrong with that school.

UIUC is highly reputed for engg and I think you would have better job prospects, education and rigor at UIUC.

I won’t comment on things like class size or weather since those things are secondary.

3

UIUC is much stronger in engineering than USC. Also, USC is not at the level of prestigious as Stanford, Iveis, or MIT. i would go for the better engineering school.

4

I’m so glad that you actually did some deep research on your options. You’d be surprised at how many students just look at one overall ranking list and pick based off of that. If that was the case, you’d end up at USC for sure. But UIUC is notoriously great for engineering, so if you can afford it, it’s your best bet.

5

Choose the one you like best, or the cheapest one - both have excellent placement and programs.
Urbana Champaign is a college town, USC has LA.
UIUC is public, with greater socio-economic diversity and about 70¨% instate students; diversity is not good for African Americans (I believe only 4-5%) but there are lots of Asians, especially Chinese students from China. They’re excellent for engineering.
USC skews wealthier but they have SoCal weather and a great variety of majors, including a top business school that likes to work with engineers on projects.
Do look at costs - I’m thinking USC must be much more expensive. What’s your parents’ budget? Are both “within budget” without loans?