Confusing data on IIT (Illinois)

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Seems nowadays people barely know the difference between IIT and ITT-Tech, however, 30 years ago it was considered a serious contender with MIT and Caltech. What happened?</p>

<p>I am a high school senior with ambitions toward engineering, considering acceptances at IIT, Purdue, and U of I Urbana-Champaign. I was mostly leaning towards IIT (although each school has aspects I like) for many reasons, but am recently discouraged by what I've seen as far as ratings and rankings go. IIT currently isn't even on the top 50 undergraduate engineering schools list (to my knowledge), however, they have a rather outstanding faculty and a large international following. That, to me, does not add up. How can public schools like UIUC compete and vastly exceed that when they accept so many community college type students?</p>

<p>Also, Princeton Review gives IIT ratings that don't make sense to me. "Campus is tiny, unslightly, or both," being one of them. I visited and I thought it was very large for being in one of the largest cities in the world (103 acres minutes from downtown). I also thought it was the most architecturally stunning campus I had ever seen. It is a landmark of modern architecture. Even if it doesn't have that traditional school feel, it fits well the niche of a technical school.</p>

<p>Another thing Princeton Review told me that I don't know whether or not to believe is that "Professors get low marks" and "Professors make themselves scarce." With a student:faculty ratio of 1 to 13, how can that be possible? Where do those professors go to hide? Every one of their classes is taught by someone with a PHd. I'm sure introductory classes (Calculus 1,2) are crowded, but the rest shouldn't be.</p>

<p>Is IIT still considered a top-notch school? Should an engineering student possibly choose it over acceptances at Purdue and U of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign)? Is it making a recovery? I could really use some guidance here.</p>

2

<p>I think IIT's reputation really has gone down lately. Knowone knows of it and from what I've heard there is a reason. </p>

<p>My dad went there during its prime. He told me stories a few months ago about his group of friends in high school and where they went. One went off to Harvard, another to MIT, and another to CalTech, so he didn't want to go to any of those places. He wanted to do his own thing. So he picked IIT because, as you stated, in those days it was a very good school. </p>

<p>All he does now is complain about it and based on his stories, those rankings on Princeton Review are correct. I actually introduced him to that site over the summer and he said he just laughed and agreed when he saw where his old school was. </p>

<p>He's told me a few stories about a million times. One about how he hated being surrounded by the ghetto and standing on the corner when it was 20 below zero. Granted the temperature would be the same if you went to UIUC or UChicago but he emphasized that as a horrible aspect of living at IIT. He also said the food was crap. </p>

<p>I really don't see any good in the school anymore. All the glory it once had was lost because of the horrible living conditions. It really is a shame for those who went during my dad's time because they thought they were going to get amazing job prospects but it turns out, 30 years later, that the opposite has come true. I really wouldn't recommend it to anyone and I think UIUC would be the best choice for engineering. Plus if you ever change your mind and decide engineering is not right for you, all that is needed is switching your majors. You don't have to transfer to a different school.</p>

3

<p>Hey Karen, thanks so much for the insight. One of the deterrents I have for going to UIUC is my introvertedness. According to a review I read, 70% of the students are greek-oriented (violent, drinking, careless) and engage in activities which I'd rather not be surrounded by. </p>

<p>I have a couple more questions for you, though, if you wouldn't mind answering them. What did your father think of the school academically? Did his degree land him a good job? If he were 22 and looking for a job out of college, would he still be able to get one? Is there anyone he'd reccomend the school to?</p>

<p>From my research and as you've confirmed, it seems that IIT failed due to adjacent notorious housing projects, however;it seems to me like the school is improving; they've got pretty good food for a school (I've tasted it), they've constructed a new dorm, and all of the surrounding housing projects were removed by 2006. If those changes had occured during his time, would he have thought more highly of it?</p>

4

<p>My Dad actually went to IIT years ago. Of course it has changed a lot since then, but I think it still has a relatively large number of commuter students (that's what my Dad was). Funny story though- my Dad always gets letters and gets invited to meetings hosted my alumni of India Institute of Technology...again, nobody really knows what IIT is..</p>

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<p>Interesting. Did he say anything about the education quality? What his overall impression of the school was? Were they commuters or just people in off-campus housing?</p>

6

<p>I kind of know what youre talking about... some of my main deterrents in not applying to IIT were the rankings, review sites like PR, and getting confused with ITT lol (also just didnt want another tech-ish school in the end, bad gender ratio, seemed kind of lame etc)
I applied to NYIT instead.. but im 99.9% sure I'm not going there either because it doesnt seem too much better than IIT (just closer to home, in NYC, other majors, etc)
but anyway I would choose purdue because it seems like a combo of the other two..</p>

7

<p>1) he probably would not have thought more highly of it considering he hated the fact that you couldn't take a walk off the campus.<br>
2) He went there originally for physics but took a philosophy course and loved it so he switched majors. He regrets that ever since, hence my recommendation of a larger school with more majors. I have no clue what he thought of it academically though. I remember him once complaining about not being able to understand his prof but then again, many tech schools are like that.<br>
3) He went to grad school and spent a long time being a professor. He worked at University of Melbourne in australia, some place in germany though i have no clue where, and the Catholic university of Leuven in belgium. I would say that's landing a job in his field. Things changed when he came back to teh states but that's not because of his college. That was attributed to other factors.<br>
4) If you're going into engineering, it will land you a job in Illinois. Maybe elsewhere, I know too much. What i do know is that engineering is in high demand so you will get a job with a nice salary no matter where you go. He does have some friends from college who really have made it but on their own merits. Many started their own businesses and made their fortunes that way.<br>
5) I actually don't think he'd recommend the school to anyone. </p>

<p>If you're an introverted person and into engineering I would suggest purdue than. It's a great school, will probably get you a better starting salary than IIT, and has all the perks of UIUC without the greek life. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Omg I spent way too long writing that last post. I was supposed to start my National Honors Society application a half hour ago. Whatever, thank you for the procrastination.</p>

9

<p>Wow, thanks for the thorough response! Its discouraging to think that your father wasn't satisfied with IIT, even while it was in its prime! Albeit, it seems he made a poor choice by choosing a technical school, not necessarily IIT, when he realized he truly loved Philosophy. </p>

<p>I had been coming to the same conclusion about Purdue prior to reading your and ajr's posts. I have no true personal experience with the personalities of the schools, but I also imagine Purdue being less drinking-oriented and more hanging out and learning. Unlike UIUC, it actually seems like it IS what it is cracked up to be. I always hear of UIUC as scoring highly because their professors participate too heavily in research that neglects their undergraduates education. Although I'm not much into sports, I would have the option to be in the action if it appeals to me later on. The traditional college life is still available. That's a neat benefit. The only problem is that, since I'm from Illinois, it is the most costly of the three choices (large scholarship from IIT).</p>

<p>Still, I dont see how IIT is rated so poorly... Compared to Purdue which is in the top 10 for engineering, the average student GPA is 3.9 instead of 3.4 and ACT is 28 instead of 24. Am I going to be surrounded by a significantly duller crowd at Purdue (West Lafayette)? Are those 3.4/24 students weeded out? I'm still after a serious education, after all. I guess a school's selectivity has less to do with its academic success than I thought?</p>

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<p>Bump. Any other experiences with IIT?</p>

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<p>If you want to make downtown Chicago and the north side part of your undergrad experience, IIT is a few subway stops away.</p>

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<p>karen61990, if it makes you feel any better, I actually forgot about my NHS application until midday on the day it was due. Somehow, I managed to get it typed up and turned in by the end of the day. I still got accepted.</p>

13

<p>"Seems nowadays people barely know the difference between IIT and ITT-Tech, however, 30 years ago it was considered a serious contender with MIT and Caltech. What happened?"</p>

<p>I have been keeping a close eye on universities for close to 20 years and IIT (the one in Illinois not India) was never considered a serious contender with MIT and Caltech. Not even close. It was definitely a very respected tech school in the 50s and 60s (more on par with RPI and WPI than MIT or Caltech), but since the mid 70s, I'd say IIT has been on a steady decline.</p>

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<p>I was a student at IIT. When I was applying to colleges my senior year, IIT stood out because it was supposed to be an excellent school for engineering. So I applied, (the free application fee was a plus) and was accepted. When I enrolled four months later, I instantly hated IIT. The campus was tiny (1/4 of a square mile), there was a 2:1 ratio of men to women, the only social life on campus was tied to the dorms and Greek life (IIT had 9 fraternities and 3 sororities at the time). </p>

<p>Then there were the academics. For some reason, I felt uninspired to do the work at the school. Perhaps after four years at a top-ranked high school I was burned out, but the classes at IIT weren't worth anything to me. The teaching was terrible. Professors would spend entire class period rambling on about nothing, leaving the student to teach themselves 100% of the material. The were no such things as discussion and recitation sections for students, like at other universities. The lectures were so boring that people would lay on the floor and sleep the entire period. The core classes were stupid and consisted solely of social sciences and english classes. As for advising, advisors were sporadic at best. It took three weeks for my advisor to be able to see me. Whenever I spoke to faculty members about my concerns, they asked why didn't I go to RIT(which is in my hometown) instead of their school. At the time, I thought they were insulting me or something, but now I feel that they were saying that I was better off staying in Rochester and going to a higher quality school.</p>

<p>I've already said that campus life was dull. I didn't get along with anyone on campus. There were hardly any other black people on campus (I'm not racist, but I'd like to think that I'm not the only person like me on campus:)). The other students there acted as if they were dilettantes. A few even had classist leanings in that they always had snide remarks about the housing projects to the north and south of campus (i.e. "Oh my laptop's missing, I think someone stole it!", "Well look where we are!"(next to the projects)). Because of this, I usually left campus on the weekends to find things to do in Downtown Chicago. </p>

<p>Needless to say, I dropped out of IIT at the end of freshman year. Maybe in the five years since then, IIT has cleaned up their act and made their academics, student support services, social life, and campus life better. But in hindsight, I would've been better off at UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago) crosstown, or one of the other schools I applied to, but I didn't know that there other campuses of UI besides Urbana-Champlaign(sp?). </p>

<p>To Rellin, don't let my negative experiences deter you from IIT. However, please know that IIT is geared towards architecture, engineering, and science, with the heaviest emphasis on architecture. If you still are interested in IIT, I encourage you to visit the campus first to see how you'd fit in. Also visit the other two schools you mentioned in your first post. If you're have any questions, feel free to PM me.</p>

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<p>Don't mind me, but I always confused IIT with ITT Technical Institute. </p>

<p>Now I know the difference.</p>

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<p>Anybody have an opinion about Shimer moving to IIT. Has anyone cross registered and taken a class their while attending IIT?</p>

17

<p>IIT (or Illinois Tech) seems on the rise. USNEWS 2013 ranked IIT #64 nationally in engineering at PhD schools, which is much better than what they used to be. So they might get back to top 50 in the next 10 years if they keep up the good work. I heard they just got $30M to build a new innovation center, and that’s after they opened a research park a few years ago. So they are moving the right direction, but education is changing so who nows.</p>