<p>Despite my acceptance to decent engineering schools such as Cornell, Berkeley, and wait-list for MIT, my parents narrowed my choice of colleges to U Wisc- Madison and UIUC because of financial reasons. I got accepted to both the schools for Nuclear Engineering. However, I also got into the Honors program for UIUC and a good amount of scholarship so that I would be paying in state tuition. Where as, I haven't even heard back from U Wisc's fin. aid office yet. On some sites U Wisc's rating is higher though for Nuclear Eng..? So I am quite confused. Any Advice? HELP? I'm about to jump off a buildling.. gah.. What would yall do??</p>
<p>wow, you got into cornell, berkeley, and waitlist for MIT. If you ge into MIT, I would seriously consider taking out loans and go there. In terms of your current options, I would probably go with uiuc. I know that wisc and ill have almost identical rankings and that ill has better job placement and is better for starting salary. Plus you said that you got financial aid and honors so it seems like a good bet.</p>
<p>Well if i actually get into MIT… that is IF… and only IF… well, i’ll be qualified for a full-ride since my EFC is very low and etc… <em>FINGERS CROSSED</em> haha</p>
<p>and actually, i am leaning towards UIUC but i’m just trying to get more opinions and thoughts on it. so yea… Thanks!!</p>
<p>UW nuclear eng has great placement and Madison and UW are much more exciting places than Illinois.
Companies recruiting at UW for nuclear</p>
<p><a href=“Engineering Career Services – College of Engineering – UW–Madison”>Engineering Career Services – College of Engineering – UW–Madison;
<p>i’ll say wisconsin. better school overall and in nuclear, better city, better school spirit. you can’t go wrong. also, oos cost is lower.</p>
<p>If your EFC is low, why didn’t you get fin-aid from Cornell (just curious… my friend with super low EFC got full ride from Cornell)</p>
<p>I also got into UW and UIUC for nuclear engineering, and ive visited illinois sooo many times for engineering stuff. I personally like the staff more there than at UW. and on some “lists” u of i was ranked higher than madison, plus if you decide to change your major u of i is better for all other engineering programs overall than madison.
Also, U of i is currently planning on hiring 2-3 new professors for the NPRE department.
As well, u of i actually has a more diverse nuclear program of nuclear, plasma, and radiological. So if you dont want to just go into the power track like working at a nuclear plant site, they have alot more opportunities. There also have many more research opportunities than madison bc there is a research park right next to campus and all the professors do research and are looking for undergrads to help! plus the career opportunities are phenomenal! U of I was actually ranked 2nd in the county for recruiters favorite schools ( and madison wasnt number one haha). </p>
<p>Sorry this is really long but i was in your exact same predicament just a few weeks ago and the more information the better. Plus you should def go to Uof I bc the freshman class is only going to have 40 students! so maybe ill see you there! (:</p>
<p>Actually UW is a world leader for Plasma and Fusion research. So wrong on both accounts. Madison’s total research budget is nearly double that of UIUC at over $1 Billion.</p>
<p>[Plasmas</a> and Fusion Technology](<a href=“http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/fusion.htm]Plasmas”>Plasmas and Fusion Technology)</p>
<p>[UM</a> Tops Again In Research Spending At U.S. Public Universities CBS Detroit](<a href=“http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/04/01/um-tops-again-in-research-spending-at-u-s-public-universities/]UM”>UM Tops Again In Research Spending At U.S. Public Universities - CBS Detroit)</p>
<p>I thought the Plasma and Fusion research at UW was in the Physics department?</p>