Thank you!
Both excellent options and I agree at that level rankings donât matter. They are pretty different schools however, so I would probably focus on fit and finances. GT as you noted is in the middle of midtown Atlanta. It has very few majors, and the majority of kids that go to Tech are STEM kids in engineering or CS. This gives the campus a more techy/nerdy vibe. UIUC is a much bigger school, with many more majors. This is a pro if your son may want to do something in a non stem field or if he wants to be around people who are not all STEM (this was one of the reasons one of our tourguides gave at UVA for not going to Virginia Tech - he wanted to be around people studying all sorts of things, which I thought was a good reason).
Tech has under 20k undergrads and Illinois has over 35k undergrads so I imagine the campuses feel pretty different, even outside the difference in setting. Both have Division 1 sports and greek life - although both have roughly 25 percent of kids participating in Greek life (just googled it), due to the difference in size there are more people in Greek life than at Tech. Costs for OOS seem very similar. If you are in state for Illinois I would say that would absolutely tip the scales for UIUC.
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This such a thoughtful answer. Thank you VirginiaBelle. Neither are in state for us unfortunately and they are basically equidistant from home. Such a challenging option. Luckily dad is a prof and is doing some reconnaissance today on both options. Will report back what we learn/decide.
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My son just got off the waitlist for mechanical engineering. He has accepted as is very excited.
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In state or out of state?
I acknowledge UIUCâs excellence in the field but I strongly believe Georgia Tech offers much more. I agree rankings drive decisions too much but it is hard to ignore the fact that GT is ranked #1 in civil engineering by *US News World Report. * Other institutions would kill for that assessment. GT is definitely the bigger name, and that counts for a lot in this world. We have found the Atlanta location to be a real boon. There have been multiple opportunities â so many that our student couldnât take advantage of all of them. It also cannot be ignored that the Georgia Tech campus is just 20 minutes away from the busiest airport in the world, which situates it so well for things like interviews and travel to other places. I am personally familiar with several students who will be attending UIUC this fall BUT each one was rejected by GT and would attend GT instead in a heartbeat if they could. I can offer you more information about this and about the school in general if you like â go ahead and PM me and I will respond.
Thanks, WhrlingColleges. Love your support for the GT community! And agree ATL location is ideal in so many ways.
Congrats! In state?
I thing after 1st year students have lot more options with Univerity like UIUC, Good performing students will have lot. Have you seen this recent post ⊠The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and IBM Plan to Launch New Discovery Accelerator Institute
Congrats @XamaFleur !
So my son has similar credentials as yours⊠1560 SAT 4.7x weighted GPA 3.9x unweighted, 11 APs with 5/5 in all but 2 havng 4/5 (5/5 including Physics Mech, EM, Calc BC,Macro, Micro) , athlete and performer( varsity swimmer, varsity runner, triathlon , Detroit international etc, mixed martial arts BB, won some debate awards , in schools business club team, stage performer, officer,as well as choreographer of stage dances ) he committed to UIUC EE Honors so far, we are OOS too but he got 50% tuition scholarship. He had considered UIUC as his safety, but as I see the discussions here and see the stats on internet ( 80% of UIUC is Instate, 10% international , 10% OOS), so we started realizing this may be very Comparable to GaTech OOS wo Scholarship, We still waiting on GaTech (Industrial Eng, 1st choice / Eng Physics 2nd)
Will certainly like to know what you guys decide and the basis of it !!
Thanks so much! Thatâs a wonderful scholarship and UIUC EE is an incredible program. Congrats to your son for being recognized for his amazing talent and skills. I hope that he is excited about the adventure ahead as you are right UIUC and GT are very comparable.
That being said, my kid ended up committing to GT after analyzing the hiring and placement data, comparing class syllabi, speaking to industry folks, and reviewing research and literature (again, dad is prof in related industry). From what we gathered, UIUC program is excellent, offering amazing networks at tech firms, and avg salary upon graduation is higher. Plus, UIUC grad program is the definite winner and the BS/MS option is hugely attractive.
Despite all this, kid felt like GT would be the better fit based on research interest, co-op opportunities, the VIPs, gender balance (UIUC really falls down here!), accessibility (ie. 1 flight vs. multiple), and finally, culture.
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I believe your son made the right decision for picking GT. I agreed with all your analysis except gender balance.
Actually, GT is most imbalance with 40% female, while UIUC is 46% female. For comparison, both U of Washington and UT Austin are 54% female!
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My daughter will probably never admit it but I suspect that this may be one of the reasons my daughter picked GT 
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Congrats on the GT decision. You definitely made the right choice. You will be hugely impressed and your son will be quite pleased.
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Sorry I should have been more specific that I was referencing EE study body gender balance. Itâs 15 percent female at UIUC. My kid is female so this mattered a lot.
Not sure if you saw this, but some contact info for your daughter. https://www.ece.gatech.edu/news/640069/supporting-gender-diversity-electrical-and-computer-engineering
Do you think the waitlist will close before the first day of school?
Yes
Do you think it will close soon?
I think they are essentially full but are keeping it open for any summer melt. They likely wonât close it until they are confident they will not need any more students, and this year international students are very unpredictable if they are not already in the US (embassies closed, visa appointments booking out til 2022, high school year extended through September in some cases, inability to take A level exams, etc.). The deadline to request a deferral is July 1 (and vaccines are not going to be required at GT and classes will be fully in person, no masks and no capacity limits, and dorms will be fully occupied, so some may opt for this even if not international if they have underlying health issues) so I expect they will know more then, although they will accept deferrals for people who need visas after this date.
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