Illinois State School

College Search & Selection
41

<p>I definately plan on visiting UIUC in the fall when the students are on campus. Still, I am grateful for anyone’s imput until then!</p>

<p>There are certainly pros and cons to very large universities such as UIUC. Some of the pros are the wide vareity of opportunities available. The FIMRC program sounds fascinating! I would absolutely love to do something like that, and the fact that they go on academic breaks is definately a bug plus!</p>

<p>Gratefully awaiting more input on UIUC and other Illinois school.
Thank you so much!</p>

42

<p>In regards to the recommendation that I look out-of-state because UIUC is so expenseive for a state school: I simply can’t understand where you are coming up with this.</p>

<p>Here are my top school choices and their tuition and fees (in-state if in Illinois):
University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign $13,802
Illinois State University $10,679
Southern Illinois Universty $9,813 (yes, it is cheaper but I do not really want to go here!)
University of Illinois at Springfield $8,894 (maybe a little more - again, I am not as interested in this state school)
Bradley University $31,874 (this is a private school)</p>

<p>Now, here are some of the out-of-state schools I am interested in and their tuition and fees rates:
University of Wisconsin Madison $22,270
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities $15,542 (I’m not very interested in because it is so far away and in the freezing north)
Purdue University $25,118
University of Iowa $22,198
Iowa State University $17,870</p>

<p>Isn’t it still more cost effective to stay in-state? I am kind of overwhelmed (so many choices!) and I don’t want to apply to too many schools. Since I am currently attending college I have limited time to devote to applying to every school I see. Besides, I think I have done a fairly good job of narrowing down my choices - I just am not sure how I could afford out-of-state. Any advice would be great! Oh, and I am still perfectly happy with my in-state choices, I just don’t see how going out-of-state would be more cost effective (as others have suggested).</p>

43

<p>I expect you probably already know this, but your cost figure for Bradley is for tuition PLUS room & board. Still more than the in-state publics, of course, but comparable to the OOS publics.</p>

44

<p>Also, UIUC costs significantly more for some majors. Are you going to be a “Life Sciences” major? Tuition for Life Sciences majors is $4,000 per year in addition to the base rate you noted above. I don’t know offhand exactly which majors are considered to be “Life Sciences”.</p>

<p>Indeed, UIUC’s FIMRC chapter sounds interesting. But other schools might have similar student groups.</p>

45

<p>According to the Bradley website, the figure stated above does NOT include room and board. The cost estimates above are for tuition and fees only. I will most likely live off-campus so this is why I did not include it in the estimated cost. However, I have looked at each of the cities in which these schools are located, and rental apartments seem to be approximately the same. So, for comparison purposes I only compared tuition and fees. Yes, I would be a life sciences major, so it would cost a little more. Most of the universities do this anyway. So, for comparison purposes I was only comparing the base rates. </p>

<p>So, following that reasoning, aren’t out-of-state options still more expensive?</p>

46

<p>The cost of living probably isn’t going to vary significantly between different cities in downstate Illinois. It’s probably safe to look at tuition and fees only.</p>

<p>But not all universities charge different tuition for different majors. And when they do, it is not always as large as the $4,000 additional tuition charged to life sciences majors at UIUC. You might be thinking of the way science majors often have to pay hundreds of dollars in lab fees which aren’t charged to, say, English majors. The only meaningful comparison is what two different universities charge in tuition to students in your major.</p>

47

<p>Here’s a link to Bradley’s website listing 2009-2010 expenses:</p>

<p>[Undergraduate</a> Charges](<a href=“http://sfs.bradley.edu/geninfo/full-time/]Undergraduate”>http://sfs.bradley.edu/geninfo/full-time/)</p>

<p>Tuition is $23,950; required fees are $274; and room & board are $7,650 for a total of $31,874. For your purposes, the appropriate figure is $24,224.</p>

48

<p>Thank you so much Knowitsome for correcting me! Bradley is definately a more expensive choice, but they have some scholarships that I may qualify for which would make their tuition not much different from UIUC.</p>

<p>Finances aside (although that is certainly going to be a vital part of my decision since I am paying for my education on my own), what does everyone else think based on my other posts. Which college do you think would be the best choice (I understand it is my decision, but I value your opinion!)? Why? Do you think UIUC (or any large university) would still be manageable?</p>

49

<p>Now I’m confused, visited UIUC and saw the presentation which had $28K as the cost for in-state Engineering to attend. This did include R&B. Asked again if that number was correct and we were told it was. This jives with what others in our HS have been told.</p>

<p>Also, I’m sure you saw the Bradley online estimator, they sent an estimate of what we would owe every semester for all four years. Great tool.</p>

50

<p>It’s hard enough for you to weigh all the plusses and minuses, let alone any of us. From what I’ve seen, your primary goal is to be the best candidate possible for med school. Other considerations are school size, school cost, geographic location, and transferability of credits.</p>

<p>My take is that UIUC would put you in the best position for med school, ALL OTHER FACTORS BEING EQUAL. Of course, that isn’t the case. I get the impression that it wouldn’t be a good fit for you, yet you seem to want to make it work because it COULD put you in the best position. If you could thrive academically there to the same extent as at a smaller school, that’d be the way to go, but from your posts, I just don’t believe that’s the case. Besides, I’m a firm believer that the overall college experience is a very important component of your time in school (beyond the baseline of a good academic experience).</p>

<p>I also think that the other Illinois publics are significantly less likely to get you to your primary goal, which means you’d have to consider private colleges or OOS options. For privates, Bradley seems to fit your academic needs at a level just below UIUC, but would be better in most other aspects. Despite the lack of IAI participation, Illinois Wesleyan and Knox might also work well for you (Knox, I believe, has a guaranteed med school acceptance option - not sure how that works, though), and Beloit (WI) could be another good choice. You’d have to check out transferability of credits and costs to see how viable those three are.</p>

<p>After considering how important the various factors are, you should have 2 or 3 finalists, and only you’ll be able to weigh the factors to reach a decision. Focus on fit, and your performance (and success) will follow.</p>

51

<p>Knowitsome, thank you very much for your thoughtful and kind reply! Somtimes, after seeing all of the choices out there (there are so many collegees!) I can get overwhelmed. It is definately a hard choice for me to make. I cannot express in words how grateful I am for your words of reasoning and clarification. I have been trying to figure out this college process on my own, and it is so wonderful to have other people to talk to.</p>

<p>You are aaccurate: my primary goal is definately to go to medical school. Actually, my ultimate goal is to become a physician, but in order to do that I need go to medical school! :slight_smile: I suppose this is such a big decision for me because I have desired to become a physician for so long that I cannot imagine myself being happy without acheiving that goal. I do not want to make a poor decision that would jepordize that goal. So, I want to make the correct and appropriate decision.</p>

<p>I am really torn over UIUC. I will be visiting once more this fall. All in all, it seems to be the best school - I just have doubts regarding how I will be able to “compete” with so many super-smart kids! I certainly want to be in a challenging environment, but I also want to be an environment that I will be successful. I often wish that I could foretell the future, or at least give each school a “try out” period so that I know which is the right one! </p>

<p>It seems from your post that you think UIUC is the best PUBLIC (Illinois) option, and that the other Illinois publics are not as good options. And, if UIUC is not for me, then the next best thing would probably be to look to private colleges. Really, many of the OOS options I have looked at would not be much better than UIUC (still very large, and not much cost savings). The things that scare me about UIUC is the competition and the size. So, if I decide that I couldn’t do well at UIUC, then I think I would try to find an “affordable” private college. I have looked into Illinois Wesleyan, and they wouldn’t accept many of my credits (I also just did not feel it was quite right for me - very cliqueish). I know Knox is a good college, but when I visited I did not like the atmosphere. Unfortunately, I did not feel very welcome there (in fact I was a little offended by some of the people) and did not like the environment. So, I have considered those options, but was not satisfied with them. I contacted the Beloit College financial aid department, and I would not qualify for enough financial aid to consider it.</p>

<p>I have narrowed down my original list extensively. I now have less than 10 schools:
UIUC (to be determined if it would be the right choice)
Bradley (dependent on financial aid package)</p>

<p>Safety Schools: ISU, UIS (I liked ISU, but it has very little reputation. I have not had the chance to visit UIS, but it appears to be a very small school, and not particularly known for their science departments.)</p>

<p>There are a few OOS options I am still investigating. However, I am not sure that I will apply because they appear too expensive and are just as large as UIUC (therefore, I see no particular advantage): UW-Madison, UW-LaCrosse, Purdue University</p>

<p>Please comment on my list and tell me what you think! Again, I greatly appreciate your voices of reason. Also, I would love to hear more from fellow students of any of these (or nearby) schools! Thank you so much!</p>

52

<p>Have you checked this forum?</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-student-topics/[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-student-topics/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Yes, I have checked out that forum. It was very insightful. At times, even though I am almost finished with my A.S. degree, I feel like a high schooler all over again. The transfer process makes me feel like I am literally starting all over again!</p>

<p>I dearly love my community college, and I am saddened that they seem to have a bad reputation or at least or viewed as not as rigorous. I have had a wonderful experience, and it provided me with many opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. Still, it is time to move on, and I want to make the appriate choice. Any more comments are greatly appreciated! :)</p>

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<p>It seems like you’ve been pretty thorough with your homework (that’s good!), and you’re already at the point of picking between finalists (though open to suggestions which miraculously combine all the positives without any of the negatives;)). I’m betting that if you continue to write about how you FEEL (and read over your old posts), it’ll become clear which school you prefer. That usually then feeds upon itself, leading to a decision you’re ultimately happy with.</p>

<p>BTW, while I agree that UW-Madison is (for your purposes) just another version of UIUC, I think that UW-La Crosse might be up your alley. The best of the non-flagship UW system campuses are pretty good, and La Crosse is less than 10K total students, with 1K+ of those at the grad level. OOS tuition there would run around $15K. I’d forgotten you were in Freeport, so it wouldn’t be that far for you. Certainly worth investigating and possibly visiting, though I doubt there’d be much FA available.</p>

<p>So, I’d see you being down to UIUC (fit?), Bradley (FA?), ISU (reputation=>goal?), UIS (many ??s); UW-La Crosse (need more info); or other non-flagship publics in Iowa, Indiana, or Missouri - perhaps Truman State, which is possibly the 2nd best school in Missouri (not all that familiar with most options in those states). I have little doubt you’ll eventually decide on the one that’s right for you.</p>

55

<p>Thank you!!! Writing definately has helped me see things more clearly and to think better. </p>

<p>If for some reason I decide UIUC was not for me, and I looked at even more of the private options, would a Tier 1 Master’s University be better than a Tier 3 National University. For example, UIS and Bradley are both Master’s Universities Tier 1. On the other hand, ISU is a Tier 3 National University. So, even though the national university probably hs a little more recognition because it has doctoral programs would a tier 1 master’s university still be a reputable college? Would attending a master’s university negatively affect my chances at getting into a good grad school or medical school? At this point, I really would like to go to Northwestern University for medical or graduate school. It seems so far away that I’mnot quite sure which graduate/professional schools I will apply to. But, I do beleive that I would like to stay in the midwestern area. What do you think? Would it be inappropriate and inconvenient (on their part) to contact Northwestern to get their opinion about schools in Illinois (or the midwest) and if they prefer students from particular universities?</p>

56

<p>I’m glad I could help.</p>

<p>
[QUOTE=BiologyBabe23]
would a Tier 1 Master’s University be better than a Tier 3 National University.

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>“Tier 1 Master’s University” is a broad category. The USN&WR rankings report the raw scores of each university as well as their rankings. For the Master’s Universities, the raw scores drop off quickly as you go down the list. Put another way, the universities at the bottom of the first tier of Master’s Universities are nowhere near as good as the best Master’s Universities.</p>

<p>Again, I don’t know how far down the list you can safely go for medical school admissions.</p>

<p>The medical schools themselves might not give you a straight answer. They aren’t going to publicly admit that they don’t think that a specific school is good enough.</p>

57

<p>What do you think is a the best way to judge the rigor of the school and the students that go there? I have been mostly looking at ACT data since that is the data I have available. I assume the higher the range of the middle 50%, and the average ACT score, the higer the caliber of student. In general, do you think this is an okay method to judge the caliber of students?</p>

58

<p>There is little doubt that UIUC is the most prestigous of the Illinois State Schools. I am not sure admission is even a sure thing. However, based on this thread it doesn’t seem right for you. Many of the classes are huge and many people (me included) don’t find these to be the best setting for intense learning. I should also caution you that large lecture classes are not rare at ISU. </p>

<p>I am a graduate of ISU that opted for ISU over U of I for a business degree. This is many years ago and the gap has probably widened over the years, but to me the ultimate choice came down to where you are comfortable versue prestige, which I personally think is way overblown. Just check out the list of fortune 500 CEO’s that went to little known schools. I have had many UIUC graduates working for me over the years as well as the other state schools. Bottom line is it wasn’t the deciding hiring factor in anyone we brought on. </p>

<p>Bradley seems like the better fit. I am not sure it is the right one, but out of your choices it seems to meet your needs the best. You seem to be drawn to UIUC by only one thing, reputation. I would recommend you broaden your base as some privates with aid will likely be less money than UIUC. Don’t get me wrong, UIUC is a fine school, but you need to be sucessful AND happy at the school. A large public state school is not for everyone. </p>

<p>You may want to check into Loyola of Chicago which has a fine medical school and may be cost equivelent after financail aid. Also, you may want to give Illinois Wesleyan one more shot. The academic profile of the students is nearly identical to UIUC and placement in graduate school is superb. </p>

<p>Bottom line is make your own choice and don’t let USNWR make it for you.</p>

59

<p>One more thought:</p>

<p>You said you’re not that concerned about social life. However, I wouldn’t completely write off the importance of being able to fit in socially. College is often a time when people open up socially. Even if you don’t feel it’s that important now, you might change your mind later.</p>

<p>It’s important to have a life outside classes for many reasons. Opening up socially is part of how we learn who we are. Also, on a more practical level, medical schools, graduate schools and employers may prefer well-rounded candidates. It’s also important to meet people because contacts will be important in finding jobs at some point.</p>