<p>At the moment, I am admitted to both (U. Illinois Urbana Champaign and Michigan University) but although I am waiting for other replies, I wouldn't know which to chose among these two. I am an international student and visiting the Universities won't be too easy although I will try during spring break.</p>
<p>Which one would YOU recommend for computer science and why? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p>PS: Please disregard financial aid and costs, I am just interested about every other aspect: academics, scene, housing, experience...</p>
<p>Are you talking about Michigan State University or University of Michigan? UofM is great for computer science. My brother went there for both undergrad and grad school. Ann Arbor is a great city. There’s a bunch of stuff going on and it’s a fairly safe place to live.</p>
<p>Both are very, very good and either will serve you well. I think UIUC has the edge as being one of the very tippy top programs in the country. However for location, you can’t beat U. Mich as it has one of the very best college towns in the country and I hear UIUC isn’t much for atmosphere.</p>
<p>UIUC is slightly stronger than Michigan in CS, although Michigan certainly holds its own. According to the last ranking, UIUC was ranked #5 and Michigan #13. Most major IT firms recruit heavily on both campuses, so you cannot go wrong either way.</p>
<p>As far as campuses go, both have great campus cultures and environments, although Michigan has more school spirit thanks to great athletics and irrational school pride.</p>
<p>As some have already pointed out, Ann Arbor is a nicer town than Urbana Champaign, and more conveniently located too. Non-stop international flights from several major cities in Europe and Asia (including Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Rome, Beijing and Tokyo) land at an airport 20 miles away from Ann Arbor while the only major international airport to Urbana Champaign is in Chicago, 150 miles away. After a 10+hour flight to the US, the last thing you want to do is get on another plane or ride a cab/bus/train to campus.</p>
<p>I live in Spain and none of my classmates/friends are going to the US. All I know is from my own research and about international alumni connection, I know nothing… This is why I think a visit would be very benefitial in order to make the final decision.</p>
<p>I am aware of Michigan’s worldwide prestige but, won’t companies looking for Computer Scientists know that Illinois is superior? I mean, people who hire IT guys will definetly know about this. But does this really make a huge difference when it comes to finding a job/obtaining an excellent education?</p>
<p>djsash, there is very little difference between the top programs. UIUC is only marginally better, but the quality of the graduates coming out of the two programs is the same. Companies will not distinguish between those two schools.</p>
<p>How about the costs at both schools? At the moment we have that same dilemma with our son who is gotten into UIUC and UMICH for Ind Engineering. One big difference we see is the cost of the program as UIUC has offered him 12k/year in scholarship money and UMich none. This coupled with more costs at UM make that program significantly more expensive. Most likely he will end up going to UIUC.</p>
<p>Hi, I’m interested in both of these colleges. I may apply this year. So, I wanted to ask a question(although this probably isn’t the best place to ask this): What kind of grades did you have? I’m just trying to gauge my chances of getting in :)</p>
<p>Thanks for posting the ranking of world universities. In my opinion, using this ranking (or ranking like this) to decide where to pursue undergraduate study is very much flawed. This ranking heavily emphasizes the research aspect and the comprehensiveness of a university. It doesnÂ’t put much weight on the educational aspect (more relevant to an undergraduate education). For example, UMich is ranked at 13. Notre Dame is ranked at #223. For an undergraduate education, I would strongly choose ND over U-M for most of the subjects (though not necessarily all subjects) if given the choice. So be careful with all these ranking things. This kind ranking is more relevant for someone who plans to pursue research or advanced degrees. In other words, international reputation is very much less important for an undergraduate!</p>
<p>^^^>…except wavelet that the OP is an international student who will more than likely be heading back to his/her country after graduation. So when you state that:</p>
<p>UMich is ranked at 13. Notre Dame is ranked at #223. For an undergraduate education, I would strongly choose ND over U-M for most of the subjects (though not necessarily all subjects) if given the choice"</p>
<p>you are not taking into account that employers back in his native country might not be aware of the quality of a school like ND. Btw, for an undergraduate education, I would strongly choose Michigan over ND if given the choice.</p>
<p>Your may be right regarding the international aspect of the issue. I was thinking more about the quality of an undergradute education. I regard ND is a much better choice in terms of better facilities, better class instructors (not the graduate TAs in class room), much smaller class size, etc.</p>
<p>Clearly you disagree. I would like to hear your arguments on why U-M offers a better undergraduate education than ND over most of the subjects.</p>