<p>I am an international student and I've applied to many US universities.</p>
<p>UIUC is my safety school and I just found out that I was accepted.</p>
<p>I'm not too confident that I'd get in Harvard, UCLA, or Stanford. If not, I might go to UIUC.</p>
<p>However, most kids from my country haven't even heard of Illinois. I was wondering: </p>
<p>Is the NON-Engineering department (LAS) of UIUC prestigious/renowned?</p>
<p>UIUC is a second tier public with good name recognition across the US. </p>
<p>It lacks as much recognition as Cal, UCLA, U of M, UVa, and UNCCH, and is in the same class as Penn State, UCI, UCSD, Davis, UMCP, UF, etc.</p>
<p>I’ve been hearing great things about UIUC Engineering but I’m not sure if it’s college of LAS is prestigious in the US. </p>
<p>Also, what turns me off is the acceptance rate of 60+%. Hopefully I can get in UCLA.</p>
<p>sagaofremy -</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter one bit whether or not kids in your country have ever heard of UIUC. What matters is whether or not graduating from there will help you get a job in your home country after you finish your degree. Remember, you have only a limited number of months of OPT with a student visa, and then you have to leave unless you have found one of the rare employers here that can get you a work visa. Along that line, I have yet to hear of even one person who managed to get a work visa with only an undergraduate degree from a US college/university that was not in engineering or computer science. Plan now to get a job outside the US after you finish.</p>
<p>UIUC is very strong in all the hard sciences and psychology. Solid in the rest of liberal arts. UVa is way overrated BTW. Weak in sciences and many other areas. Living off reputation built as the safety school for Ivy rejects. Own President said so BTW.</p>
<p>happymomof1 - hope this doesn’t come off as arrogant, but I’m only studying abroad to learn and have a degree. family is pretty well off so i’ll probably just manage family business someday.</p>
<p>Just wondering if UIUC is prestigious in academia?</p>
<p>barrons - How about in the maths? I’ve only heard great things about UIUC’s engineering dept. but not so much about its college of LAS</p>
<p>I didn’t apply to UVa. Hope I can get in Cal or UCLA though</p>
<p>Since you have a business to go home to, where you get your degree truly doesn’t matter, provided the college or U is OK with your parents. If they are concerned, tell them this: UIUC is the public flagship in the state of Illinois. Some individual departments are stronger than others, but it is a fine educational institution. You can get a very good education there if you commit to the work. The weather is bitterly cold and windy in the winter, and fiendishly hot and humid in the summer. The landscape is gently rolling (no it is not entirely flat), and the natives are friendly. If you plan for the weather, you will be fine. Check [National</a> and Local Weather Forecast, Hurricane, Radar and Report](<a href=“http://www.weather.com%5DNational”>http://www.weather.com) to learn more about that.</p>
<p>AS a UIUC alum, I’ll admit that Engineering is tops. I graduated with a degree in French and now practice Cardiology. College is what you make of it, and I made everything of my 4 years there. Don’t get hung up on prestige. The school has to be the right fit for you. My biggest concern for UIUC is the problems with the state of Illinois and its financial woes. The COE will always get top funding, but I have my concerns for liberal arts. It was for that reason (and the fact that there were better programs for my son) that I did not encourage or discourage my son to apply to my alma mater.</p>
<p>Illinois is an excellent school, even for humanities/liberal arts. Very smart people attend UIUC. I don’t want to quibble about tiers, but I would certainly put it behind the Michigan/Berkeley/UNC/UVA contingent, along the lines of a Texas, Wisconsin (Bias – my son is at UW) etc. State schools have dramatically higher admission rate because they are state schools and their mission is to educate in-state students. </p>
<p>Top notch scholars in humanities. Don’t worry about it.</p>
<p>Illinois is outstanding in engineering, but it has many other academic strengths. Here are its US News grad program rankings in some high-profile fields, which will give you some idea of faculty strength:</p>
<p>Computer Science #5
Chemistry #6
Psychology #7
Physics #9
Math #20
Political Science #21
English #22
History #22
Biology #30
Economics #31
Statistics #33
Earth Science #34
Sociology #48</p>
<p>US News undergrad business #14</p>
<p>These are very strong rankings, suggesting there’s faculty strength pretty much across the board. The challenge at Illinois is that it’s a huge school (32,000+ undergrads) with a high student-faculty ratio (18:1) and many large classes (20% of classes with 50+ students, only 34% of classes <20 students). These figures compare unfavorably to a school like Michigan (27,000 undergrads, 16:1 s/f ratio, 48% of classes <20 students, 17% of classes 50+). </p>
<p>But a self-starting student with a drive to succeed could do well at Illinois.</p>
<p>U of I is pretty strong across the board
source: future uiuc student</p>