<p>I'm an international freshman from Singapore and I've been admitted by LAS (biology major) for fall 2012. Can any kind and helpful illini snr out there explain to prospective students like me what is like to study in UIUC by answering the following inquiries?</p>
<p>1) What brought you to UIUC? What do you like about the college/ college experience? (pros?)
2) What are some aspects of the college that turns u off? (cons?)
3) What is the social life like in UIUC? Is the environment there conducive for making friends/ inclusive?
4) How are lessons conducted in UIUC? mostly v. large lectures or small class tutorials or..?
5) Are the professors/ lecturers in UIUC encouraging/ inspiring/ helpful/ passionate?
6) Are there abundance of or limited (highly competitive) research opportunities available for undergraduates (preferably in life sciences) in UIUC?</p>
<p>Thnx in advance!!(:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I choose UIUC because it had a great CS program and I got James Scholar(priority registration for classes) and a 12k/year scholarship. The best part about UIUC aside from the academics are the people. </p></li>
<li><p>The administration seems to be somewhat corrupt which can be seen by an admission scandal a few years ago and the recent resignation of our President, Michael Hogan.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>3.The social life is great here. Due to the size of the campus, it is really easy to find a group of people to be friends with if you make an attempt to be social.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Many of the classes you take during your freshman year will be large lecture classes; the size of your classes will shrink over time. The larger classes will have discussion sections of between 15-30 people led by a TA.</p></li>
<li><p>Overall, I feel that the quality of instruction here is really high, even if the instructor is a TA.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m not sure.</p></li>
</ol>