Currently in the process of narrowing colleges as I prepare to apply.
Here is the list of schools that I narrowed it down to:
-Augustana College
-Bradley University
-IL WESLEYAN
-UIUC
-Loyola
-IL State
Personally, any alumni have any suggestions or honest feedback about there school? Or is there another university that i need to add on the list? I’m thinking entering pre-law or nursing for my studies. I know that I liked the feel or Vanderbilt an Notre Dame if that helps with anything. I just want to make sure that the colleges I choose will allow me to go in several fields if i later change my mind. I have done the standard process of elimination by things such location and retention rate. At this point, I don’t know what to do. Can someone please advice?
I’m not an alum but a former IL resident (born in Skokie!) who is familiar with all those schools. They’re all fine choices. IWU and Augustana are liberal arts colleges, so if that environment is appealing (small size, wholly residential (you’ll probably live on campus all four years), very professor-student-centered) those schools are definitely not like the others.
Bradley is a fine school, but it’s always struck me as not having the most attractive campus. ISU is a sleeper. Cheaper than UIUC and known for education (it started as a teacher’s college) and nursing. Bloomington/Normal is a nice town, sort of like a large Chicago suburb plopped down in central IL (IWU is here too, of course). Loyola used to be a heavy commuter school and has become much more residential, but it will definitely have a different feel than the other schools on your list.
If you can, visit these places, especially the two LACs, to see if that setting is something you’d like.
EDIT: If you’re open to out of state (missed your comment about Vandy and ND), how about right across the state line in IA (I’ll assume you’re an IL resident)? U of Iowa, which has nearly 30% of its undergrads coming from IL, has a stunning nursing program and is home to one of the best university hospitals in the country. Iowa City is also a fantastic college town.
I’ll throw out an odd name that you’ve probably never heard of: Coe College. A good comp is Augustana. Coe (in Cedar Rapids) is an LAC, and like Augie has strong sports teams (you might not care about that), but it also has a strong and small nursing program. Yes, U of Iowa means out of state tuition, but Coe should put together a FA package similar to Augie or IWU (private school tuition is the same in-state or OOS).
My daughter went to IWU(about 1800 students) for two years. She is transferring to Beloit due to change in major that IWU couldn’t support. IWU is a very nice comfortable small campus. It feels very relaxed when I visited her. She wanted small classes and direct contact with her professors and that is exactly what she got. There is little to no diversity on campus. It is a challenging school but with hard work you can do well. It is very close to ISU (20,000 students) which has a nicer campus overall. Lots of shops and restaurants and both a very close to each other.
UIUC is a large big ten school with everything that goes with that and Loyola is urban on the Northside of the city right off lake Michigan.
I would encourage to visit these schools since they are vastly different with different feels to them.
Augustana doesn’t have a nursing major. It has pre-nursing, which at an LAC usually means a cooperative program with another school after graduation (like Rush Medical in Chicago).
All of the other schools on your list have nursing, and I didn’t even have to check (just for Augie), so that sort of suggests that nursing and other pre-professional/vocation programs are more available at your other choices. IWU is an LAC but much more pre-professional that most traditional LACs. Is nursing just a possibility or something that you are seriously considering?