<p>i'm having difficulty deciding between northwestern and university of illinois at urbana-champaign. although i'm leaning toward NU, it's still difficult to make the decision. i'm interested in engineering. McCormick seems to have very high standards and offers a superb education. nevertheless, U of I's engineering school is ranked really high. any opinions and advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks!</p>
<p>The difference based on 10 spots or so in ranking is gonna be insignificant when comapred to the difference coming from the unique Engineering First curriculum, which I think it superior to most others that still follow the traditional one. Besides, programs like BME, material science or industrial engineering are ranked just as high as UIUC.</p>
<p>Which is cheaper? Chicago suburbs sure beats cornfields. Also, you’re less likely to be made fun of for being a nerd at NU- it’s tacitly acknowledged we all are, whereas from what I hear from UIUC, that’s not the case.</p>
<p>I have the same question but for chemistry. Is NU worth the extra money (I’m getting a full ride from UIUC)? I eventually want to go to medical school, and I’ve heard that a school’s name doesn’t matter, but I’m still worried by not going to NU, I’m missing a great opportunity.</p>
<p>Northwestern is actually WAY more expensive than UIUC. It comes out to $25k/year vs $9k/year at UIUC. I like the school a lot more, but it doesn’t seem worth it. It’s pretty upsetting too because their financial aid is supposed to be really good. My mother owns a property and even though she owes as much on it as it is worth, they think we’re rich. Also, the ridiculous EFC they come up with, based on the collegeboard’s calculator won’t change with scholarships. They will keep it at what it is and take away grants. ALSO, the director of financial aid wasn’t the least bit helpful. I tried to explain that they failed to capture my financial circumstances and I can’t afford to go there. She dismissed it, saying that my demonstrated need has been met and said that I should go somewhere else if I can’t afford it. Sorry for the rant, but this is really killing me!</p>
<p>Hey, so its funny you posted this question, because i was in the EXACT same situation last year. I got into Wash U, Emory, Northwestern, and UIUC among others. I ended up choosing to go to uiuc for several reasons. </p>
<ol>
<li>Better social atmosphere. </li>
</ol>
<p>I read someone’s comment about people making fu of you for being a nerd…no
thats not true especially in Engineering. Second, there are a great number of kids who surpass the “typical Northwestern student profile” statistics for Average ACT, High School Rank etc.</p>
<p>I personally was top 5%, 35 ACT, and very strong extra curriculars</p>
<p>Moreover, Champaign is awesome. Obivously its not as big as Chicago, but its actually bigger than Evanston where you will be spending most of your time if you choose NU. UIUC studies hard, and parties even harder. If you are into greek life UIUC has the BIGGEST GREEK SCENE in the nation–60 frats 49 sororities. I chose to join a frat, and looking back it is one the best decisions I have made</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Cheaper. If you live in Illinois, save the cash, go to UIUC especially for engineering.</p></li>
<li><p>Better recruitment. There are hundreds of examples, but one in particular that caught my eye is that Intel has built a fabrication lab in UIUC. You can build computer chips there from silicone. UIUC is THE ONLY school for which they built such a facility, and Intel hires almost exclusively from UIUC for engineers to build their chips. Go online and just check out the hundred of companies that recruit so heavily from UIUC, and the Engineering EXPO</p></li>
<li><p>Overall a higher ranked engineering school. This was the most important thing for me when I chose U of I. A previous post mentioned that a few spots in the rankings aren’t a big deal, and that is true. US news is not the end all be all…but at the same time, while you are sacrificing the prestige of Northwestern, you are gaining that of UIUC engineering. Employers all know the value of such a degree. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>I know I signed to NU last year, even had my roomate and paid the 400 dollar deposit. I was going to live in slivka, and had it all figured out. THe whole summer I thought over my decision and the day before move in day at UIUC I called the office of admission and requested to be reinstated, which they thankfully did. </p>
<p>I hope you figure out what is best for you. I hope this helps.</p>
<p>Good, well thought out post, though I do want to refute one thing and point out another:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Champaign is not bigger than Evanston. Evanston’s population is estimated at ~>100,000 souls, whereas Champaign has a population of ~75,000 (according to a 2007 special census). According to a census from 2003, Evanston was around there, and it has grown substantially since then. Champaign simply isn’t comparable, at all.</p></li>
<li><p>Greek life can’t really be a selling point for UIUC over NU- NU’s campus is roughly 35% greek overall. The number of houses may be lower, but the percentage can’t possibly be much lower.</p></li>
<li><p>I don’t know about your anecdote about recruitment, but I do believe recruitment is roughly comparable between the two schools. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>For in state tuition, I’d probably pick UIUC.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>UIUC stands for University of Illinois at URBANA CHAMPAIGN. Our campus covers Urbana too, as Champaign and Urbana are “sister towns”. According to a 2009 census, Champaign is at 66000, and Urbana at 37000. If you add em up, as big if not bigger than Evanston. </p></li>
<li><p>Yes, Greek Life at UIUC can be a selling point. I promise you we party harder and with more attractive people than Northwestern frats. Hugh Hefner is a UIUC greek alum. </p></li>
<li><p>Comparable, probably. Regardless, NU is definitely not BETTER recruited for engineers than UIUC. </p></li>
<li><p>Dont get me wrong, I love NU. Im actually doing research in a lab there this summer. I chose it before I chose UIUC, and turning down such a selective school was difficult for me. That said I think it was a good decision.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>UIUC for engineering.</p>
<p>1) Better global reputation as an engineering school</p>
<p>2) Cheaper</p>
<p>3) Any other random arguments above though the two above are probably more important</p>
<p>Yes, UIUC may be good for engineering but compared to NU in other departments it generally lacks. People who go to college often switch majors at least once, so if you’re not sure that engineering is in your future NU is definitely the way to go.</p>
<p>Why?</p>
<p>He liked that the number of engineering students was smaller at NU. If he had gone to UIUC, the number of EE 1st year class was about equal to the entire 1st year engineering class at NU.</p>
<p>He really liked the Engineering Design/Communication class where teams of 4 Freshman/Sophomores are given real design challenges for real clients. This was his favorite class 1st quarter and as an engineer in industry, I told him that was closest to the kind of work I do. A friend of mine recruits for our company at NU, and he told me the interns/co-ops/new hires come in well prepared. (so do UIUC students, too, by the way).</p>
<p>He liked Evanston and the proximity to Chicago, with all of its opportunities.</p>
<p>They have a good co-op program with a sizeable % of students participating. Many companies, like the one I work for, are hiring a majority of our new hires from our co-op pool.</p>
<p>But I would have been happy for him to attend UIUC, too. It comes down to personal factors, I think.</p>
<p>I know this response is well past being useful but for anyone caught in this dilemma like one of my friends recently, this might help.</p>
<p>I was accepted at a bunch of schools including NU and eventually chose UIUC engineering. They are both fantastic schools and their engineering programs are top notch. At first I regretted rejecting one of the top schools in the country. Now that I’m interviewing for jobs and have spoken to recruiters as well as graduate school counselors at various schools for engineering, UIUC is probably one of the best names in the country if you are going after names when it comes to engineering. They acknowledged that the NU program is great but you will very rarely see them being called equals. The schools we get compared to are places like CalTech and MIT.</p>
<p>The bigger point though is that while name carries a little bit of weight…don’t worry about it. What matters more is your PERFORMANCE where ever you end up going. What recruiters want to see is how well you did in school and what you contributed. I have been working in engineering labs since very early and getting actively involved. That’s what companies care about. If you just want to be able to tell the average lay person that you went to NU then that’s fine, go there. But frankly, it doesn’t matter. The best part about going to UIUC for me? I have $10,000 in loans and virtually everything else I paid for with scholarships and working in a lab. That is for a 4 year world class engineering education. Is that the norm? No, most usually have around 20k, but that’s about how much you’ll pay at NW for one year. </p>
<p>Sorry to drag this post on but I just wanted to refute a few points (my school is a matter of pride…a little 
)
Greek life: While NU might have a 35% participation in Greek…we have I think at last count over 7000 people in a frat or sorority. We have TONS of professional and social fraternities. I joined a professional one that helped me get the right contacts and skills. While that is less than 35% of our campus, in raw numbers Greek life is much more prevalent on our campus.
Being called a nerd: Please, you will end up spending a large chunk of your time with people from your major. You are all nerds. No one makes fun of it. And if they do, feel free to remind them that your degree is actually worth something. I’m double majoring and I’ve never been hassled about it.
Class size: This can be a disadvantage. You do have less face time with the professor so take that into account. Frankly, your first two years you will mostly spend time with TAs unless you choose to go to a prof’s office hours. After that class size drops drastically since the programs at UIUC are notoriously difficult (engineering still). Most of the TAs know what they are doing and we have an amazing amount of help available to anyone in any subject (usually for free through departments).
Recruiters: Many recruit at NU, but it’s not an anecdote about heavier recruiting at UIUC, it’s fact. I believe at last count we had in the range of a 100 companies recruiting just for engineers during Expo while on average NU expos get about 60 (yes, yes I know we also have more students trying to get those spots). Pretty much any company you can think of heavily recruits here with companies like Microsoft stating that they get the vast majority of their hires from UIUC.
Frankly, I think choosing UIUC was one of the best decisions of my life. I was planning on going to med school but chose not to and just stick with engineering b/c I love it so much. For the person asking about medical school-they don’t care much about name if you go to a university that is at least halfway decent which both UIUC and NU surpass by a long shot.
Chemistry: I’m in ChemE here so we are part of the chemistry department. It is amazing. So much funding it’s crazy. But the program is intense, be ready.</p>
<p>What this all comes down to. Both schools will give you a excellent education. Both schools prepare you heavily for real world applications. Your capstone classes are usually in coordination with top companies. What matters here is what YOU can do. At both schools you have the chance to get involved and excel. If you choose to just sit in your room and study or just party like crazy, you’ll struggle at both places (either you won’t have any social skills and experience or you’ll be failing every class).</p>
<p>Final choice: I would really say UIUC, even disregarding all the stuff up top purely for the cost. I’m going into the working world with a debt I can pay off with my first year of salary and then I will begin my life debt free and hopefully able to save for a house, car, etc. Either way, best of luck to everyone! (I’m horribly sorry for the long post, I just figured if I’m going to try to help, might as well be thorough :)</p>
<p>“The schools we get compared to are places like CalTech and MIT.” lol keep dreaming…</p>
<p>Our research programs? Yeah, we do rank up there with the best of them. As an overall school? Hell no, just like you said the vast majority of our programs are better than average but not the best. Engineering, I dare you, go ask admissions counselors at the top graduate engineering schools what schools they love to see students coming from. I’ve done it, but no one takes any ones word at face (screen?) value online, go do it yourself. Talk to them find out where they think the top engineers come from and the consistent replies will include UIUC with GIT, MIT and CalTech. For things like CivE they will always say UIUC up there. When I was considering grad school I spent a lot of time going to various schools trying to figure out where I would like to apply and asking these questions. Will MIT always have a better rep than us? Yeah, but don’t brush us off with “keep dreaming” b/c our engineering program is world class. And just for ****s and giggles here is all that fun ranking info (that admittedly should be taken with a grain of salt…or a shaker full but still)
You seem to be blinded by the name rather than looking at the actual program.
[Rankings</a> - Best Engineering Schools - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/rankings]Rankings”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/rankings)
[Best</a> Undergraduate Engineering Programs - Best Colleges - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/spec-doct-engineering]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/spec-doct-engineering)
[Top</a> Ranked Engineering Colleges/Universities, Best Colleges Engineering](<a href=“http://www.graduateshotline.com/ranks/]Top”>Best Engineering Schools - Top 50 Engineering Colleges in US)</p>
<p>Oh god. Rankings again.</p>
<p>I got admitted to NU and UIUC last year,</p>
<p>If UIUC makes more significantly more financial sense, go there.</p>
<p>However, Northwestern has MUCH smaller classes. My freshman year Math classes are barely 30 kids. And I’ve taken a bunch of English classes so far which are capped at 15.</p>
<p>Plus the Engineering First sequence is amazing. </p>
<p>And plus Chicago is nearby. With the exception of Winter quarter (F*** the snow) I’ve been visiting Chicago literally every weekend. It’s a 20 minute free bus ride. Heck, we’re closer to downtown than UofC.</p>
<p>Oh and you’ll fall in love with the lake and the beach for sure :)</p>
<p>I find it funny that people bash rankings when it’s convenient and use them at other times. When I was trying to choose between the two schools everyone was emphasising how much high NU is ranked. Regardless of rank though prateek does present a couple of good points. Class size: Yeah our freshmen classes are huge. Mostly. My calc classes were about 130-200 but then we had TAs for every 30-40 people. After that linear and diffeq my classes were down to 30-40 range.<br>
Chicago: That is a nice feature. It all depends on what you want. I’m not much of a partier so even though we have a ton of stuff to do other than parties, you are still in two fairly small cities. We lack the awesome cultural stuff in Chicago but I can promise you, you will not find the amount of parties there that we have here (at least until you hit 21). And it snows everywhere. It sucks here too. If you are from Illinois…suck it up. If not…welcome to our little slice of frozen hell! And we don’t have beaches…we have corn fields.
Nonetheless, I think the main point stands that it’s money. Idk what these guys were offered in aid, but the current COA is $55,982 for NW and about 31,801 (Both these figures take into account housing, books, etc.). The UIUC one is waaaaay too high. I live here in a one bedroom apt and combined with everything my COA this year will be a little under $23,000. If you get great aid, then just line up what you are looking for and choose. If NU doesn’t give you a lot, go UIUC. My aid and scholarships cut NW to about 30k and then after working and parents I would still be left with 20k a year in loans which to me seemed unjustifiable.
One last point and then I promise I’m shutting up. Through my frat I still keep in touch with many, many graduates. What I’ve found is that after your first job, your school really stops mattering and companies look at what you did at your jobs. When is the last time anyone asked you about anything from hs? Freshmen year right? Same goes here, all they care is that you got a valid degree and then they look at what you accomplished. Your first job might be a little bit influenced by school but after that, only you will really care about being from NU, Harvard, or a state school. What it ALWAYS comes down to is what you accomplished, not where you did it. Look at sites telling you how to write resumes. The only time they tell you to really mention school is when you are applying for first job. After that, they only want to know where you worked.
Anyways, I’m done since I think anyone who sees this thread will get great advice from this little back and forth. Good luck all and if you have further questions about UIUC feel free to drop a message :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If a student were not into greek that much or not into the hardiest partying, and money were close, might NU get the nod?</p>
<p>^UIUC is a big school and I’d think non-greeks and non-partiers can find their social niche easily. But if one can’t see himself/herself stuck in a small town, then NU is definitely better. </p>
<p>UIUC is fantastic for engineering and engineering firms love them. But engineering firms recruit in many schools and they are not nearly as elitist (or selective) as places like biglaws, management consulting, and investment banking. I don’t think there’s significant difference between them in the eyes of engineering recruiters. </p>
<p>But when it comes to management consulting/investment banking, NU is more heavily recruited; these firms recruit smart and ambitious individuals, regardless of their majors. That said, the perceived rigor of the curriculum and the analytical ability of engineering students make them appealing to the recruiters. A whopping 37% of engineering grads (or 37% of those that enter job market?) from NU went into consulting/finance this year.
[Most</a> of McCormick Class of 2010 Had Jobs at Graduation: McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern](<a href=“http://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/articles/article_745.html]Most”>http://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/news/articles/article_745.html)</p>
<p>NU engineering has a really nice CO-OP program in which participates get to work during the school year (as opposed to just summer internships for most other schools).</p>
<p>While Sam is correct that the NU Co-op is great, U of I along with pretty much any other school has a great co-op program if you are willing to do it. Most students choose not to since it adds another year to school (if you do the full co-op). I also know that our business school is highly ranked (not as high as NU) but still is fairly good. My experience with landing internships and jobs compared to my friends (who are basically the same caliber as me e.g. similar GPAs, experience, etc) has been better. We tend to get many more engineering companies ranging from the largest to the tiny ones that might not go to other schools at all. This week is the the career fair and well over 350 companies are attending over a 5 day period (just for engineering). Factor in other career fairs for engineering that are specialized for one major, business fairs and such, and you have a very, very good shot at finding a good place to work. </p>
<p>As far as consulting, I would say if you want to do that, then perhaps NU has the edge because it might help you network better at those firms. While they do recruit heavily from UIUC, NU definitely has better connections there and might get a leg up. If you are going for straight engineering and money is actually an issue (like it is for most people), go to UIUC. You’ll get a better all around program for much less money. All those people that endlessly talk about NU prestige can keep talking about it as it applies to everything else but engineering. Talk to any engineering company recruiter and you will always find U of I in their top list of schools to go to.</p>
<p>As I’ve said again and again, the one thing you cannot forget is that both places are still excellent schools but will only benefit you if YOU do the work. Engineering is by FAR the hardest undergraduate major (maybe excluding physics/math?). In both schools you will be pushed hard and pushed to excel and if you choose not to do it, the name on the degree won’t be worth a damn because you may scrape by, but when it comes time to show your work, you’ll fail in the real world.</p>