Parents, please need help - UIUC vs Case Western

Parents Forum
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<p>I am a long time lurker and a first time poster. I would like to tap into the immense knowledge base of the parents in this forum. I thank you all in advance for any and all information provided. </p>

<p>I would appreciate if you could give me some info on what you think of these two schools. which school is better - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign or Case Western. Is a degree from one better (meaning more marketable) than the other? Which one is more well known? </p>

<p>I know that both are almost similarly ranked. One is a smal private and the other is a large public. What are the two well-known for? It seems like both are known for science, enginering and accounting, if I am correct. </p>

<p>BTW, UIUC would be out-of-state and Case Western is looking cheaper - but not by much, if all 4 years are taken into account. </p>

<p>My kid is contemplating between UIUC and Case Western. Is currently undecided on major.</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your useful insights.</p>

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<p>One of my sons went to UIUC for Computer Science and loved it. Loved it. It is actually among the top 5 for CS, and he was in great company there. For example, the UIUC team went to the International ACM programming competition twice while he was there–once to Japan and once to Canada. S interned at Microsoft and eventually went to work for Google.</p>

<p>Their Engineering/CS school is well endowed and important. I wouldn’t go there for liberal arts, necessarily, though some do. But the university is large enough, it’s a city unto itself and you can find anything you want there. (Even though it’s in a small town, or a couple of small towns.)</p>

<p>Son #2 thought UIUC was too large for him and went to–Case Western. Perfect size, also a wonderful student body. It’s as if all his favorite type people from HS were gathered in one place. This son thought he would be a chemistry major, ended up a double major in Math & Computer Science. Wouldn’t have necessarily gone there for CS if he had known the school was somewhat weaker in that field, but whatever. He is graduating this year, getting great interviews, and has one offer and is expecting a couple more.</p>

<p>One huge difference, besides the school size, is the SAGES program at Case. Mandatory for all majors, engineering as well as liberal arts, it involves taking writing-intensive courses each year. If your son is a good writer, enjoys writing, fine. My S was not. Even though he enjoyed the seminar-style classes, the writing was a major stumbling block for him. He had close to a 4.0 in his major classes, but low grades or even withdrawals in these SAGES courses. H finally finished in a 5th year, but it was painful. (We are SO proud of him for not giving up the struggle.)</p>

<p>So that’s our experience. Hope this helps. </p>

<p>Cleveland is a great city, by the way, and the University Circle area full of things to do. The weather is kind of depressing, however. UIUC is cold, but at least the sun shines after the blizzard passes. Cleveland has lake effect snow & clouds ALL winter.</p>

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<p>I gather your child is a junior this year? You won’t know the true price of these schools until scholarship offers come in. I would apply EA to both. Scholarships are available to early birds.</p>

<p>UIUC gives in-state tuition to outstanding students, and Case has some nice 1/2 and 3/4 tuition scholarships. National Merit & high SAT/ACT scores count.</p>

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<p>Both are excellent schools. It’s the environment and atmosphere that really differentiate them. As far as academics/reputation go, it isn’t that big of difference, though Case may be considered more in terms as a specialty school. You do get a more concentrated dose of intense students at Case as well, but that can translate into an atmosphere some kids don’t like. This is home for 4 years, so it should be the school that feels most comfortable for students. My son had a choice between Pitt and Penn State, and for him, it was Pitt hands down because the idea of living in a city over a big traditional state school campus in the middle of no where did not appeal to him. Ratings wise, Penn State has the edge, but who cares at those levels? Gotta look it up to know for sure .</p>

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<p>UIUC is an excellent school, particularly in certain programs. It is one of THE quintessential big ten schools with all that implies – frats, sports, etc. You either like that or you don’t. It is far from a bargain for OOSers. And one thing I will point out is that it has far fewer OOSers that Wisc or Mich or Indiana. It is very heavily skewed to Illinois kids and particularly Chicago suburban kids. Just data points to consider.<br>
I don’t know anything about Case Western, except for the fact that it is much smaller, well respected, and probably draws more nationally. Seems to self-select for students, since stats for students are high but acceptance rates are not low.</p>

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<p>Thank you all for the useful info provided. </p>

<p>Are there any other issues or concerns that we need to review - like how safe is the neighborhood around the two schools?</p>

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<p>UIUC has some fabulous programs, including Electrical Engineering, CS, Civil Engineering, and the business school, esp Accounting. Also, as was stated, about 90% of the student body is from IL.</p>

<p>The concern I had for my S who applied there, was that it would be hard to go through such an enormous research university without being just one of the anonymous among the hordes for 4 years. </p>

<p>As the previous posts have stated, the student needs to experience the Case vibe and see if it’s a fit. For a student with serious ambitions, it can be a great place. And being 4,000 undergrads, if the student wants to make connections with faculty, get involved in research or volunteering at the on-campus hospital, or become a leader in some way on campus, it can be done. I found the area of Cleveland where Case is far nicer than the general reputation. There are bad areas of Cleveland, but I wouldn’t let that make the decision.</p>

<p>OTOH, UIUC has Big 10 sports events to attend and the associated school spirit, which is a draw for some people, not really available at Case.</p>

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<p>I really thought Case was going to be a good fit for my son. But as I read about the SAGES program, I knew it was going to make his life miserable, so I didn’t pursue it further. It’s a possibility for grad school, though, as it has an excellent biomedical engineering program.</p>

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<p>It is so important to learn how to write. Just the other day, my boss asked me to read a letter that was written from a graduate from Rutgers. I looked at the letter and she was trying to get a job where I worked. There were so many mistakes on the letter. There were grammatical, punctuation errors and even misspelled words. She told me how can someone go to college and graduate without learning how to write. That is what a state school offers verses a school like Case. State schools usually do not require writing in order to graduate. I have to write all the time in my current job and it is a very important tool to learn. By the way, the person did not even get the interview much less the job. I value liberal arts colleges because they teach you things for life. I like schools that require writing, languages, history, religion, etc. One needs to be well rounded to survive today. Just my two cents.</p>

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<p>New Jersey… You are stereo-typing. A bright student is a bright student. We have opted for a state school, declining a somewhat prestigious private school (NU) in order to benefit from a specific concentration offered. As a manager who occasionally hires, I see poorly written applications from liberal arts colleges as well as state schools. BTW on the subject of spelling …it is “versus”. Even spell check would not have flagged “verses” as it is a legit word, but the wrong spelling. Aah …irony indeed.</p>

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<p>“She told me how can someone go to college and graduate without learning how to write”.
Hmmmm…</p>

<p>At my S’s state university every student is required to take at least two writing intensive courses in order to graduate.</p>