Hi!! I’m planning on majoring in environmental engineering and am currently deciding between UICU and CSM. At CSM, I’m concerned about have a true “college experience,” but like that it’s a smaller school. That being said, it’s not ranked nearly as well as UICU, which I also know will have a social life. However, I worry that UICU is so big that I won’t have any individualized opportunity. Additionally, being located in the middle of nowhere gives me a bit of pause. I was wondering which one is (a) going to best set up me up for a career and (b) give me the most enjoyable college experience.
Not sure if it’s important to add, but I’m a woman in STEM, and am considering majoring in entomology in addition to engineering. Looking forward to your guys’ advice
I don’t think CSM has an entomology major, how important is it for you? It’s a well-regarded engineering school, and graduates are especially heavily recruited by the oil and gas industry. It’s also in a very nice location.
UIUC has an excellent entomology department, and has a better environmental engineering program than Colorado. So I think that UIUC is a better choice by far. It is in the middle of the corn fields, but there are 40,000 students there, as well as about 100,000 other people, and Chicago is a 2 hour drive if you get cabin fever.
Unless UIUC is substantially more expensive, go there.
PS. Larry Hanks, Tom Hanks’s brother, is an entomology professor at UIUC…
Both schools end up costing about the same, Mines is a few thousand cheaper but nothing substantial.
Entomology is what inspired me to pursue environmental science as a whole, so it’s just kinda a bonus but not a priority. Basically a “pro” on the “pros vs cons” list, ya know?
Does anyone know what percent of engineering majors at UIUC have a job lined up after they graduate?
All of your options are good. If you do complete an engineering degree, your employment chances and begining salary will not be significantly different coming from any of them. You can safely choose the cheapest if you need to do that.
Davis is in-state for me so it ends up being about $10k cheaper, while Purdue, Illinois, and Mines are all about the same after various grants.
In addition to the value of my degree after graduating, I want to be sure I have fun! Purdue and Illinois and Davis are all kind of in the middle of nowhere lol, and Mines seems very nerdy (in the best way possible!) I know that’s a superficial thing to worry about, but nevertheless, I’m from LA/San Diego and am used to these bustling cities and crazy nightlife…
“give you the most enjoyable college experience” is a totally personal thing. No one knows you that well here so I would visit each college and decide for yourself if you can.
