<p>I'm an undeclared freshman at UIUC applying for a transfer into civil/structural engineering at the end of the semester, and also applying to the same program at UI-Chicago (which I assume is less difficult to get accepted into). The thing is, I'm having a lot of trouble deciding between the two if I'm accepted to both programs.</p>
<p>Maybe "prestige" wasn't the best word to use, but I do know UIUC is really well known for its engineering school, and while UIC's is decent, it's not considered to be at the same level. To put it shortly, my problem with UIUC is that I'm not enjoying it here. It sounds dumb, and I try to suck it up, but it's draining more out of me the longer I spend time here. While I don't enjoy the fact that UIC is somewhat of a commuter school, I'm a big city person and I love Chicago. I feel like I'd be happier there.</p>
<p>I might be overthinking this but my question is, if my dream is to land a job at an international company or that lets me work on int'l projects, will choosing UIC over UIUC hurt my chances a lot? I might also want to get a job overseas. I know UIUC is much more recognized everywhere w/ a better alumni network and maybe better recruitment services/events .. but since a lot of people say your degree only really matters for your first job, then with internships and work experience, will I still be able to achieve my goals with a degree from a lesser known/respected school like UIC?</p>
<p>Overseas people may not know the main difference between Urbana and Champaign but they know their UIUC’s…Thirty odd years ago I started my US education at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, so when everyone asked me where I’m going to be I said “Lafayette” and everybody said, “Purdue” ???</p>
<p>I never knew how good Purdue was back then or is today. I ended up attending the real Purdue as well many years later and we always laughed about it (of course Purdue is in West Lafayette).</p>
<p>Name recognition of schools abroad is iffy for a lot of schools. As far as most Elbonians are concerned Rose Hullman or Harvey Mudd are both cigarette brands, but they know their usual Big State schools (UIUC, Purdue, OSU, Michigan) and their Tech’s (Georgia Tech, MIT, Caltech, et. al). Of course that was 30+ years ago so things have probably improved drastically since then, but the bottom line is that for overseas employment there’s lots more people who have heard the big schools than the smaller schools.</p>
<p>If things like finances aren’t important I would not worry too much about a few years of Urbana-Champaign.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input, turbo93. As far as money goes, I’m okay at Urbana-Champaign. I was concerned with whether or not I would still be able to make it into an overseas/international company w/ a UIC degree esp. if I can get some decent work experience locally first.</p>
<p>I have considered going out of state, but decided it’s not convenient for me. My parents saved up for my tuition with a program that works best only in-state, so leaving Illinois isn’t a good choice for us financially right now.</p>
<p>Knowing nothing about why you dislike Champaign-Urbana, I’d say you’d be better off gutting it out at UIUC and making an occasional 2h weekend trip to the city. Again, you may have deep seated issues that just make UIUC unacceptable. Good luck.</p>
<p>Hey, it is only 4 years! I grew up in Champaign-Urbana and did my undergraduate degrees there. i wouldn’t want to live there now (Chicago is, indeed awesome) but I am not permanently scarred. When my oldest son went to UIUC he had the same reaction as you do but he stuck it out. If you get accepted to the UIUC program it is in your best interests to stay there but if you don’t get it, then UIC is a perfectly acceptable engineering program and you should go where you can get the degree you want.</p>