<p>Illinois is better in reputation. You will probably get a bigger WoW factor if you say you went to UIUC Engineering. If i'm not mistaken, while Purdue and Illinois are both large schools, the demographics are different, look to see which crowd you like more. </p>
<p>Purdue ranks well in USNEWS, and I'm sure produces very good engineers, but I'm almost certain that given a choice between the two, financials aside, that over 70% of the people would probably choose UIUC.</p>
<p>Do you mean "WoW factor" as in "wow! that's impressive" or "WoW factor" as in large-quantity-of-nerds-playing-World-of-Warcraft?</p>
<p>Purdue is too easy to get in, but illinois is not.</p>
<p>"Purdue is too easy to get in, but illinois is not."</p>
<p>...what does that have to do with anything?</p>
<p>You don't look for jobs right after you enter college... You look for jobs AFTER you finish college...</p>
<p>Purdue has excellent professors with well-though out classes to offer students. As long as YOU (not the guy next to you, or the hot girl in front of you) try to gain as much knowledge you need... it is likely that you'll do fine where ever you go.</p>
<p>Agreed.</p>
<p>IMO, UIUC = Wisconsin = Michigan = Purdue for engineering...you can't go wrong with any of 'em. The Big Ten schools are fantastic.</p>
<p>I disagree with that. I don't think UIUC and Michigan's reputations are the same as purdue and wisconsin. When I was applying to engineering schools out of high school(New England), nobody I knew really considered Purdue, it may rank well, because of the research output, and be a top choice for instate students, but it's still a one dimensional second tier school. If you look at the job survey for Purdue you'll see that a great majority of people work in the midwest as an engineer, and I think it's a great option if that's what you want to do only.</p>
<p>keefer, i said:</p>
<p>"UIUC = Wisconsin = Michigan = Purdue for engineering"</p>
<p>I agree with you that UIUC, Michigan and Wisconsin are more well-rounded.
But, for engineering, I don't think there is a huge difference among these universities...IMO, you'll get the same jobs and same pay.</p>
<p>You say you want to study engineering, so make your college choice like an engineer. Go to both schools and collect the information needed to make an informed decision.</p>
<p>UCBChemEGrad,</p>
<p>Yes, I agree with you that you would get the same jobs with the same pay if you went to any of these schools as an engineer. I can say this about any engineering school. The starting salary is pretty much the same for any school. (Texas A&M grad probably gets the same salary as well at the same company)</p>
<p>But, at UIUC and Michigan, you also get some IB and Consulting recruiting. Of course these are not the only careers out there, there are also others. If you are 100% certain that you are going to be an engineer in the midwest, they are the same. But, people change their minds all the time in college, they might drop engineering all together. Now, your Econ degree from Purdue isn't worth as much as an Econ degree from UIUC or Michigan. </p>
<p>If I got in Harvard, I don't care about some stupid engineering ranking, I goto Harvard.</p>
<p>^ I agree.</p>
<p>UIUC and UMich offer more top majors, so those schools are likely to be more widely recruited. Opportunities, outside of engineering, may be better initially if you attend UIUC, UMich or UW-Madison.</p>
<p>You're right as well, that if I got accepted to Harvard, Yale or Princeton, I would choose an entirely different major and go there instead - for the opportunities.</p>
<p>You just have to make the best choices with the options you have.</p>