<p>If I do not get accepted to any of the top tier engineering schools, I will end up going to UIUC because it's cheap (in-state) and it has a top engineering program.</p>
<p>I really dislike the feel of Big 10 schools (Purdue, UM, UIUC, U Iowa, etc.), where social life revolves around frats and athletic events. I'm looking for an urban school in or near a large city (anywhere but in the south).</p>
<p>The main point is that the school's engineering program has to be equivalent to UIUC's. I know I'm asking the impossible, but I really don't want to be 'forced' into going to UIUC.</p>
<p>Top tier engineering school applicants, what are your safeties?</p>
<p>Trinitrondel, your take on Big 10 schools is extremely one-dimentional. Big 10 schools have relatively dormant frat scenes compared to schools like Cornell or Dartmouth. With the exception of Northwestern, at the most, only 20% of Big 10 students belong to frats. And sports are important but only play a small part in the overall social scene. </p>
<p>At any rate, how can we recommend safeties when we don’t know your credentials?</p>
<p>Aside from the obvious … MIT, Caltech, Stanford and maybe Cornell … which other private schools do you consider to have engineering programs equivalent to UIUC’s?</p>
<p>The only one I can think of is CMU in the computer related areas.</p>
<p>USNEWS 2008 Engineering Ranking Compilation </p>
<hr>
<p>Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs (At schools whose highest degree is a doctorate)</p>
<ol>
<li>Massachusetts Inst. of Technology 4.9</li>
<li>Stanford University (CA) 4.7</li>
<li>University of California–Berkeley * 4.7</li>
<li>California Institute of Technology 4.6</li>
<li>Georgia Institute of Technology * 4.5
5. U. of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign * 4.5</li>
<li>Cornell University (NY) 4.4</li>
<li>University of Michigan–Ann Arbor * 4.4</li>
<li>Carnegie Mellon University ¶ 4.2</li>
<li>Purdue Univ.–West Lafayette (IN)* 4.2</li>
<li>University of Texas–Austin * 4.2</li>
<li>Princeton University (NJ) 4.1</li>
<li>Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison * 4.0</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins University (MD) 3.9</li>
<li>Northwestern University (IL) 3.9</li>
<li>Virginia Tech * 3.9</li>
<li>Pennsylvania State U.–University Park * 3.8</li>
<li>Rice University (TX) 3.8</li>
<li>Texas A&M Univ.–College Station * 3.8</li>
<li>Columbia University (NY) 3.7</li>
<li>Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst. (NY) 3.7</li>
<li>Univ. of California–Los Angeles * 3.7</li>
<li>Univ. of Minnesota–Twin Cities * 3.7</li>
<li>University of Washington * 3.7</li>
<li>Duke University (NC) 3.6</li>
<li>Ohio State University–Columbus * 3.6</li>
<li>Univ. of California–San Diego * 3.6</li>
<li>Univ. of Maryland–College Park * 3.6</li>
<li>North Carolina State U.–Raleigh * 3.5</li>
<li>University of Florida * 3.5</li>
<li>University of Pennsylvania 3.5</li>
<li>Univ. of Southern California 3.5</li>
<li>Harvard University (MA) 3.4</li>
<li>University of California–Davis * 3.4</li>
<li>University of Colorado–Boulder * 3.4</li>
<li>University of Virginia * 3.4</li>
<li>Arizona State University * 3.3</li>
</ol>
<p>Trinitrondel. Go to Michigan. There aren’t any fraternities or intercollegiate sport facilities within two miles of north campus. LOL.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to offend anyone with my opinion of Big 10 schools. I’ll take the simple approach and say it just doesn’t fit me. Trust me, I have visited UIUC, UM, and U Wisconsin. I prefer something ‘different’.</p>
<p>Yes, I already acknowledged the fact that UIUC is at the top of the top. Still, I need a safety school that I can comfortably put on top of UIUC. Yes, UIUC is an excellent school, but it just doesn’t seem right for me.</p>
<p>As for my stats, I’ll only go as far as to say 3.8 UWGPA, 34 ACT, 2250 SAT.</p>
<p>Just teasing you a bit trinitrodel. Are you applying to NU?</p>
<p>NU as a safety… you’ve gotta be kidding. Better apply to Duke; it’s ranked 25th in engineering. Uh nope, Duke has frats and sports too. Better try a nice LAC.</p>
<p>CMU is a good match, not a safety, but it’s probably comparable to UIUC in engineering and it seems like you’d have a pretty good shot there. What about Georgia Tech–strong engineering, 69% admit rate?</p>
<p>Honestly, though, if you’re in-state and you’re sure you want to do engineering, UIUC is hard to beat unless you get into MIT, Caltech, Stanford, or maybe Cornell.</p>
<p>CMU and NU are actually two of my ‘reach’ schools, where MIT and Caltech are my ‘high reach’ schools. I understand that these schools rank below UIUC for engineering, but I feel their engineering programs are just as good. Anyways, there is more to it than just rank.</p>
<p>Still, I lack a safety school other than UIUC (in-state). How is Case Western Reserve University for engineering? Yes, it ranks below UIUC… but that’s besides the point.</p>
<p>To rephrase the question once again: What is a good safety school that I wouldn’t feel bad about giving UIUC up for?</p>
<p>None, because Illinois is a total bargain for you.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech? Its ranked above UIUC…</p>
<p>It may depend on what kind of engineering you want to do but Georgia Tech is a very good engineering school and with yourt stats a possible safety.</p>
<p>Phead, GT may be ranked above UIUC, but it is not better. And it is in the South. The OP said anywhere but the South. </p>
<p>Trinitrondel, you will be hard pressed to find a better value for money than UIUC. There areplenty of good matchs for you to consider, such as Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Northwestern and Rice, but all of those will probably cost significantly more than UIUC. In terms of safeties, maybe you want to look into WPI and RPI.</p>