I am international student planning to join UIUC Fall 2017 for Computer Science.
After talking to multiple people who have already graduated, I have come to know that from an academic point of view UIUC is really really good, one of the best in the country, with not many issues at all. I have also got admission into USC(with a 20K scholarship) making the cost of attendance for UIUC and USC the same.
Even though it is amazing academically, my seniors suggested me to join USC because of its location. They say the weather is terrible at UIUC.
Mainly they told me that it is in the middle of nowhere. It has a “shitty location”. There is nothing to do at UIUC other than drinking/partying. It is a very very boring place. Chicago, the closest city, is very far away. And after some time, you will start hating your decision of going to UIUC.
Being an international student I will be spending a huge amount of money( around $ 240K ) for my undergrad education, so I want a really good college experience, without any complaints or dissatisfaction on graduation.
Can someone please comment and give me an idea about this ?
I’m a freshman at UIUC, also studying Computer Science, and I also had the same worries that you did. Originally, I wanted to go to school in the city, so when I realized I was coming to what was essentially cornfields, I was also nervous about attending.
Yes, UIUC is rural, but the Urbana-Champaign is essentially a very, very large college town. This means that campus and downtown Champaign do have an urban feel. Champaign has really grown on me this past year. And Chicago is not as far from here as it seems; I’ve taken trips downtown over the weekend multiple times.
If you have the opportunity to visit any of these schools, I would urge you to do so. Gauging fit and really stepping through campus is probably your best bet to see what attending USC/UIUC would be like.
These are both great schools, so you won’t go wrong with either decision. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me!
It depends on where you come from. Coming from Hawaii, the weather is terrible. Coming from a lot of other places, it’s not that bad. The location is fine. There are lots of things to do. If you expect zero complaints or dissatisfaction, you’re expecting too much from anywhere.