So I got accepted to both UCI and UIUC for fall 2016 in computer science, and I am conflicted between both schools. Just looking for some feedback on which school would be better for me to attend.
Please don’t talk much about ranking/prestige/tuition
Some questions I have:
What is the student life like? Is there much to do on/off campus?
Strength of respective CS programs
Job prospects/recruiting (I would prefer to get a job in California, would that be possible through UIUC?; Live in NorCal btw :) )
Housing/Meals? How's the campus food?
Study abroad program
These are some of the main things I want some insight in for both campuses, so if you guys could help me out, I would really appreciate it!
Overall, the cs program at UIUC is MUCH stronger than at UCI. It is most definitely possible and probably more probable to get a job in calfornia with a degree from UIUC. My brother who works for Google in San Francisco has told me that Google recruits highly from UIUC as it has one of the best CS programs in the country (#5 in the nation). So if Google recruits highly from UIUC, I would assume that other companies do also.
The housing at UIUC is nice. They garuntee four year housing which is also great. You will have to do some research on which place you would want to live in as there are many university housing and private certified housing. The old university housings are being torn down and being rebuilt so that is also great. If you choose university housing I would recommend the 6 pack. It’s where most of the incoming freshmen end up and you get to meet plenty of people and make friends. I’ve heard that some incoming freshmen regret choosing private certified housing because they weren’t able to meet as many people as they would have liked.
When I ate at UIUC dining hall the food was reletively good. I mean campus food is campus food, you can’t really expect gourmet food from really any university. But overall the food was really good because it has plenty of options that can fit many types of appetites. Also the food is probably better than average.
I would say the both UIUC and UCI have many things to do on campus. As for off campus for UIUC, it’s a small city so I wouldn’t really say there is much. But there are plenty of restaurants to eat at and other interesting places to hang out at. But overall, there is a ton of things to do at UIUC. I mean, it’s the number 1 party school in the country for a reason…
As for The student life at UCI. Sorry, I don’t know much because I haven’t been there.
Both UIUC and UCI have lots of study abroad opportunities
@Wesley364 glad to hear that I could still come back to Cali for work. Other threads I’ve seen on the same topic had been saying that more Midwest companies recruit there, so it would be hard to come back
@Mjain10 You may find the UIUC Reddit thread helpful. It is a fairly active page.
I recommend that before submitting a question, you use the search tool on the right side and read older threads on the topic first. Sometimes people, who post a question that has been asked many times, get rude comments…you’ve been forewarned. https://www.reddit.com/r/UIUC/
