UCSD vs UIUC

[introverted]

<p>so i have about slightly over a week left to decide and i'm still torn between these two choices. i'm an international student and i'll be majoring in Computer engineering for either school. here's what i have considered so far</p>

<p>UIUC:</p>

<p>+Very highly ranked and recognised for engineering, my major especially so i think.
+large alumni network from in tech companies from what i've heard
-Weather, cold as hell (i come from singapore, where it's mostly sunny all year round with some weeks of heavy rain)
-location: my commute there from singapore would take me 20 hours plus just to NY or cali then i would have to transfer to a domestic flight which would total roughly 30 odd hours i guess?</p>

<p>UCSD:
+location: a VERY nice place to live in from what i've heard, expensive though. beaches too, but i'm not exactly an outdoors person lol. also shaves a good chunk of my travel time.
+weather: apparently one of the best in the US
-lower ranked than UIUC for engineering i guess? still pretty well known though i think.
-quarter system</p>

<p>things i'm not sure of:
internship/research opportunities: not really sure if either school has an advantage over the other</p>

<p>actually i thought i would definitely choose UIUC over UCSD purely based on rankings but input from people have made me reconsider. i'm right now really torn between the two though. i would appreciate any opinions!</p>

[siddmax]

<p>I have a friend who has a brother incoming to UCSD as well as a computer engineer. Honestly, the UIUC creds vs UCSD creds don’t matter that heavily in the real world. Its mainly based on what you did with your college life. If your going to enjoy going to UCSD more than UIUC (weather/less travel time), than go for it. This helps make the academic life go by easier (nothing beats coming out of taking a hard final into a sunshiny day and then onwards to the next final). Then again, a larger alumni network may get you into internships better than at UCSD. And when you go out into the real world, those internships will account for a lot more than anything else on your resume/CV combined. That’s not to say that being closer to the Silicon Valley is a bad thing in terms of potential internships and better job fairs. Qualcomm is headquartered right nearby.</p>

<p>TL;DR: Its what you can make of the experience that counts over what school is better.</p>