I recently got accepted into UIUC computer science and was wondering what the atmosphere was like. Is it more focused on promoting athletics or academics. Also how is the fraternity scene, is UIUC a party school? Maybe the engineering department is completely different that the rest of the college and I won’t notice it. Thanks for the replies.
In terms of athletics or academics, it’s a big ten school so you’re going to get a nice mix of championship athletics (for Illinois, that’s in sports other than football and basketball these days) and strong academics. There’s also tons of intramural and club teams you can join too.
UIUC can definitely be a party school if you make it that way and a studious school if you make it such. Fraternities are a pretty big part and we have the largest greek system in the country by sheer number of greek organizations (not number of people involved in them). That being said, only about 30% of the 40,000 people here go greek so if you don’t, you’ll be in the majority. In terms of parties, there’s always going to be parties everyday, but it isn’t burdensome and most of the time, you won’t know where they are unless you hear about it from a friend or from your RSO/frat/other organizations you’re involved in. I’m probably going to sound like a parent, but computer science here is not a walk in the park and there are going to be times where you won’t be able to go out if you really want a decent grade.
Being at a large university, you’re pretty much cast off into an ocean. There are numerous resources, but one has to have the maturity and discipline to seek it out themselves. The engineering department, while prestigious, is pretty competitive and rigorous (I’m not in the engineering school but I know plenty of people who are in it). Overall, UIUC is great and I love it, but self-discipline is a big part to success here.