UIUC chemical engineering transfer

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>I'm a chemical engineer transferring from IIT to UIUC. I transferred with only one year of undergraduate studies under my belt, and so they could not admit me directly to the chemical engineering program. They instead have to put me into specialized chemistry, and have me transfer into chemical engineering later, at the end of my sophomore year. The adviser told me I had the grades for engineering, but the program was closed to students with less than 60 credit hours. In order to transfer in, I will need a gpa of at least 3.1. </p>

<p>At IIT I got straight A's in every class except for physics, where I got a B, due in part to a very lazy and terrible teacher, and also my lack of skill in physics (first physics course ever, difficult stuff). I also got A's and 5's on the AP courses I took senior year of HS (Bio, psych, calc AB). I work very hard, spending almost all of my time studying and trying to do well. I've completed calc 2/3, and will be completing DiffEQ over the summer, where I also plan on getting an A.</p>

<p>However, after registration at UIUC, the classes seemed much harder. Instead of the hour and 15 minute classes I was accustomed to, UIUC has 50 minute classes, and much stranger schedules. For example, there are three 50 minute lectures a week for physics, one hour+ discussion, and a two hour lab. Also, from what other undegrads told me, the organic chemistry lab (Chem 237) was almost an entirely different class, with exams, homework, and lecture, that would cover things not covered in Chem 236, and labs being almost completely unrelated to CHEM 236. </p>

<p>My schedule is PHYS 212, RHET 105, CHBE 221, CHEM 236, and CHEM 237. </p>

<p>Considering it's a top 10 university, I'm a little nervous that the classes will be much harder, and that I won't be able to get the kind of grades at UIUC I did at IIT. This is exacerbated by the fact that I'm taking my first ChemE applications course, CHBE 221, and I want to continue doing research at UIUC during the school year, and also start some extra curriculars like AICHE which are related to my field. This is very concerning ,because if I'm unable to get above a 3.1, I would be stuck in a major I really don't want to be in. For a little bit of background, I want to go to either law or business school.</p>

<p>I was hoping some engineers at UIUC or other top tier universities could give me insight into how difficult these classes would be at UIUC, and maybe give me some advice? I've heard many people say that the classes for the first two years of an engineering major (Math, physics, chem, organic chem) are almost identical from university to university, however, I don't buy it. UIUC is top 10 for a reason, and the classes and exams are likely much harder because of it. Also, the different teaching styles associated with having 300 students in a class means less individual attention during class and office hours, and thus could potentially make the course much more difficult. </p>

<p>I could really use some insight into this issue, as right now I'm quite worried about attending UIUC, even though that is really where I want to attend college.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for any help, and sorry about the wall of text</p>

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<p>I wouldn’t use rankings as an indication of how difficult the university is. I know UIUC students, and I can honestly say after talking with them and looking over the curriculum that education wise the students and classes are on the same level as those at many engineering universities (including IIT). However, the name tends to carry a little more weight mostly because of the extremely large alumni base.</p>

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<p>I am extremely glad you posted you “worries” b/c I plan to do ChemE but I won’t get into UIUC. I probably will transfer into the college for Soph. year and then hopefully into engineering at the end of Soph year. But then again, the UIUC admins may find something special in me and accept me =). Anyways good luck…and how was your experience at IIT? Were the teachers helpful? Did you find lots of internship/job opportunities for chemE?</p>

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<p>@Amanravi
You’ll have to wait and see the admission standings. The program might be open to students with less than 30 credit hours when you apply, in which case you could probably transfer directly to the ChemE program. </p>

<p>Overall I loved IIT for the most part. The teachers were very helpful and willing to ( and even encouraged) meeting outside of class with students to provide support. Classes were pretty small compared to the 300 at UIUC; Calc 3 had about 30 (20 by the end, hahaha) but Chem 2 had about 70/80. Teachers really encouraged participating in class, asking questions and whatnot. My calc professor made people participate, class was basically me, a few other students, and the professor working through problems on the board. The only downside is limited research/internship opportunities relative to UIUC. In order to get my research I had to go off of connections in the university, and I know a couple deserving people who couldn’t find opportunities, and a couple undeserving people who did. If you’re considering IIT and have question feel free to PM me, honestly it’s a really great school, I’m actually debating transferring to be honest. I’m a super competitive person, so I wanted to get a degree from a top 10 university, but that probably isn’t the best reason to transfer. </p>

<hr>

<p>If anyone else could throw in their two cents I would really appreciate it.</p>

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<p>Peter112, </p>

<p>Have you asked professors about research? Typically if you find a professor that is working in something your interested in, you can just ask him/her and if they have room in their lab they’ll take you on. It’s funny that you should say that UIUC has more opportunities with research/internships. As a disclaimer, I am currently a Chemical Engineering major at IIT. I got a research position with a professor in my desired topic (Environmental Engineering) the summer after my freshman year. Actually, during the year I worked with a Chemistry professor in an Organic synthesis lab. The opportunities to do research are there if you search them out. IIT now has a really good database called ResearchWeb in the Academics Tab of your myIIT. It is near the bottom where it has your name and year. This is a place where professors actually post positions they have open. ChemE professors typically don’t post positions in there, but if you look at their profiles and find something that interests you just email the professor saying your interested in his or her research and hopefully you’ll get a response (you may need to email them again though because the ChemE teachers aren’t all that great about checking or sorting through emails). But what I was trying to get to was that I have a friend who goes to UIUC in Nuclear Engineering and he couldn’t find any sort of position there, so now he’s working at McDonald’s. It changes from person to person, but ultimately if you take the time to look, you will definitely find a research/internship position. Also, the IIT ChemE department has a lot of connections with the surrounding companies in both Chicago and elsewhere. If you just emailed the ChemE office they would surely be able to give you a list of places that are either looking for interns or typically hire them. Actually, they sent a few emails during the year about internship positions.</p>

<p>Also, the whole top 10 mentality… eh, it may help you initially to get a job (probably not though at least with U of I), but don’t take it as a life line. The school doesn’t say as much as what you actually get out of it. If you intend to go to graduate, then go ahead and try to attend a top 10 school, but you’ll be fine with an IIT education. I turned, personally, turned down UIUC. It was because of both cost and I didn’t like it.</p>

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<p>I don’t think they have ChemE at IIT so i’m guessing you did your pre-req. classes?</p>

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<p>Salve!,</p>

<p>Thanks for the response.</p>

<p>I’m actually strongly considering staying at IIT, probably stay 60%, go 40%. I’m an insanely competitive person, so I think the whole top 10 thing got to my head.</p>

<p>I can also verify what you’ve said after making several calls to counselors/advisers at the school. It seems that during orientation they were all about research/internships aplenty, but now my adviser flat out told me I would probably not be able to get research until junior year; something about lab positions being filled at least a semester in advance. </p>

<p>I actually got research as well this summer (after my first year) but wanted to try and get an internship at either Abbott labs or Pfizer ASAP, the companies I want to work for after graduation. I guess I was hoping the higher ranked school would put me on this track faster. I still have to badger their career center a little bit, but at this point, unless UIUC has a very strong tie to either company, the internship advantage would almost be nill for me. </p>

<p>Also, I hated the campus. A lot.</p>

<p>Could I shoot you a couple PMs if need be asking you some questions about IIT? I know I’m a student there, but it would be helpful to get an upperclassman’s perspective.</p>

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<p>Amanravi - I’m a ChemE major at IIT… </p>

<p>Peter112 - It is a very good idea to mix research with internships. If you want to go to graduate school afterwards or even just go into the workforce, both will certainly come in handy. If you are doing research this summer, then I would definitely suggest next summer trying to get an internship. Like I said, IIT is very good at helping you get internships. The career center here is very active in assisting students wherever they need it, but it’s up to you to take the initiative. UIUC has a great deal of students and therefore less spots available for research until as they said, you’re junior year. IIT professors are typically more than willing to start helping students even as a freshman (not saying that none of the professors at UIUC do this… but like I said, there are a lot of students). It’s good that you are looking into the actual offerings of UIUC instead of taking their word during the visit days. Colleges like to exaggerate what exactly is available to students.</p>

<p>When you say you hated the campus, do you mean IIT or UIUC? Personally, I don’t like either of the campuses. IIT does have a neat modern feel to it, but they don’t keep it up nearly as much as they should (well… partly because of those architects who won’t let them change anything). UIUC is just old. People go on about how much they love the campus, but I really didn’t see it that way. The quad is kind of nice… but the shape of the buildings is sort of depressing (except their new engineering library! That’s pretty nice).</p>

<p>Don’t get me wrong overall though. UIUC provides a great education… I just don’t feel that it will give you much of an advantage over an IIT student. If you ask people from UIUC and also take a look at their ChemE curriculum, I would actually argue that IIT is the harder and more complete one. Just my opinion.</p>

<p>Feel free to PM me with any worries or questions. I have a ton of friends at UIUC of whom I can get a second perspective from if you would like to know anymore about the university. Otherwise, I will try my best to answer whatever questions you have about IIT.</p>

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<p>IIT is so depressing!</p>

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<p>I heard from a friend that UIUC’s courses can be extremely difficult. Of course, it always depends on the professor. And if you bust your ass, generally the curve will be in your favor.</p>

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<p>I think success in UIUC courses is no different than anywhere else, you just have to stay on top of things and put in the hours. I have a friend who is an upperclassmen at UIUC and he says it’s a lot of work, but nothing unmanageable. He also had a research internship after his sophomore year. You just have to be active and look :)</p>