UIUC for undergrad engineering

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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<p>Considering U of Ill at Urbana Champaign for undergrad engineering for Sept 2010. My son's high school does not rank or give weighted averages. It is a specialized school that considers all the classes to be honors classes. He has an A average, with all A's (one A-, one A+) in Science and an even # of A's and A-'s in Math, 235 PSAT, (80 Math) and 2300 SAT (750 Math.) He has decent extra-curricular activities. Students from his high school get in to UIUC with lower averages and SAT scores than his, but I suspect the UIUC engineering program is more competitive than UIUC in general. When students apply to UIUC engineering is there a higher standard than in UIUC overall?</p>

<p>Also, my son is not sure if he should take the SAT again (took it once.) We were surprised he did not do better than 750 in Math. Does anyone want to weigh in on whether you would take the SAT again if you were in his shoes? He got an 800 in Writing and 750 in Reading, but maybe those scores are far less important than the Math. Any thoughts? Thanks!</p>

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<p>He should be fine with that SAT. Unfortunately since the test is on a curve, one or two incorrect answers on the math section can drop you 50 points. A 2300 is more than good enough to be considered at just about any school, especially with the grades you told us about. </p>

<p>That said, grades and test scores alone will not get him into a school, especially an elite one. I’d assume he’d get into UIUC easily with those numbers (assuming he writes even an average essay), but if he wants to get into MIT or other highly selective schools, grades and test scores will only get your foot in the door, and the rest of your application (essays, recommendations, activities) will get you admitted. </p>

<p>Although it is true that the applicants to UIUC engineering are more competitive than to the rest of the school in general, he should be fine with those stats.</p>

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<p>Thanks! That is good to hear. We are thinking of going to visit in April. Any further info about UIUC engineering is greatly appreciated!</p>

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<p>There is no reason to retake SAT. Engineering at UIUC is both difficult and easy to get into. Its middle 50% range is usually about top 10% to 2% class rank and 30-33 ACT (or about 1880 to 2150 SAT). It has the highest middle 50% range of any college at UIUC. However, if you are in that range or above your chances are very good. The college actually has one of the highest admission rates of any of the UIUC colleges, often in the 70% range. That seeming dichotomy is caused by the fact that vast majority who apply for engineering are in or above that usual middle 50% ramge, i.e., it is a self-selective group.</p>

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<p>What type of engineering does he want to do? That would help any of us answer questions of give you more info on the school.</p>

<p>I am a senior in Mechanical Engineering, and let me tell you, I have loved every minute. You will hear some horror stories about giant classes and things like that, but when you get to the higher classes that actually matter, you will rarely have a class over 30 people, and even in the bigger ones, at least in the engineering departments, the professors have always been willing to give students individual attention. I make the distinction between engineering and the rest of the university because I have had some really bad, large classes early on in things like economics and math, but those were 2 classes out of the gazillion that I have taken.</p>

<p>I have done undergrad research for my junior and senior year, and if your son happens to become interested in research, it is fairly easy to get into as long as he is proactive about finding a professor with an opening. I know I got a position on my first try both times I tried to get one.</p>

<p>Placement in industry is good, as there are a several career fairs geared specifically towards engineering, and by the time everyone reaches their junior year, probably half of the students have had an internship or at least had the opportunity. Personally, I worked at Halliburton one summer, Rolls-Royce another summer, and will be probably going back to Rolls after this semester. I have friends that have worked in a lot of different places though, including Northrop, Boeing, ExxonMobil, Conoco, GE, National Instruments, Texas Instruments, Garmin, and many other companies.</p>

<p>Anyway, that is all I can think of right now. If you have more specific questions, don’t hesitate to ask.</p>

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<p>boneh3ad- Thank you so much for your insights and information. It really helps to hear from kids that are there. You hear all sorts of “stories” and to hear it from a student’s perspective always helps. I know that everyone’s experience is different but…glad you to yours is good! Thank you for taking the time to share … it does make a difference.</p>

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<p>I got in Priority, and my high school also does not have rank and classes (except for PE) are either honors or AP. </p>

<p>Probably half of my senior class gets in, and many kids have gotten into Engineering with stats worse than your son’s.</p>

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<p>boneh3ad- I just got my acceptance to the honors engineering program, but haven’t decided if I’ll attend UIUC yet (out of state, need money, etc). The advantages the letter outlined didn’t seem all that attractive, other than priority in signing up for classes, and access to certain library features, but are there other advantages? Will it give you a leg up on other engineers to have the honor program on your resume? Just wondering if it’s anything significant or just a nice accolade. </p>

<p>Also, how available is aid at UIUC? If I was admitted to the honors engineering program, is there any sort of probability I’ll receive some merit aid? My efc has precluded me from any need-based aid at other schools I’ve heard back from, so I’m really more concerned about merit aid. Thanks for the earlier insights!</p>

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<p>“The advantages the letter outlined didn’t seem all that attractive, other than priority in signing up for classes, and access to certain library features, but are there other advantages?”</p>

<p>Are you referring to the James Scholar Honors program? If so, then yes, its pretty useless.</p>

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<p>Yeah I think he was referring to the James Scholar Program.</p>

<p>It is fairly useless, especially later on, but it is something that you can put on your Resume/CV and certainly doesn’t hurt you if you are looking for a job or grad school later. The real benefit is signing up early, which is a big deal when you are a freshman or sophomore. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but if you want any shot at getting all the classes at the times you want every semester, you need to have that honors tag. I did it for the first 4 semesters before my GPA fell barely below that requisite GPA for some really dumb reasons, yet I have still had 2 internships and have been accepted for grad school, so it is not really a big deal, but it was definitely nice to get into all the classes I wanted early on.</p>

<p>As for aid, I am afraid you are SOL in that department. Illinois is notorious for not having much to give on a merit basis. There are 30,000 undergrads, so to help a lot of them would mean they need a lot of money, and they just don’t have a ton right now (nor do any schools for that matter). Of course in your last year or two you could always try to be a TA for some of the lower classes and get tuition reimbursed. My girlfriend is a TA for CHEM 102 as a senior and doesn’t have to pay tuition anymore, so that is quite a deal, but it doesn’t help you out with earlier on.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I figured there wouldn’t be that much aid. My top out of state options (Michigan, Berkeley, Illinois) are all state schools, so unfortunately, the aid will be very hard to come by. We’ll see if I decide to go out of state afterall. </p>

<p>That’s good information regarding the TA situation; since I’m going to be in a bind for money, I think I’ll shoot some emails off to the schools I’m looking at and see if the same opportunity exists elsewhere. I think Michigan uses all grad students, so that’d be out for undergrad if that is true, something I hadn’t thought about as a way to finance my education. I wonder how competitive these positions are?</p>

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<p>What are your instate school options that will compare academically with Illinois, Berkeley and Michigan? I know OOS tuition is high but those are some pretty good options…don’t settle. Hopefully you can find a way.</p>

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<p>Only in-state option is the University of Washington, which admittedly, is a good school, but doesn’t really compare to the caliber of engineering available at Michigan, Illinois, and Berkeley (still waiting/hoping to get into Berkeley). Unfortunately, it’s strongest in CSE (due to proximity to Microsoft), which I’m not interested in, and is around 20-25 overall in engineering. Not bad for an in-state option, but can’t really compete with UM, UIUC, UCB either. Currently looking for scholarships, weighing pros and cons/etc.</p>

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<p>I think that is pretty arguable that it is the strongest in Computer Science. You would find a lot of people that would argue that Illinois is the best of those 4 in Computer Science, not Washington. Regardless of the proximity to Microsoft, on an average year, Microsoft hires more UIUC grads than any other university.</p>

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<p>I meant that out of UW’s engineering programs, its strength is CSE, which is unfortunate for me because I’m not interested in it. Wasn’t trying to compare to the other schools’ CSE programs because that’s largely irrelevant to me.</p>

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<p>I see if you don’t check in for a few days, lots can happen around here. thanks for all the feedback! boneh3ad, thank you for the detailed response and useful info! really appreciate it. it seems my son wants EE or (less likely) civil. can you also weigh in on whether it matters that UIUC is 90% instate students? do people from other states feel out of place?</p>

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<p>Heck, I am from in state and I sometimes feel out of place since I am from downstate.</p>

<p>There is somewhat of an “elitest” kind of aura to some of the suburb kids, but that is a very small minority of the population. On the whole, I think it is very easy to not feel out of place with most of the people here. I have friends from all over the country. One of my roommates is from New Jersey, the other from Massachusetts. I have multiple friends from California too, and they all seem to enjoy it here. I haven’t heard of too many instances of people feeling out of place, and probably most of those are from the people that are in-state students anyway.</p>

<p>On top of that, the engineering department is, on the whole, more diverse than the rest of the college. If your son decides to go to EE, then unless he is Indian or East Asian, he will probably be the minority there (nor really sure the numbers, but the number of Asians is pretty close to the number of caucasians based on my observation). Civil, on the other hand, is less diverse, but still more than most of the rest of the university.</p>

<p>As with what everyone on here will say, try to get your son to visit here before deciding if you can.</p>

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<p>boneh3ad, thank you for the info on the social scene, and glad to hear the engineering program is more diverse. we plan to see UIUC. it is on the short list. we are not asian but many of my son’s close friends are, so I think it all sounds good for him.</p>

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<p>My son is OOS and studying Engineering Physics. He hasn’t expressed any discomfort with the large percentage of in-state students.</p>

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<p>How does he like the engineering physics program? I’m still undecided regarding what sort of engineering I want to do, and am somewhat intrigued by this major, just not sure what sort of job outlook/etc it has. Is he enjoying this major, does he feel it is going to restrict him in the future? </p>

<p>Thanks.</p>