uiuc or santa monica college?

College Search & Selection
21

<p>yeah i trust UIUC has excellent safety measures too. they were nvr part of my concern :smiley: whats smc like anyway..and will i forfeit the 4 yr uni experience if i go to smc?</p>

22

<p>
[QUOTE=cnxf]
lol im female ..what safety reasons??

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>Apologies if this is disturbing to discuss. However, I think it needs to be said.</p>

<p>Sexual assault is a problem at UIUC.</p>

23

<p>Check out the statisctics yourself:</p>

<p>[University</a> of Illinois - Division of Public Safety](<a href=“http://www.dps.uiuc.edu/cleary.htm]University”>http://www.dps.uiuc.edu/cleary.htm)</p>

<p>If you still think UIUC has an unsafe campus then you have an incredibly exaggerated notion of campus safety</p>

24

<p>Bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
go to UIUC.</p>

<p>My female cousin (from California) went there and loved it.</p>

25

<p>Take3, your posts are misleading and offensive. If you have nothing constructive to post, don’t post anything at all. </p>

<p>cnxf, UIUC is not safer or more dangerous than any other university. If one exercises common sense, UIUC is perfectly safe.</p>

26

<p>

IMO, yes. SMC is a commuter campus. UIUC has the college town atmosphere Santa Monica will not have - although Santa Monica does have nicer weather.</p>

27

<p>From what I hear the main problem at UI in not enough sex. The students are pretty conservative in that regard compared with some other Big 10 schools. ;-O</p>

28

<p>OP - Santa Monica college is a commuter school. Lots of kids (mostly CA born) there will be on the “I didn’t get into UCLA, so I’ll go back door through SMC”, and a lot are adults, probably about 30% international.</p>

<p>SMC will not offer the dorms, much of a student union complex, nor the college town atmosphere of Illinois. I don’t even think there are sororities, but you need to check that out. My 9th grade daughter’s high school, in an affluent area of coastal los angeles, graduated 510 kids, and sent 136 kids to SMC last year, with about half wanting to transfer to Berkeley, UCLA, UCSB, UCSD, UCI, etc. from there, after being denied admission through the front door. Of last year’s class, 18 went straight to Berkeley, and 15 straight to UCLA, to give you perspective (and six students matriculated to CHYMPS).</p>

<p>I must have missed where you said you would pay in-state or out of state tuition at SMC. If you do not have any relatives in CA who can claim you as a dependent, then SMC will be expensive
 as I recall in-state tuition is $28 per unit, and out of state (includes International) is about $130 per unit.</p>

<p>So
 If you really feel you want two years at UCLA, then SMC is a very good way to accomplish that. But it won’t be cheap. IF you will be paying out of state tuition/fees, I think you will get a better value by going to Illinois. There is also the very real possibility you will not be able to get mostly As, which is necessary to transfer to UCLA. If you only get As and Bs, then other UCs will take you, but not likely UCLA or Berkeley.</p>

29

<p>

</p>

<p>That’s not the choice. If this kid has half a brain it’s:</p>

<p>UIUC vs UCLA/UCB</p>

<p>You underestimate how easy it is to get into UCB/UCLA from CCC.</p>

<p>Plus if you’re instate you get 4 years of college for free, at a globally recognized institution.</p>

30

<p>18 went straight to Berkeley, and 15 straight to UCLA, to give you perspective (and six students matriculated to CHYMPS).</p>

<p>I must have missed where you said you would pay in-state or out of state tuition at SMC. </p>

<p>what is chymps? and money is not a factor here .</p>

31

<p>I’d pick UIUC if I were you. But here are the pros and cons for SMC:</p>

<p>Santa Monica College:
Pros:

  1. cheaper than UIUC (probably by a lot since you are an international?)
  2. better weather
  3. city life
  4. easy classes (cons?)
  5. decent chance to get into your <em>current</em> dream schools (though do you know why they are your dream schools without actually seeing them in person anyway?)</p>

<p>Cons:

  1. easy classes with stupid assignments (not every single one of course but there are many; my cousin is studying at a CC and I have a coworker teaching at CC in Los Angeles)
  2. classmates have huge range–some are good but many are dumb and unmotivated
  3. many “professors” are not exactly among the brightest like you see in a nationally ranked research university (e.g UIUC).<br>
  4. no research opportunity
  5. UCLA/UCB is no gaurantee
  6. no “full” college experience for 2 years
  7. only 2 years at UCLA/UCB even if you get in; likely fewer lifelong friends from college
  8. SMC has no respect outside of CA; your grades won’t mean as much if you decide to transfer to schools outside of CA</p>

<p>The flip-side of the above are the pros and cons for UIUC.</p>

32

<p>cnxf: CHYMPS is Caltech, Harvard, Yale, MIT, Princeton, Stanford
 in other words the six highest ranked colleges.</p>

33

<p>^oops..I meant “NOT by a lot” for pro #1. By the way, the difference between UCLA and UIUC isn’t really that much. If it were some backdoor to Harvard, I’d probably suck up the crappy two years and pick that backdoor. But this isn’t the case here.</p>

34

<p>At least UIUC doesn’t advertise on the radio
:rolleyes:</p>

<p>Gawd I hate those ads
</p>

<p>ditzy girl voice: “Or my college
USC!”</p>

35

<p>

</p>

<p>I agree, but the chance at Berkeley may make it worth it
;)</p>

36

<p>seems like most people in this forum are for UIUC.i think its the more logical choice too.i was jus worried about the lifestyle..location..fun..job opportunities
</p>

<p>thanks sam lee ,for ur analysis</p>

37

<p>and is 2 yrs at a CC crappy? lol</p>

38

<p>I personally know someone who had a 4.0 at a ccc and got rejected by ucla, i never asked him what his major was though, but theres always the chance that ucla may not happen, even with a 4.0 in cc</p>

<p>just remember that smc doesn’t really coordinate any accomidations beyond classes (so that means housing, food, transportation, etc.), but if you think you can take care of that, id say go to smc</p>

39

<p>wow.. ok.</p>

<p>well, do you know what you want to study? If you’re into any sort of engineering, sciences, accounting, or ANY real major for that matter, U of I is going to have a much more solid and well-regarded program of study academics than SMC or even a vast majority of the UCs including UCLA in some areas. I can assure you, U of I is one of the most respected publics in academia, arguably the best in the nation for accounting, definitely in the top 5 for engineering.</p>

<p>I’m a biomaterials science engineer, not at U of I but at Northwestern, but I’m willing to admit U of I has the edge in engineering in general most top schools. I don’t know where you’re from, but if you mean to take the CC transfer route into one of the UCs, I hope you are a resident because this is a route usually for CA residents and, therefore, may not be as easy as you might think if you’re not a resident, so keep that in mind.</p>

40

<p>my possible majors are chem eng or accounting or economics
ya they’re vastly contrasting lol. so it was logical to go uiuc..and maybe ucla/usc? </p>

<p>bummer ._.</p>