UIUC or UCSB as for electrical engineering?

College Search & Selection
1

My S got into both these programs for electrical engineering. He definitely wants to be in Engineering, with Electrical Engineering as his top choice. He may consider computer engineering as a possibility.

Now the dilemma is as follows:
UCSB would be in-state for us, great weather, great location. For a CA kid, born and lived in So-CA all his life, this would be ideal. But the Engineering school ranking is much lower than UIUC, and school is not that highly recognized as a great engineering school. In addition, there is no business school, so no option for minor in Business.

UIUC would be OOS and really far from home. It is a great school, very highly ranked and well regarded in engineering circles. Additionally, all engineering majors are highly ranked, so even if he was to change majors within engineering, these are highly ranked. Rankings are ever higher for graduate schools, and the business school as well if future minor is to be considered. But location is a concern - long travel travel to get there. Plus, for a CA kid, the cold weather in Illinois may be difficult to get used to.

Cost is not a major concern, we are willing and able to cover the costs in both schools.

Any opinions are greatly appreciated.

2

At the undergraduate level, I don’t think the PhD rankings are all that important. Engineering at UCSB is very highly regarded, though they are more known for chemical engineering and materials engineering (top 3)… all of their engineering programs are solid. Down the road, I don’t think more doors will be opened up career-wise with a UIUC degree versus a UCSB degree.

3

I won’t comment on UIUC since I don’t really know anything other than it’s reputation, but I will say that the engineering students at UCSB have to work really hard, but do it in a collaborative environment. Anyone thinking it will be a cakewalk there is sadly mistaken. Good luck, he has great choices.

4

Thanks for reply. That is the major question we have, does UIUC give him greater benefits in his career compared to UCSB? Neither me nor his dad are engineers, so it is hard for us to know. Are engineers from UIUC regarded higher than UCSB, at least for the initial entry in the job market?

5

Also, the reason for also looking at graduate rankings - we are expecting/hoping that S completes a MS in whichever school he goes to.