<p>uiuc has one of the best engineering progs and also top 10 business , the liberal arts ar also decent</p>
<p>For whatever it's worth..UIC is ranked as the #8 Nursing program in the country, far higher than many other respectable institutions such as Emory, Georgetown, UNC-CH, Columbia and Yale. :)</p>
<p>I ought not to participate in this discussion, because it's ridiculous. I'll do some bullet points, okay?</p>
<ol>
<li> In considering graduate studies, there are cogent reasons for choosing UIC over UIUC. Here are mine:<br>
a. UIC is giving me a t.a.ship. Teaching experience at the Master's level in my field trumps the institution's reputation.<br>
b. My department's reputation has been very recently improved by Stanley Fish's. It is regarded as an emerging program. Fish did the same for Duke. He may cite Macchiavelli with sympathy and create contentious political situations in these departments, but I'd find that anywhere. I'd rather be exposed to it in a Master's program and learn to manage that sort of conflict now than be ignorant about the politics and find myself unhappily implicated in a situation when I have more to lose.
c. My supervisor has a better reputation in my intended area of expertise than professors elsewhere.
d. The faculty in my department have a reputation for being more the sort that I want to work with. The connections I make in and through that department will enable me to establish myself in my field.</li>
<li> It's about who you work with more than where you go. It's about putting yourself in an environment that will enable you to develop in your field more than going to This School. And sometimes it's about going to a less-hyped school in order to be the proverbial big fish.<br></li>
<li> If you're a bad-ass academic or professional as I am, that's more important than letting a name carry you. I seek out opportunities, and I'm good enough to be accepted and celebrated in my circles in a saturated market. I have to be bad-ass in English literature, because society doesn't value what I do enough for me to be able to meander at all. As an undergraduate, I presented at graduate and national and international conferences. I got a book deal with Hill-McGraw for an anthology. I earned a 4.0. I know not to trust names. I have to be a name.</li>
<li> The climate on this board is disturbingly elitist and bases advice to probably impressionable students on discourse. Discourse isn't reality, it's majority rules. Getting a job after school isn't about lowest-common-denominator democratic concensus. I just joined today. I might leave.</li>
</ol>
<p>I am a 2001 graduate of UIC so of course I have a problem with this UIC bashing. I'm not going to deny UIUC is a good school...because it is. It's a great school with a great reputation and for me to say otherwise would be silly. But to say that UIC does not compare to UIUC is absolutely absurd. This is what you hear from elitist UIUC students/alumni that have not been exposed to diversity in life. I would've easily been accepted into UIUC had I even wanted to go there. I chose UIC for other reasons.</p>
<p>While UIUC is ranked very highly in the rankings, one must question the USNews rankings since they are often debated and have been shown to be unscientific. Don't believe everything you read! These rankings are extremely biased towards schools with history, tradition, and money. Part of the rankings is based on alumni giving since it displays happiness with the school....bogus (who's more likely to cut a donation check, a Harvard grad, who likely was already set for life before college, or a UIC grad?...think about income here). Another portion of the rankings is based on graduation rate....something that hurts UIC because of its percentage of commuters. Commuting takes more time from their day to spend on school. Plus, UIC is known as being extremely rigorous....many people cannot cut it. One last example is reputation. Now, if I asked you which is better, UIUC or UIC, which would you say? You'd say UIUC, right, because it's a known and reputable school (and because you have other UIUC students telling you so). However, have you taken a class at UIC? How do you know for sure that UIUC is better than UIC? You're going only by name....what person is going to say Harvard is not a good school?...not an academic submitting their ranking votes. UIC is only 3rd tier because it scores low in alumni giving and graduation rates. If you look at the rankings though, UIC's academic reputation ranking is actually the best among the 3rd tier.</p>
<p>I knew multiple people that transferred to UIC from UIUC. They said that UIC classes were way harder than UIUC classes. In fact, UIUC, Northwestern, and other schools were singled out in an article a few years back for inflating grades. UIC's grading toughness has not changed since the 1960s. If I could find a link to the article, I'd post it, but I can't.</p>
<p>UIC is on the rise...big time. It has made big strides in recent years. It is in the top 50 in the country in federal research, and many of its programs and professors are top notch. It has become so strong that UIUC is growing more and more scared of its Chicago sister. Please see the following older article (if you have some time) about how one of the greatest present-day academics single-handedly changed this university.</p>
<p>In this article you will see that UIUC is worried that making UIC strong will dilute the Urbana campus. Unfortunately, it's inevitable. UIC will eventually get its law school, which will be much more popular being in the big city. And UIUC not having a medical school hurts them. They will never get one either.</p>
<p>Need more convincing UIC is on the rise? See this...</p>
<p>In the end, the choice is up to you. They're both great schools but both are much different environments. Some quick facts...</p>
<ul>
<li>UIC does lack school spirit but it's growing.</li>
<li>UIUC is in the middle of a dump called Urbana-Champaign.</li>
<li>If you're into frats/partying, UIUC is the place to go as something like 65% of its students are "Greek" (not exactly sure on the percentage but it's close to that).</li>
<li>UIC recently added a south campus...it's beautiful.</li>
<li>UIUC has much better sports if that means anything, but UIC hoops is fun.</li>
<li>UIUC crime is higher, believe it or not.</li>
</ul>
<p>UIUC's crime - <a href="http://www.admin.uiuc.edu/safety/report/safety/crime_statistics.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.admin.uiuc.edu/safety/report/safety/crime_statistics.htm</a>
UIC 's crime - <a href="http://www.uic.edu/homeindex/safety/stats.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.uic.edu/homeindex/safety/stats.shtml</a></p>
<p>And by the way, where you graduate from is not all that important to employers. I work with people from Big Ten schools, Ivy League schools, and other "reputable" schools. These same people, including UIUC grads, come to me for engineering help, a subject that UIUC ranks very highly in. How is it that I know more about this when UIC's engineering program is inferior? It's all about what you put in. At UIC, you will have to bust your @ss to succeed. If you would rather just have fun, go to UIUC.</p>
<p>Thanks for your time.</p>
<p>Why don't you go to <a href="http://www.uicsucks.org%5B/url%5D">www.uicsucks.org</a> and see what UIC students and alumni have to say about their alma mater.</p>
<p>"Why don't you go to <a href="http://www.uicsucks.org%5B/url%5D">www.uicsucks.org</a> and see what UIC students and alumni have to say about their alma mater."</p>
<p>LMFAO!!</p>
<p>I'm fully aware of uicsucks.org and of students who are bitter....if you think every school doesn't have them, you're ignorant. The only difference is UIC students appear to be proactive in trying to make the problems visible. Have to credit them for that.</p>
<p>I mean, I could start up a site right now....uiucsucks.org and start a thread on how the Urbana campus smells like cow manure....what's the big deal?</p>
<p>Why don't you read the uicsucks site a little more closely. I think you'll notice that half the posts there are for people sticking up for UIC. A large amount of the remaining posts come from people who couldn't cut it at UIC and ultimately transferred. They'd rather be spoonfed. Many other posts at that site include things like "I told Subway not to put olives on my sub....they did....I hate UIC."</p>
<p>i doubt that many people going to columbia or yale are going to majoring in nursing. (this is in reference who said that uic is ranked higher than yale & columbia in nursing).</p>
<p>of course the school you go to ultimately is not determined by the school you go to, but previous posters had only posted that the average performance of students @ uiuc was higher than @uic. and this is true. no one said that because you attend uic, then you are stupid, and that you will fail @ life and not be able to find a job. gppa is a very highly regarded program at uiuc and of course uic has a med school, and is probably better at things bio-related. of course there will still be students who attended uic due to various other reasons (commuter reasons, personal or financial reasons, etc...), but the fact still remains that average SAT/ACT scores and gpa are higher @ uiuc than at uic. in addition other things go into rankings besides "alumni donation", such as grades, test scores, retention rates, the professors own rankings of their school, graduation rate, etc...</p>
<p>this is like saying the average person yale is probably a better student than the average student at arizona state. its true, but does that mean that this is true for every individual? no.</p>
<p>"I would've easily been accepted into UIUC had I even wanted to go there."
No one is saying you are stupid. It is simply the case that perhaps, judging by the ACT stats listed before, that the top 60-70% of UIUC is equivalent to the top 25% at UIC, or that there are more than 2x as many kids at the top 10% of their class at UIUC than at UIC, or simply that the UIUC student on average is more accomplished. Of course, some portion of UIC is more able than some portion of UIUC, as it is when comparing any two schools.</p>
<p>Here's a pertinent quote from UICsucks.org
"Cheaper and the reputation of a better education out of all the grad schools i was considering was what brought me here. I graduated from uiuc and never complained about it becuase i had no reason to. I guess i never really appreciated it there. When i was in highschool i somehow got the impression (probably through reputation) that uic was a good school and about as good as uiuc. Now that i am uic, i see a huge difference between these schools. I do not know why this is, but i think its because the administration and the system. The professors arent as good here, but the big problem is when i try to do anything with the system - registration, records, billing, etc. then everything falls apart even when i try to fix it, the system pushes against me. i miss uiuc."</p>
<p>"UIC is known as being extremely rigorous....many people cannot cut it."</p>
<p>Thay may be partially due to the weaker student body at UIC than at UIUC. When 63% of your class does not have english as their first language, you can bet that they will think their english classes challenging regardless of how it compares to other schools. Asking students about the rigor of their program may produce skewed results, because the PERCIEVED rigor will lessen as the ability of the student body increases. A class may be rigorous to one and a joke to the next.</p>
<p>"UIUC is in the middle of a dump called Urbana-Champaign."</p>
<p>And according to multiple sources (even the ones you quote), UIC is a 'dump' of concrete.</p>
<p>"UIC is only 3rd tier because it scores low in alumni giving and graduation rates."</p>
<p>And peer reviewed scores, and test scores, and class rank, and retention rate, and probably a host of other things.</p>
<p>"If you look at the rankings though, UIC's academic reputation ranking is actually the best among the 3rd tier."
Discredit the rankings, then credit them when they favor your position. Smart.</p>
<p>"How is it that I know more about this when UIC's engineering program is inferior?"
Anecdotal evidence, when it comes to quality of students, is near meaningless. Like every school, the UIUC engineering graduates students who run the gamut of academic caliber.</p>
<p>I do not attend UIUC, though I am considering it (for engineering), but it is number 4 or 5 out of my college choices.
I can't help but argue against fallacious reasoning.</p>
<p>"Here's a pertinent quote from UICsucks.org
"Cheaper and the reputation of a better education out of all the grad schools i was considering was what brought me here. I graduated from uiuc and never complained about it becuase i had no reason to. I guess i never really appreciated it there. When i was in highschool i somehow got the impression (probably through reputation) that uic was a good school and about as good as uiuc. Now that i am uic, i see a huge difference between these schools. I do not know why this is, but i think its because the administration and the system. The professors arent as good here, but the big problem is when i try to do anything with the system - registration, records, billing, etc. then everything falls apart even when i try to fix it, the system pushes against me. i miss uiuc.""</p>
<hr>
<h2>Please don't try and support your point based on a quote from one person at uicsucks.org. We can go on all day quoting people who think UIC's better and quoting people who think UIUC's better. I'm still trying to figure out why registration, billing, and records is the "big problem" with UIC. All you have to do is register and pay your bills....nothing too complicated about that. If that's the big problem with the school, then that's not saying too much. Everyone I ever knew at the school had no problems with this...occasional classes closing during registration, but that's it.</h2>
<p>"UIC is known as being extremely rigorous....many people cannot cut it."</p>
<p>Thay may be partially due to the weaker student body at UIC than at UIUC. When 63% of your class does not have english as their first language, you can bet that they will think their english classes challenging regardless of how it compares to other schools. Asking students about the rigor of their program may produce skewed results, because the PERCIEVED rigor will lessen as the ability of the student body increases. A class may be rigorous to one and a joke to the next."</p>
<hr>
<h2>I can't imagine that the english classes, while tough, are what cause most people to drop out of school or transfer....people at a university usually speak english well enough to perform and graduate, and that's why UIC graduates a very diverse group every semester. It's the overall experience that's rigorous....and the fact that grades are not inflated does not help. UIUC on the other hand has suffered from grade inflation.</h2>
<p>""UIUC is in the middle of a dump called Urbana-Champaign."</p>
<p>And according to multiple sources (even the ones you quote), UIC is a 'dump' of concrete."</p>
<hr>
<p>The campus architecture is extremely unique and is hardly a dump of concrete anymore. Without a doubt, the campus needs some work and it needs to be maintained better, but beautification over the past few years has drastically changed the look of the campus. And now you have the south campus which is simply amazing...here check the virtual tour on the main page...</p>
<p><a href="http://www.universityvil.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.universityvil.com</a></p>
<h2>And, let's not forget, that UIC is in the middle of the greatest city in the world, Chicago....a close second would be Urbana-Champaign, right?</h2>
<p>""UIC is only 3rd tier because it scores low in alumni giving and graduation rates."</p>
<p>And peer reviewed scores, and test scores, and class rank, and retention rate, and probably a host of other things.</p>
<p>"If you look at the rankings though, UIC's academic reputation ranking is actually the best among the 3rd tier."</p>
<p>Discredit the rankings, then credit them when they favor your position. Smart."</p>
<hr>
<p>My point was that UIC would not be in the 3rd tier if it weren't for alumni giving and graduation rates, as it's academic reputation is higher than any other 3rd tier school. So, it's not the "academic crappiness" of UIC that puts us in the 3rd tier....of course most people look at this and say "U of I Urbana is 10x better than UIC. I just looked up their stats on US News and its not even close" (stated by L.U.C.K.Y earlier in this thread). L.U.C.K.Y, did you even know that this stuff was considered, or did you just assume that UIUC is 10x times better academically than UIC? It's the portion of the rankings that I discredited which causes us to be ranked lower. I certainly don't believe that the number of donations made and graduation rates explain how strong a school is. While I strongly disagree with the way the rankings are determined, they are still widely accepted and looked at by society (as you can see). Most people don't care enough to look for things to disagree with...they just look at the rankings and take them for what they are.</p>
<p>Again, I think people don't understand why I'm here....I'm not here to bash UIUC. I'm here to say that UIC is not a school to just throw out the window by people who are chooing between UIUC and UIC. I'm not here to say things like "If you can get into UIUC, don't even bother with UIC." and "No doubt about that, but U of I AT Chambana, gives a BETTER quality of education." There's just no way to justify this. It really depends on the individual. I'm just saying that UIC isn't as bad as some of you think and providing some reasoning.</p>
<p>I put the quote because it was from someone who went to both UIUC and UIC, though I agree that anecdotes are inadmissible as evidence.</p>
<p>(I made a mistake in listing only english classes as a point of difficulty.)Lack of facility in the english language will certainly inhibit your ability to understand and compete in ANY college class. Try asking a russian major to a physics class in russian (assuming his first language is not russian).
Source for grade inflation? </p>
<p>The students make the college. The students at UIC are on the whole not as bright as those at UIUC. What makes any great school, whether it's MIT or UIUC, is the students, and they atmosphere they create.</p>
<h2>"Sources for grade inflation"</h2>
<h2>"Eighty percent of the grades at the University of Illinois are A's and B's"</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.gradeinflation.com/illinois.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.gradeinflation.com/illinois.html</a></p>
<p>Avg GPA 1967 - 2.77 </p>
<h2>Ang GPA 1999 - 3.12 </h2>
<h2>"At the University of Illinois, A's constitute more than 40 percent of all grades and outnumber C's by almost three to one."</h2>
<h2>"Despite this, A's and B's now account for 80 percent of all grades awarded at the University of Illinois, up from 63 percent in 1967."</h2>
<p>"In addition, grade inflation can indirectly become a factor in an institutions graduation rate. Evidence suggests that when college students receive higher grades they are less likely to repeat courses and will graduate more quickly."</p>
<h2>*** Another problem of graduation rates in the US News rankings....where's grade inflation in the rankings. UIC suffers from poor grad rates...partly because it is mostly a commuter school, but also because grades have not inflated in 4 decades (Unfortunatley, I cannot find this article, but I'm still looking).</h2>
<p>The moral....if you want to bust your @ss and earn your grades, UIC is the place. If you want to attend class and get an A or B, attend UIUC.</p>
<p>grade inflation is a characteristic that has been consistent with the majority of schools in the united state s, both public and private. grade inflaton @ private institution is significantly more than they are @ public ones and i don't believe that this could all be attributed towards 'grade inflation'. </p>
<p>admitting bodies have gotten a lot more selective since 1967, and high school preparation for college has sure intensified, probably more so in the areas of math/science and less so in areas like english. i know for sure after my senior year in high school, i was prepared for my 1st year of engineering. students these days have access to more resources, they are able to access them faster, and are introduced to material earlier and faster. although this may not account for the entire grade discrepancy between 1967-1999, accounting for these factors, is the increase in gpa statistically significant?</p>
<p>"The moral....if you want to bust your @ss and earn your grades, UIC is the place. If you want to attend class and get an A or B, attend UIUC."</p>
<p>what does this statement mean? do i want to expend more effort than is needed to attain an A or B? does this mean that english & humanities majors or LAS type majors which are close to worthless to begin with and comprise a large percentage of what people study are made needlessly hard @ uic? or does this mean that engineering students are walking out of uiuc with near perfect gpa's without really studying. because i can assure you that the latter does not occur.</p>
<p>I want to go to medical school and I don't know whether I should go to UIC or UIUC. Which one will give me a better chance of getting into a medical school? UIC has GPPA which is definetly going to be a deciding factor if accepted. On the other hand, will UIUC give me a better undergrad education from which I can apply to better medical schools?</p>
<p>if you get into gppa, do that. if not its not going to matter. otherwise i would pick uiuc, since its the main branch university. its not really going to matter to med schools what undergrad school you wnet to as long as you do good on grades and MCATs. i would pick uiuc just because its the main campus and has a better rep</p>
<p>Thanks. I'm hoping to get into GPPA so the decision will be made for me. :)</p>
<p>So I just had an interview with UIC for the GPPA program for physical therapy. I want to go to UIUC because it is a more well known school and a college town, but i feel like if I got into the GPPA at UIC I should go there, but I will not enjoy it as much. What should i do?!!?</p>
<p>First of all, you probably didn't have to resurrect this three year old thread for this post, but oh well. Since you asked, I can only tell you that you have to follow your heart. If you really don't like the feel of UIC it doesn't matter how much you think it has a stronger program or what not since you'll be miserable for four years. Colleges like to make a big deal of their "prestige" over other universities but in the end it really doesn't matter whether you got a degree from one similar school over another--it's all about your motivation and what you do with the degree you receive. A degree is only as valuable as you make it, so don't even worry about the perceived differences in academic rigor and such. You'll get a great education at either school so go to the place that you'll love and enjoy spending time at.</p>
<p>My son attended NYLF-Med this summer at the campus of UIC. I liked the dorm he stayed in. He had his own room, then went out a small hall to enter a bath that he shared with four to eight other boys. There were three or four sinks, a couple of toilets, and a couple of showers. </p>
<p>It was a good transition from being an only child to living in a dorm. His later program, at American in DC, had him in a room with three boys, with a communal bath down the hall. It was great that he had two different dorm experiences.</p>
<p>His one complaint at UIC was the food, but he is very picky and this was his first time away from home. I wish we could have toured the campus, but he really didn't have it on his radar as a possible, so he didn't want to take the time.</p>
<p>As for the rivalry between UIC and UIUC, it really reminds me of LSU and UNO. LSU is the flagship that everyone wants to go to, and UNO is thought of as a step above community college. IE, it's where you go if you couldn't get into LSU or weren't good enough to get TOPS, so this was all you could afford.</p>
<p>However, UNO has some excellent engineering programs. One of the few naval architecture programs in the country. Many of its engineering graduates either work for NASA or Lockheed on the Space Shuttle project.</p>
<p>Many kids go back there for a second degree when their first degree lands them no job prospects. Or they go there to get their premed courses in so they can apply to med school.</p>
<p>It is considered a commuter campus because there is really no central area where there are dorms, campus greens. The campus is huge, and the wind off the lake makes it hard to walk across. </p>
<p>But you are not far from Lake Pontchartrain, and you can sit at the seawall and enjoy the beautiful view. </p>
<p>There are sports there. A great baseball team, and a great basketball team. No football team, which is probably a big reason it's under the radar.</p>
<p>I wonder if UAlabama in Birmingham has a similar reputation. Everyone has heard of Bama and Auburn, but no one hears about UAB.</p>
<p>UIC isnt really a commuter school anymore. And its ranking is not as bad as people think.
It is over all ranked no. 4 in Illinois after UChicago, Northwestern, and UIUC.</p>
<p>It has a higher reputation than NIU, IIT, Loyola or Depaul. And the UIUC engineering career fair is open to both UIUC and UIC students so you can go there to meet top companies like Google, Apple, Goldman Sachs, etc. Although many companies like Motorola, Microsoft, Allstate, and etc recruit heavily on uic campus. </p>
<p>The residences at UIC are much better than UIUC, also the new lecture hall renovations are really nice. Being in the city is another huge plus.
Residence</a> Halls – UIC Campus Housing, A Division of Student Affairs</p>