Hi, I am a senior debating between these three schools for engineering particularly aerospace but not entirely sure (also interested in mechanical).
I was admitted to Purdue Honors and received the James Scholar Award for the top 10% of DGS at UIUC. I am in state at UIUC with Purdue being $8k more and GA Tech being $14k more. My family is at the middle-class level where we cannot entirely afford four years (especially I have two siblings close behind) but we are above the need-based level determined by the EFC on the FAFSA. Besides cost, I am worried about my AP credits at UIUC PREP as I am not sure which ones to use and not to use for me to achieve the GPA levels to transfer (Ex: I could probably start in Calc 3, but should I in order to achieve a good GPA for transfer to an engineering major?). Also, I am worried about changing engineering discipline which seems very difficult to do at UIUC but much easier at Purdue.
I have visited all three and I really liked GA Tech when I visited and my parents will allow me to go, but they are not in favor of the greater cost. Regarding UIUC and Purdue campus I didn’t find a visit to be of much help as both campuses were very similar.
The social scene also would likely favor UIUC as I know more people going and I would be more comfortable.
Lastly, I wanted to ask about the differences in aid in internships and employment help from all three schools.
Any guidance or insight would be greatly appreciated.
UIUC PREP is not a good idea if you are targeting the more popular majors.
https://dgs.illinois.edu/pre-engineering indicates that to go from PREP to ME, you need to earn a 3.75 overall and technical college GPA to be eligible for a competitive admission review. To go from PREP to AE, you need to earn a 3.50 overall and technical college GPA.
If you are in Purdue First Year Engineering, you can choose any engineering major with a 3.2 technical and overall college GPA. Lower GPAs mean competitive admission to majors.
Were you directly admitted to your major at GT? It does look like GT allows one unrestricted change of major within your first two years’ worth of credits.
I would be concerned about UIUC PREP after reading this from the director of admissions:
“As much as I hate to write this, if a student admitted to PREP only wants to pursue a degree in Bioengineering, Computer Science, or Mechanical Engineering without considering any of our other highly regarded programs, I would strongly encourage that student to enroll at another university”
Aero is only one tier down from those three in terms of difficulty to transfer in.
Purdue allows you to choose a Major after the first year, and 90+% get one of their first two choices. After that, transferring between engineering majors can be difficult. Especially into MechE or Aero. But you do have a full year to make a decision.
GT is a great school, and might be a better choice without financial considerations. But I’m not sure the money gap makes it a better choice than Purdue.
There is an Engineering Pathways CC program in to UIUC engineering. I think you need a pretty high GPA to get the automatic admission (3.5?) But that is a CC GPA.
Thanks for the response @ucbalumnus . Regarding UIUC Prep, I was selected as a James Scholar Award Recipient meaning I am in the top 10% of my DGS class. Does this mean much when applying to transfer into the College of Engineering? Also, of the three most competitive majors I am really only interested in MechE potentially, but my first choice would be Aero as of now but that is subject to change.
I like the exploratory aspect of the Purdue First Year Engineering program because I am not entirely set on an engineering discipline, but from my research with UIUC Prep it seems that there is an exploratory aspect of that program too.
I was admitted directly towards MechE at GA Tech, but as I stated before I am now leaning towards Aero.
As of cost, UIUC will be affordable for my family, Purdue we can make work, and GA Tech would be a big burden but it is possible.
Thanks for the response @PurpleTitan . As of cost, UIUC will be affordable for my family, Purdue we can make work, and GA Tech would be a big burden but it is possible.
I have heard about the CC pathway, but I don’t think that would be a good fit for me. Do you know anything about the UIUC engineering undeclared major? My friend was accepted into the program and from my research it seems like an easier path to a first choice engineering major than the PREP program is.
But since you are in UIUC PREP, your path to ME or AE will be difficult, and you should make backup plans to transfer elsewhere (e.g. NIU, SIU-C, SIU-E, UIC, WIU) if you are not able to get into your desired major.