UIUC, UVA or VT

If you are from Virginia, then you should choose btw UVA and VT. Your kid will never recoup the $ diff going to Illinois.

UVA, VT, UIUC are not engineering schools. They are universities the confer hundreds of majors. MIT, Caltech, GT, RPI, Colorado Mines are engineering schools that confer 70%+ STEM majors.

UIUC and VT are basically the same school. Both are large rural/agri universities with big engineering departments. They both serve 75% instate students with similar academic profiles. They both have 60%+ admit rates. So if you send your kid to UIUC, they’ll be attending Illinois’ version of VT for twice the cost.

If I were to choose, I’d go with UVA because of the 3 it is the more academically elite school.

Did she get into any sort of special program at VT?

Is she a direct admit or will she need to apply to CS after completing entrance to major requirements?

Is she interested in the specialist tracks at VT (cybersecurity, data science, Human computer interaction) or UIUC (cs+x) or UVA (BA CS track with 4 courses in computer applications as relevant to specific subjects such as psychology, economics, physics
)

Let me know if you need any Purdue info ; ). My D is an active member of the SWE outreach committee and would be happy to talk to your daughter if Purdue makes her cut. Certainly ticks off the boxes you mentioned and IMO, can’t be beat for internships/co-ops.

The OP says her daughter is looking at engineering schools. The BA you mention at UVA is offered by the school of arts and sciences. The BS in Computer Science is offered by SEAS.

VT requires a secondary admission process to engineering majors (including CS). 3.00 college GPA at VT means automatic admission (except for BME). Otherwise, admission is competitive based on college GPA and space available in the major.
https://enge.vt.edu/content/dam/enge_vt_edu/undergraduate/coe_com.pdf

Yes for sure. UIUC in state is about the same as Purdue OOS. So UIUC OOS must be way more expensive than Purdue OOS.

I should add that UIUC charges different amounts depending what school you’re in. Geis and Engineering are 5k more per year than some other programs for in state, so if you’re in DGS then in state UIUC is cheaper than Purdue by about 5k.

My impression is that OP’s daughter is interested in CS, which is mostly in the College of Engineering, rather than interested in Engineering per se. That’s why, when trying to highlight some of the differences between UVA, VTech, and UIUC, (and assuming OP is already aware of the basics of Blacksburg v. Charlottesville for instance,) I pointed out the BACS option, which VTech doesn’t have - although VTech has unique specialized tracks that seem quite interesting, probably more interesting to a CS-inclined student.

VTech would be the best value for a tech-inclined student, UVA is she wants a more well-rounded experience since even the BCCS track not as specialized as VTech’s.
It would also matter how the cost differential for UIUC, GTech, or Purdue is paid for - from college savings or with loans.
In that case, UIUC and GTech are probably the best OOS options for CS, with clear differences in environment (college town in the countryside, literally drive 5mn from Krannert Center and you’re in the middle of cornfields, but it’s about 2 hours from Chicago) and the middle of a trendy, dynamic city.
In all cases, whether there’s a secondary admission process to CS and, if so, what it is (selective: you need to meet grade benchmarks but all who do get in/competitive: you need to meet grade benchmarks and then a fixed number from those is admitted) is another key element in choosing.
It sounds like VTech has a 2-pronged process, either selective or competitive depending on first year GPA, but making a 3.0 in first year engineering cannot be taken for granted even for strong students (it’s harder to get a 3.0 in college than in HS, and far harder in Engineering.)

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Thanks @theloniusmonk, @sevmom and @momofboiler1

@srparent15, good point about talking to regular students, not just women.

@Greymeer, thanks for your perspective.

@Knowsstuff, I agree that there is no point in taking loan burden unless it provides a significant value AND there is a clear path to reach breakeven point in near future.

@MYOS1634, she has been admitted directly to Comp Science at College of Engineering at various universities. At VT though, they call it “general engineering with an interest in computer science.” As @ucbalumnus pointed out, VT will require secondary admission process.

Not to throw a wrench in this, but that is definitely not the case. I’m in Silicon valley and the companies here recruit at UIUC but not as much as at VT. UIUC is internationally known, VT more regional. If silicon valley jobs are a factor as OP may have mentioned then UIUC and Purdue are your best bets. However affordability is usually the biggest factor so I would actually lean to Purdue because of their less OOS pricing, however note that it’s not a direct admit to engineering/cs. ucbalumnus and momofsenior1 would know more on that.

They have a pretty strong social media presence and it might be worth your daughter looking at some of their YouTube videos, or following GT accounts on instagram or facebook. It might give her an idea of what being on the GT campus is like. They also have a virtual walking tour on their website along with other virtual tools (its a tech school after all) which are pretty good.

Except for CS at Purdue it is direct admit as they have their own school and it’s not in Engineering. What a total cluster though! Haha!
I do agree with you about SIlicon. I don’t know anything about VT and still trying to find out about UVA, but UIUC is definitely well known in Silicon for their CS and Engineering programs as well as NYC. My son who lives out there knows plenty of people from UIUC there in great jobs that he knew from home and many he met out there as well or companies he interacted with.

CS at Purdue is outside of the engineering division. Frosh applicants may get direct admission. Those who are admitted to Purdue but not the CS major face another competitive admission process to get into the CS major after enrolling.

But honestly if it’s all about SV, then OP should consider schools in California.
Surely even lesser schools in California feed a higher % of their CS grads into SV companies.

There are two pathways to CS at Purdue. CS in the CoS which is direct admit and ECE in CoE which does have a secondary admission hurdle after the completion of the FYE (first year engineering) program.

Agree. Not surprising about density of some schools in Silicon Valley. Not all roads lead to Silicon Valley. VT has a major Engineering Expo , recruiters from all over. Not surprising that lots of kids end up in the DC area. Post grad survey from 2019-61 percent response- 9 to Amazon to Seattle and DC area, Facebook 3 to California and Seattle ,Google 7 to Seattle, California, Massachusetts, Microsoft 7 to Seattle, Capital One 21 most to DC area, lots of consulting jobs to DC area etc. Nothing surprising and nothing surprising that a Silicon Valley person hasn’t seen tons of VT grads.

OP, I admit, just curious, how did UiUC rise to the top as a Virginia resident?

Having investigated all of these schools for my older daughter (engineering) and re-looking at them for my younger (CS), I would lean to UIUC and Purdue. VT was my older’s second choice for engineering, after Purdue, but it’s not at the same level on our list for CS. For the price, UVa didn’t make the long list of either - maybe in-state cost would change it, but I think VT would still be preferred.

At an equal price tag, I’d say it comes down to personal preference and comfort with the school (which is tough with limited visits/admitted student days). If there’s a $10k cost difference, Purdue would look very attractive.

I assume this is with acceptance directly into CS. Trying to switch to CS at Purdue from a different major is quite difficult - I wouldn’t recommend that as a strategy.

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Being able to shoulder a $10,000 difference per year is a privilege.

@sevmom, the list was based on my daughter’s preferences. It’s not based on financials. We are waiting to hear about financial aid.

Attending college is a privilege.

I’m unclear how this helps OP with the decision being discussed.

It’s not just about SV, first off, the OP mentioned Amazon and Microsoft, in Seattle, but also that cost is a factor, maybe bigger than where graduates go. Maybe CA is too far as well.