<p>Hi, Friends: </p>
<p>help me.</p>
<p>I am a out of state and have admit ( freshman )from both GT and UIUC, I hope to learn enginerring undergraduate and buisness while graduate in the future. </p>
<p>my question: which school is better for me?</p>
<p>thank you very much !!!!!</p>
<p>Typically UIUC is by far the better choice, though do you have any special preferences… in some situations like being unable to handle cold weather GT becomes a preference.</p>
<p>^^^are you sure about that? </p>
<p>Georgia Tech is very highly ranked in engineering and business. What type of engineering majors are you considering? </p>
<p>As far as international reputations are concerned, GT is above UIUC. GT has a campus in France and I think they will have one in China. However, if you plan to stay in the midwest, perhaps UIUC will set you up better within that network.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech consistently ranks among the best public universities in the nation. Do some research. However, if your interests also include the liberal arts, then GT would not be a good idea. LA is a university weakness and has been for decades.</p>
<p>I just did a quick review of US News and World Reports’ rankings. While magazine rankings are not to be used as a sole source for guidance, the rankings help to assess overall reputations. </p>
<p>GT ranks higher than UIUC overall, as well as in business. I did not look at the engineering school rankings, but I would be very surprised to see GT ranked lower than UIUC. </p>
<p>This is not to say that UIUC is not a great school. I am simply responding to Coolbrezze’s quick judgement of GT. Saying that UIUC is “by far the better choice” is pretty far off the mark. </p>
<p>You simply have to do some more research. It is always best to visit the schools and talk to the students. I am sure that you will make the choice that is right for you.</p>
<p>etherdome: thank you very much for your help and information first. my son is a international to get admit from both UIUC and Georgia TECH as freshman recently, his target is business, for more learning, he plans to study enginerring on undergraduate and then study business major of graduate.</p>
<pre><code>so, till now, he has no idea for which kind enginering to learn. could you please have more suggetion to us?
</code></pre>
<p>thnaks.</p>
<p>Bullhead, I think that your son should go to both UIUC’s and GT’s websites. He should explore the various schools and majors and read about the research being done at the different universities. He should then sit down with you and discuss possible carreer paths. </p>
<p>The combination of engineering and business is a challenging academic path but one that could lead to a rewarding career. There is no question that technology will drive business opportunities for decades to come. Clearly an undergraduate degree in engineering will give your son a leg up on the competition. </p>
<p>Good luck to you and your son. By the way, out of curiosity, what is your nationality?</p>
<p>My statement is base off my extensive research.</p>
<p>bullhead, don’t listen to etherdome OR Coolbrezze. Neither of them really knows what they are talking about.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech and UIUC are peers in engineering. In fact, if you are so quick to use rankings, then they are actually tied at #4 overall in engineering ([Best</a> Undergraduate Engineering Programs - Best Colleges - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/spec-doct-engineering]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/spec-doct-engineering)). In addition, the two schools frequently use each other as a benchmark for how their engineering programs are doing because they know that they are very comparable schools. The faculty at each school frequently work with each other as well. The engineering departments at both are essentially equal.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech is ranked 7 as an overall public university by US News while UIUC is ranked 9 overall ([Best</a> Colleges - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/national-top-public]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/national-top-public)). I would caution you that with the rankings, that is hardly a meaningful difference, especially given the subjective nature of said rankings.</p>
<p>I cannot get into the US News rankings for business because neither school is top 10 and I did not pay this year to see the rankings, but I can show you the rankings that BusinessWeek does ([Business</a> School Rankings and Profiles: EMBA, Executive Education, MBA, Part-time MBA, Distance MBA](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)) where it shows that UIUC is their #26 overall business program (#1 in Accounting many years) and Georgia Tech is the #50 overall business program. Perhaps etherdome was looking at the University of Illinois - Chicago instead of Urbana/Champaign?</p>
<p>Either way, this is based solely on rankings, which is not a good way to do your decision making. Rankings are inherently subjective and prone to error, so a difference in just a couple ranks doesn’t usually signify much, and some very good schools can sometimes get passed over simply because of the criteria used in each ranking system.</p>
<p>However, I would also challenge etherdome to produce any sort of statistics showing that GT is more internationally renowned than UIUC. That is yet another falsehood being spewed by him/her. Once again, the two schools are VERY comparable in regional, national, and international reputation, especially within the engineering community. A small branch campus in France does not mean that GT is better known internationally, it means they built/bought a campus in France. Schools get good reputations internationally by producing good research and presenting it to the world, which is something that both schools do plenty of. I can guarantee you that a degree from either place will carry roughly equal weight internationally and throughout the US. UIUC will be a little more popular in the Midwest and GT will be a little more popular in the South, but if you wanted a job in, say, California, you can easily get one with either degree. In fact, I know tons of people from my graduating class at UIUC (Mechanical Engineering, Spring 2009) with jobs in California, Texas, New England, the Midwest and all over the place. I also know plenty of Georgia Tech people that I have worked with that have or have had jobs all over and not just in the South. Both schools will give your son great opportunities.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry too much about the business rankings now, as you are primarily concerned with undergrad to start out, and if he wants to get an MBA or something afterward, he doesn’t have to do it at the same school he got his engineering degree from. In fact, most MBA programs like their students to have a couple years of work experience these days.</p>
<p>As for what type of engineering he should pursue, there is no way any of us can answer that right now. If you could give us a little bit more information about his interests, that may help out. I can say that for someone who doesn’t really know what they want to do in engineering, they can usually play it a little safe by starting out in something like Mechanical, Civil, or Electrical. Since those are generally considered the broadest engineering fields, but I bet some of us could give you some better advice if we knew about your son’s interests.</p>
<p>boneh3ad,</p>
<p>You are correct. It is not possible for me to rank international reputations. I have my own personal experiences and they are not sufficient to make such a wide sweeping remark. GT’s reputation, in my travels, has gotten my foot in the door on many occaisions. I can not say that UIUC’s reputation is any less. I am not aware of any way to statistically judge such a thing. I stand corrected. However, Bone3ad, please, that hardly constitutes spewing falsehoods. </p>
<p>With regards to the business school rankings here is the link for US News and WR:</p>
<p>[Rankings</a> - Best Business Schools - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/rankings]Rankings”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/rankings)</p>
<p>I believe that GT is ranked #22 and UIUC is ranked in the early thirties. </p>
<p>As you pointed out, these rankings are highly subjective and prone to swings from year to year. I mention them only to give a slightly more objective view of both schools. Recall that my original posts were responses to Coolbrezz’s statement. </p>
<p>I apologize for any offense that I may have caused. I admit that I was a bit insulted by Coolbrezz’s characterization of UIUC as a clearly superior school to GT. I am not usually swept into a school pride tirade like today, perhaps my back ache is turning making me unnecessarily cranky. </p>
<p>The bulk of my post consisted of advice for bullhead. And, I stand by that advice. His/her son should look carefully at both schools and try to visit. Once again, I am sure that he will make a sound decision.</p>
<p>etherdome：</p>
<p>why do you said “The combination of engineering and business is a challenging academic path” ? it means that this path is more difficuty to realise? I was told GT 's GPA is lower than others. students have to spend more effort than other schools to finish all courses. is it ture?</p>
<p>if possible, could you give us more idea. </p>
<p>by the way, thank all friends above to show me so much information, that is ture all is helpful to decision making for us.</p>
<p>I don’t know whether GT’s grading system is any tougher than other engineering schools. I went to GT twenty five years ago. Subsequently, I was admitted to medical school with a GPA that was lower than most of my peers. The same thing happed to a GT friend of mine. The scuttlebut between students was that most medical schools took into account GT’s tougher grading standards. To be honest, I don’t know if that is true. I suspect that most engineering universities have tough grading standards.</p>
<p>By challening, I meant that any engineering degree has high standards in math and science. The competitive nature of a business degree probably adds a measure of difficulty. I would not worry about this. If your son has the desire, I am sure that he will apply himself and do well. The combination of engineering and business should prepare him for a successful future.</p>
<p>Do your research. Visit the schools. If you can not visit the schools, then contact admissions officers and request information for international students.</p>
<p>boneh3ad:</p>
<p>As you said, the two school are very similar and that is why we dropped into trouble to do choice. which enginerring is best for my son is also mixes us, my son and I don’t know definitly how to choice. my son target is about business in the future, he studies in Cnina in one of best middle schools with GPA above 3.8 , he is so bright in his naturaly, he like more social work and action very much, his study is not very difficuty to realise, but he don’t hope spend his future study only on study, and hope to have more colors in his college life. he will feel unhappy if just only being study.SAT is about 2010, TOFEl is 106. more color, more achievement for him. </p>
<p>Please help us !</p>
<p>Well, UIUC is more diverse as far as the interests of its students go. By that, I mean that there are a lot more people majoring in non-engineering areas, so there is a greater variety of people to meet than at a purely tech school like GT traditionally was. The thing is, in more recent years, GT has tried to close that gap some and build the quality of its other programs to add diversity. It still isn’t quite as varied as UIUC, but it isn’t as homogeneous as it used to be.</p>
<p>Still, the two schools are very similar academically, but very different culturally. I would honestly try and look at the schools’ websites and try and get a picture of their social and cultural lives and decide which looks better to your son and decide based on that. He cannot make a bad choice here as far as academics goes, so he will have to use something like student life to make his choice.</p>
<p>UIUC is in a college town. Champaign/Urbana is an area of roughly 100,000 people with a couple more small towns surrounding it, but beyond that is just miles of cornfields between UIUC and the next town. There is still tons to do around Champaign, and I never had a problem finding things to do when I was there, and I got a more traditional college town experience at UIUC than I would have at GT.</p>
<p>GT is very different, being in the heart of Atlanta, a city with roughly 5,470,000 people in the area. There will be more things to do around the area, but the neighborhood is a bit rougher, and the city is not centered around the college life like Champaign is.</p>
<p>I can’t really tell you which is better, because it is personal preference. I can tell you that I enjoyed my time at UIUC as an engineer and did NOT study constantly. I can also tell you that I very nearly went to GT for graduate school, so I like it too.</p>
<p>Boneh3ad is absolutely correct about GT’s culture. As I mentioned before, GT lacks a significant presence in the liberal arts. While they offer LA majors and have made attempts to develop those programs, I can not recommend it for LA.</p>
<p>boneh3ad / etherdome:</p>
<p>As my son is an international, we know little a about Scholarship and Financial Aid, Could you help to show us which kind scholarshi or Fiancial AId could be applied for us? we hope to get some help to reduce the pressure in money. </p>
<p>Is it impossible to get any financial aid from UIUC or GT? if not, Is there any chance to get scholarship after entering?</p>
<p>Sorry, due to knowing too little about US univerysity. </p>
<p>thank you a lot for both of you and other people who is following this thread. and also thanks to who will following this thread to show us more information.</p>
<p>I can’t speak for the financial aid situation at GT, but UIUC is notoriously tight when it comes to giving out money. The best shot your son has of getting a scholarship is to have very high grades to the point where he gets one of his department’s academic scholarships, which can sometimes be quite huge. I don’t know if international students qualify for need-based financial aid. The school’s financial aid website ([University</a> of Illinois Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.osfa.uiuc.edu/]University”>http://www.osfa.uiuc.edu/)) may have more information if you haven’t checked it yet. Otherwise I can’t help much, as I went to UIUC and paid full tuition.</p>
<p>But internationals can get department scholarships right?</p>
<p>As far as I know…</p>