<p>Hey guys,
So I know this question has been asked before but I got into University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Georgia Tech and Purdue University. Still waiting to hear from Univ of Michigan at Ann Arbor. I am an international student which means I can't visit these campuses before I decide. I know GTech is great but I hear the coursework is crazy and people keep to themselves a lot because of it. It seems the campus is also quite small and located in a busy area. People tell me I should take Georgia Tech because it's the hardest to get into but I am not sure what to do. I don't know anything about the UIUC and Purdue campuses. My major is Comp Sc. Engineering. Which is the best for Comp Science out of these? I need a good academic aspect as well as a really nice, big campus where the people are friendly and not too reserved. Which do you think I should be leaning towards?</p>
<p>Ummm…once you said Computer Science, you need to look into UIUC. Still, you cannot go wrong with any of the schools.</p>
<p>Uiuc is one of the be cs schools in the us.</p>
<p>All three schools are of equal caliber. Go to the school which saves you the most money.</p>
<p>Congratulations. I don’t think that GT is significantly harder to get into than the others and all of the schools are known to have good CS programs.</p>
<p>All of them cost the same. Choose University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the replies guys! I hear the coursework is absolutely crazy at GaTech and maybe it’s because of this that it is better known? I am currently leaning towards GaTech but only concerned about whether I can cope. Heard students are majorly stressed etc.
Cost isn’t a factor for me because they’re around the same.
I was considering UIUC but everyone I ask seems to be more familiar with the name Georgia Tech. Was wondering how much better UIUC is. If it doesn’t make much of a difference I may as well go to the more reputed school, right? Let me know what you guys think.</p>
<p>I am also an international student accepted to UIUC, GaTech, UCLA and Berkeley. I am planning to attend UIUC this fall. It has one of the best Compsci program in US.</p>
<p>GaTech isn’t more reputable. They are equals in namesake basically.</p>
<p>Go to Purdue. The weather in Urbana is horrible :)</p>
<p>Or, go to GT. that way you won’t be depressed during college sports season :)</p>
<p>haha yea I’m finishing up my first year at gatech. it’s not as bad as you think. I read all that stuff about how stressful it is and how much everyone hates it blah blah blah…but it’s not nearly that bad. there are people that keep to themselves but im sure you’ll find that anywhere. it’s pretty bad how much people keep to themselves at emory.
now, I am taking 18 hours this semester and it has been very stressful at times but I’m taking pretty tough classes so it’s been a rough semester. if you choose the right classes, you can take 18 hours and be fine.</p>
<p>don’t believe all that stuff you read on the internet about how bad it is here bro. trust me, you will have a fantastic time if you come here</p>
<p>jspeed12, so you say it isn’t all that bad? Have you had to pull a lot of all-nighters and stuff? Also if you get stuck somewhere who do you approach for help- professors? Or seniors? Just hoping I’m not left too much on my own there y’know? (At GaTech cuz that’s what I’m considering now)</p>
<p>No, not that bad at all. I haven’t pulled an all nighter yet but I have found myself up until 4 occasionally doing work. But those have only been times when I procrastinated doing stuff REALLY badly. like I had a chem lab, a spanish project to do, and something else and I was up for a while working. I procrastinate very very badly so I’m up late a lot doing work.</p>
<p>When I get stuck somewhere I’ve never really approached teachers for help (always been that way. middle school, high school. the teacher is almost always the last person I go to which is obviously very bad). The have a TOOOON of free tutoring services on campus that I go to sometimes. like so many it’s crazy. and sometimes I’ll ask my friends and stuff. A lot of the upperclassmen don’t remember the stuff I’m doing since I’m only a freshman.</p>
<p>Yea that was another thing I read online too. That all the professors don’t care about the students, nobody helps each other with work, etc. Literally ignore all of that stuff. MOST professors are more than helpful during their office hours (except my physics professor. he’s awful), you’ve got so so so many tutoring services, and friends that can help you. Sometimes if I’m working on a chem lab and I see someone near me with a chem labbook open, I’ll go over and ask how they did one part and stuff like that. I’ve met quite a few people like that.</p>
<p>Oh and in your original post you said the campus is small…lol. It’s pretty big bro</p>
<p>jspeed12, thank you! That actually helped me a lot! I guess all I needed was reassurance that there’d be help available if I need it. Sounds like it’s pretty manageable over there!
(Also in response to your last point-- oh I meant it’s small compared to UIUC and Purdue
Also, bro, I’m a girl xD )</p>
<p>I’m a current 4th year at GT, and I’ve taken a dozen or so classes with CS and they are <em>very</em> supportive. The College of Computing (CoC) very much puts an effort into making sure that its undergrads all are able to get involved, and there’s a bunch of different rooms where people just congregate at all hours and hang out whenever people have free time 
</p>
<p>As far as the professors go, the CS department is one of the best at Tech for professors being very available - every professor I’ve had has known my name and what I’m interested in, and there’s definitely been job opportunities / research opportunities offered by professors that I’ve had. A lot of them even require folks to drop by office hours at least once or twice a semester so that they can meet everyone and make sure that everyone knows where to find them if they need help!</p>
<p>Feel free to message if you have any other questions :)</p>
<p>turbo93, stolen directly from Georgia Tech website</p>
<p>"Our NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics program is one of the oldest and most renowned in the country, and Tech students are passionate cheerleaders for their beloved Yellow Jackets. "</p>
<p>lol</p>
<p>That’s like Northwestern athletics :)</p>
<p>Well, as you cannot visit the campus I can give you some input into Purdue and Univ of Michigan.</p>
<p>Purdue is a nice tight space, the heart of the school is engineering. All of the engineering buildings are in the center mall where the bell tower is located. The engineering students are in engineering student dorms. </p>
<p>Purdue does have an engineering honors program (about 200 kids), and a regular program. They may be more liberal in how many kids they take (some say less selective) however the kids do weed themselves out, which says much more than allowing someone to select a student based on a piece of paper. Sometimes those that perform so-so really come into their own in college, while other over achievers hit their wall.</p>
<p>Purdue also puts kids in team groups of 4. This group goes to every class together, studies together, and does projects / lab work together. </p>
<p>University of Michigan is in my backyard. It is a huge school, spread out among most of Ann Arbor. North Campus is the official new engineering campus however, most kids will not go to North Campus much until their Junior Year. All basic classes such as math, english, etc are strung out over the campus and the kids often do not see the same kid from one class to another, nor from one semester to another. It can be very lonely, cold and impersonal until you reach your core classes where you will pair up with other engineering students.</p>
<p>Key to my engineering education was being in a smaller tighter school; where everybody knows your name so to speak. It was easy to find study buddies, and while each kid (student body 400 freshman) were in smaller classes often you did not see the same kid for a while, you did cross paths enough to feel comfortable. Learning how to learn, learning how to study, learning how to let off some stress were critical. I probably would have dropped out of engineering if I knew few kids in the first few years, and was thrown in classes full of non engineers (math, physics I, etc) that I did not know.</p>
<p>When one evaluates an engineering school, look for more than “where the school ranks”. Prestige is wonderful however, your overall success is based more so on you as a person, and how you will fit into the school. Not to say go to a much lesser school, however many split hairs over the “Top 10”.</p>
<p>More so, I have found over my career that personality and your own thoughts and ideas are what moves you forward, not so much where you acquired your engineering degree. I know many that graduated from schools that are barely on the map for engineering, that are very wealthy and successful based on what they did with their education, not where they acquired their degree.</p>
<p>Find a small tight nit community to study engineering. It can be very dry material, that does not require much interaction between students until you get beyond the basic core classes. Calc I is Calc I as is Physics, Chem and your other basics. Boring. When you move into your advanced work, then teamwork is most important.</p>
<p>It would make sense for any student to look at how they learn best, finances, and what
“Top 10” or even “Top 50” school they are going to be most successful at. </p>
<p>Students drop out of engineering (huge drop out rate) as they just are not in tune with engineering in the first 2 years, lonely and not feeling a part of a group.</p>
<p>Also to state as has been stated; class size, who teaches the classes (Professors or teaching assistants), and availability and access to your professors is very important. Back in my days (1982 - 1987), I can say most of our Professors gave out their phone numbers, walked the halls before exams, made themselves available at any time of day they were not in class to ensure full access and assistance to students.</p>
<p>Look at these aspects as well, when you look at where to go for engineering.</p>