UIUC vs IWU

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
1

<p>I haven't posted a whole ton to the CC forums - I basically just fill out bunches of college visit reviews cause I applied to way too many schools - so please don't judge me if this is in any way "noob"-y. May 1st is coming up and I'm nervous so I need your help.</p>

<p>I never considered IWU. My mom told me to apply and so I just did, and visited after applying. But then I ended up liking it. Sooo my two finalists are UIUC and IWU. I want a stereotypical college campus feel - checkmark for both, even with IWU being a small version of it. I'm an undeclared major, so that doesn't really help. I really enjoy music but do not plan on making a career out of it - either way, both schools are good at music (I don't know which is easier to get into - if I ever decided to do music, it'd be music ed.). Sciences are cool to me, but are not my strength. I thought it'd be cool to try out engineering - I've heard that CS (one of my main interests in the engineering field) is impossible to transfer into at UIUC. I want to have a social life in college and come out of my bubble; I'm the type who's shy at first, before you get to know me really well, and I tend to need a push to try new things (I'm curious, but never enough to actually follow through without that push). I figured the large school setting of UIUC would be better for me because of that - there's 30,000 undergrads, so how could I not find something to do or someone to hang out with? On the other hand, it could overwhelm me. IWU has 2,000 people. My high school has about 2,000 people in it... I'm not sure if I'd really like to do that again, with feeling like I know everyone to some extent by the time I graduate. IWU is a really good liberal arts college, but I'm under the impression Bloomington-Normal is boring - then again, I also hear that Urbana-Champaign is "a corn field".</p>

<p>IWU:
* Bloomington-Normal = not best college town; State Farm centered
* 2,000 undergrads + 0 grad students
* could feel too small - get to know everyone too fast
* liberal arts college
* good for undeclared majors?
* good music program
* best friend will be attending after 2 years in community college
* cost of attendance: $7,000</p>

<p>UIUC:
* Urbana-Champaign = college town
* Urbana-Champaign = corn field
* 30,000 undergrads + 10,000 grads
* could feel too big - overwhelmed by all the people
* could have lots of opportunity to meet different types of people
* large state school
* hard to transfer into CS
* good music program
* lots of people from my school go here - I'm not friends with any of them (nor do I intend to become friends)
* cost of attendance: $11,000</p>

<p>I can make a pros and cons list but I'm having trouble deciding between the two. If anyone has any experience with either school, please let me know...</p>

2

<p>I am interested in your post. My daughter is a high school junior this year. I think she will be in your exact position next year at this time. I think these will be her top two schools. You have done a good job summarizing the differences. I hope you get a lot of replies so I can see what other people think :slight_smile: .
My son is a freshman at UIUC. He is having a great experience. Our high school has about 200 students. The population of our town is 2,000. He has had no problem adjusting to the size of UIUC. He joined a couple of smaller groups on campus (a business fraternity, for example). That has allowed him to feel like one in a group of 200 instead of one in a group of 30,000.<br>
I know of a few people who went to our high school and then to IWU. They all had (or are having) good experiences at IWU.<br>
I realize this post doesn’t give you a clear direction. But, I think both schools are very good.
Good Luck.</p>

3

<p>From what I’ve heard, UIUC does a fantastic job of helping kids who are undecided, and helping them choose a major to be on track for graduation. I think the main idea to keep in mind is that you can make a big school smaller, but you can’t make a small school bigger. That’s big ticket advice that many large state schools give out. If you are concerned about the smaller school and getting to know people too quickly, UIUC may be the better choice. You will find a niche, and since you say you are not friends with your current classmates, it is unlikely you will interact with them very much. </p>

<p>In all, it really just depends on what you want. UIUC has all the perks of a big school: Big 10 sports, one of the best study abroad programs in the US, plenty of research opportunities, resources, national reputation, 1000 clubs and organizations, etc. ISU has everything that you’d want in a small school: smaller classes, less people, smaller campus, etc. </p>

<p>If I were you, I would choose UIUC because of all the resources a big school has, and also because you will be in general studies!</p>

4

<p>Both are strong for what they are – large public university, and small private university. You will likely have broader employment options coming out of UIUC but IWU has a good track record for job placement also. Champaign-Urbana and Bloomington-Normal are very similar communities. CU feels a little more like a college town because UIUC has more students than ISU/IWU, whereas B-N revolves around State Farm’s corporate headquarters. Both are surrounded by corn and bean fields, as is Iowa, Purdue, Indiana, and most other schools in the midwest that aren’t in a major metropolitan area.</p>