<p>UC Berkeley is #3 in undergrad compsci and UIUC is #4.
There is only a 1 spot difference but whenever I ask the people/teachers at my school about which school to go to, all of them have the same reaction. </p>
<p>First they say: Congrats for getting into UC Berkeley
Then they say: W T F Is UIUC</p>
<p>...I really don't know which school to pick lol...</p>
<p>BTW: for the people who are currently at UIUC, are you happy there? are you guys stressed out 24/7?
I'm asking because there are a lot of people who say that they hate their lives at UCB because of stress/studying every second/competitiveness</p>
<p>They’re both pretty much in the same ranking area and I don’t think it will make much of a difference either way. In situations like these, I just match the pros with the cons. California has way better weather than Illinois and UIllinois is located in a small town-rural area. (Not much to do outside of campus.) Also, Berkeley, to me is more well known. Its also ranked higher as an overall school than UIllinois. Therefore, I’d go with Berkeley. </p>
<p>And if you’re worried about the stress level, Engineering at Ulllinois is extremely stressful as well. I’ve heard horror stories about some of the courses. Anytime you do Engineering at a highly ranked school for Engineering, there’s bound to be a great deal of stress anyway.</p>
<p>Another big thing to consider is cost. UIUC is significantly cheaper and from what I can tell if you decide to live off campus later on - housing is significantly cheaper as well. And for me travel would be a major cost difference as well. I got into UCB for electrical engineering but the cost being so much larger than UIUC and UT had me not consider it even after my parents asked me if I wanted to go visit. My brother attended (and loved) UCB for ChemE so that may have swayed my decision. He did always talk about his classes being impossibly difficult and he had a tough time getting a job after graduation. He was fortunate enough to get a well paid internship and the company decided to hold on to him for nearly a year.</p>
<p>UCB has a strong overall name and is probably significantly more selective but UIUC has a name that is just as strong in its field. Part of the UCB appeal is that it opens you up to more west and east coast jobs - especially silicon valley. Illinois is incredibly strong throughout the Midwest and is still pretty solid on the costs but does not seem to compete with UCB.</p>
<p>@dragoon Remember that those statistics for median salary are skewed by the regions in which graduates from those schools seek jobs.</p>
<p>Most UIUC grads look for jobs in Illinois or in other parts of the Midwest. Similarly, UCB grads tend to find jobs in California. Illinois (and the Midwest in general) has a much lower cost of living than California, and, naturally, that means salaries across the board are lower. $80k in CA might not take you as far as $68k in IL.</p>
<p>those tuition numbers are way off. UC berkeley for out of state is 54,000. and UIUC for instate is 33,922, and idk about out of state. Right now i am in the same situation of choosing between berkeley and U of I for nuclear engineering. And yah berkeley is the better known school and ranked higher, but both schools are phenomenal. If you succeed in college whichever school you go to you will find a job. and the cost is a big factor. Also, I recently visited u of I where ppl there were from california and they said they prefer U of I because the atmosphere there is obviously going to be a little competitive but overall it is much more supporting where the students work together, versus Berkeley where the atmosphere is much more competitive.
But I would say the cost of tuition is the largest factor bc either education is great.</p>
<p>USB is 54k out of state and UIUC is 48K out of state. But xbritx these are cost of attendance rates not tuition rates. dragoon, you may want to recheck your cost, but again if its not an issue then its really a matter of fit.</p>
<p>As an international student, if you want to work in the US the UIUC degree will be - pretty close to - as strong as the UCB degree. But if you are looking to take your education and work in another country, the UCB degree is - from what I have heard much more useful. From relatives in other countries, they are pretty surprised when I had told them I am not really considering UCB even though I have been accepted. They do not really know about UIUC or UT Austin.</p>