<p>I have currently been accepted to all three schools for the following majors.</p>
<p>UIUC: Industrial Engineering
UCLA: Civil Engineering
UT Austin: Civil Engineering</p>
<p>I do not know which school to attend and am having a very hard time deciding. If I go to Austin, my plan is to apply to get into petroleum engineering after the first year.</p>
<p>UIUC has given me half-tuition for all 4 years and I will be eligible for in state tuition at UCLA after the first year but money is not an issue at all and my parents want me to go wherever I want.</p>
<p>I'm really not sure whether I would prefer living on campus all the time (UIUC) or having access to cities like Austin and LA. I love cities but I think it is easier to focus on work if you are far from distracting cities.</p>
<p>Also, I'm after jobs that will pay the highest out of college (big thing for me).</p>
<p>**All three schools are very strong in their engineering but which do you think is best and why? And which college would you attend and why? I want to go to a school where I will excel--I'm a very strong international student at least according to my grades and class selection.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any info you can shine on my situation here.</p>
Are you sure? It’s really difficult to get in-state tuition if your parents live in another state.</p>
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<p>I would go with the cheaper option. It looks like that’s UIUC.</p>
<p>Job opportunities from UIUC will be same as UCLA and UT-Austin (with the exception of petroleum engineering, in which case UT-Austin would be best, but keep in mind, oil markets are fickle and the degree is limiting.)</p>
<p>Thanks for your quick reply UCBChemEGrad. I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>My family will be moving back to our house in CA this summer so according to them, I will be able to meet all 3 requirements. Again, money is not the issue but you have a good point. </p>
<p>UIUC is a top notch school but then again so are the other two. This will be a hard decision but if anything else comes to mind, let me know if you can.</p>
<p>I have a father in the oil business and his opinion is that the demand for petroengineers should carry on til the time I graduate but we’ll see.</p>
<p>Also, if I choose to do petroleum engineering, I plan on getting an MBA down the line so it would be my ticket out of the industry if I find the oil industry unappealing after a while.</p>
<p>Thanks again for your advice, UCBChemEGrad.</p>
<p>^ Fair enough. If you can afford it, go to the campus you like best. For petroleum engineering and college city life, UT-Austin is tough to beat. You may want to check out how hard it is to transfer into the PetE program from civil engineering. With current high oil prices, the competition could be tough to get into the program. Petroleum engineering pays well, but you work in some less than glamorous locations.</p>