Hi! I’m entering freshmen year next fall and I’m deciding between UIUC and UMich for CS.
Both of them are OOS (although UMich is $4k more cheaper per year compared to UIUC.) I’m fairly confident that I’m going to do CS, and UIUC is more specialized and has a “better program” compared to UMich. However, UMich is a better overall school and I hear Ann-Arbor is great (although I have never visited.)
I plan on going to graduate school, whether that’s directly after college or after I take a few years in the industry before going.
Do you guys think UIUC is a better choice than UMich for Undergrad CS? Or should I choose UMich?
Michigan CS is not direct entry, but the GPA (in prerequisite courses) threshold to declare is only 2.0 for CS in CoE and 2.5 for CS in LSA, although others have posted rumors that the GPA threshold may be raised due to capacity limitations.
However, Michigan in general is much easier to change majors at than UIUC, where many majors (including CS and various engineering majors) are completely filled by direct entry admits.
^^^ Honestly, it’s a toss up regardless of rank. Not sure why is deemed better but no question UIUC is known for their CS program but so is Michigan. They are separated by 1 in rank and my sons friend’s in CS… Random kids is Amazon, Google, Ford, etc etc. CS at any of these schools is a home run especially if your active on campus. If Michigan is cheaper then it’s a no brainer to me. Yes, I am biased with my son at Michigan but I am from Illinois and have been on both campuses.
As stated Michigan is much more lenient on changing majors, adding minors and doing things of interest to your major. Illinois seems to be more restrictive.
Look online at the overall campuses. There is a reason Michigan seems to always be a highly ranked campus to be on. It seems there is nothing it lacks.
Get on Facebook groups and such and see if there is something that tips the scale for you. For engineering it came down to these 2 choices also after ruling out other programs.
Again as far as CS they are equal. It’s the other stuff that will make the difference.