<p>Visiting both schools, asking friends and family members, and looking up additional information, I still can't make up my mind. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>UMICH:
-Great networking from all fields (Business, engineering, med, law)
-Ranked 1 or 2 spots below UIUC in both majors.
-No one has made any absolute statements about the guarantee of a job.
-More promising college experience.
-Generally surrounded by smarter people.
-Students have a lot of school pride.
-More lively.
-I generally liked this school more.
-$50,000</p>
<p>UIUC:
-Great Engineering networking
-Higher rank
-100% job guarantee
-Engineers seem to keep to themselves
-The campus did not seem as lively
-Don't really feel the school pride.
-I thought this school was okay.
-James Scholar Program
-$40,000</p>
<p>It seems like I'll be setting myself for a much more promising future going to UIUC. But I generally really like UMICH as a school, and it's not significantly worse than UIUC.
Also, for out of state tuition for both, I'll be paying about $10,000 more for UMICH ($50,000) than UIUC($40,000). For my parents, both are affordable, but saving money is ideal.</p>
<p>Will I be putting myself at a disadvantage by going to UMICH and paying a higher tuition for a school that I generally liked? Whereas UIUC, (which I thought was generally okay) is obviously cheaper and probably looks better on the resume.</p>
<p>Logically, UIUC makes sense, but my inner feelings say UMICH. </p>
<p>I can say for starters that you can’t go wrong with any engineering at either school. That said, I am an alumnus of UIUC, so I can at least mention some of the things you listed about it.</p>
<ul>
<li>Nothing, not even MIT, has a 100% job guarantee. You should have absolutely no problem finding a job, but nothing is guaranteed in life.</li>
</ul>
<p>Also, I wouldn’t say that engineering is the only area with great networking at UIUC. Other than things like med school, UIUC and UMich are very, very similar, and the presence of a med school has no bearing on your life or studies.</p>
<p>The college experience will be quite similar at both. Most people at the two schools don’t like to admit it because they are rivals, but they are very, very similar schools. Ann Arbor is a little bit nicer town, but I really enjoyed Champaign as well.</p>
<p>Back to my original point: you can’t go wrong with either. Go to the school that makes you happiest.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Engineers didn’t keep to themselves at all when I was there several years ago. You just don’t surround yourself with the ones that do keep to themselves and you will be fine. Most of my friends were non-engineers, in fact.</p></li>
<li><p>I have limited experience with UMich, but the campus at UIUC was usually quite lively in my time there. Maybe you just visited at a bad time or else UMich is just that much more lively (I bet it is more lively, but I doubt by much).</p></li>
<li><p>The school pride is there, trust me, but you are correct in assessing that it generally isn’t as overt as UMich.</p></li>
<li><p>The James Scholar program is pretty much worthless other than to get early registration. I didn’t honestly notice a difference in people I knew who had it and those who didn’t, either in how I perceived their intelligence or on the jobs they got.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>You should ask how classes at U of M like EECS 427 and 470 compare to equivalents at UIUC. While on it’s own shouldn’t be the determining factor, but I’ve heard (albeit, from people here) that they are better than their equivalents almost anywhere, that you really learn a tremendous amount, and that employers really respect them.</p>
<p>No one cares about the specific USNWR ranking for an undergraduate engineering program. It. Does. Not. Matter. To. Anyone. Who. Matters.</p>
<p>Especially if you’re quibbling about a spot or two. Both Universities attract top employers. Both are very good in engineering. I go to U of M so I’m biased, but I like it here and have had a good time so far. But UIUC is very good too (outside of the scandals).</p>