<p>If you are going strictly on the town, Austin is the best of the three and great weather comparatively speaking too. That being said Urbana Champaign is actually pretty cool with lots of coffee shops and it is truly a college town, there is every store you need within a few miles of campus. Personally if money is not an issue, I would opt for UIUC.</p>
<p>Thanks guys</p>
<p>From what i gather frm all above:</p>
<p>UMich>UIUC>UT Austin</p>
<p>
[quote]
UMICH because if you decided to switch to a different engineering all of UMICH's engineerings are in the top 10 of their field..
[/quote]
UIUC's other engineering fields are equally high ranked except for BME. Ditto for UT-Austin.</p>
<p>
[quote]
UIUC's other engineering fields are equally high ranked except for BME. Ditto for UT-Austin.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>UIUC doesn't have BME, but does have BioE, which is only 3 years old.</p>
<p>UCLA, Phd. Ann Arbor is much more interesting than Champaign-Urbana.</p>
<p>I agree with rjkofnovi, Ann Arbor and Austin are both much nicer than Urbana Champaign.</p>
<p>But i have been also advised:</p>
<p>If i happen to go all the way to the PhD, then UIUC should be the 1st choice for ECE program. Comments?</p>
<p>Shivkemka. You want to go to the school that has the overall most prestige. That is U-Mich.</p>
<p>Shivkhemka, I am not sure who is advising you. As far as Engineering goes, all three are roughly the same. There is no difference between them. They will attract similar recruiters in similar numbers and they will be equally regarded by the admissions committee of any top graduate Engineering program. </p>
<p>In short, none of those schools is MIT, Cal or Stanford and all three are top 10 Engineering programs. So we are talking of three schools that are equally regarded FOR ENGINEERING. </p>
<p>However, outside of Engineering, there are a two major differences:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>In non-Engineering/Science circles, Michigan is considered more prestigious than Texas and UIUC. </p></li>
<li><p>Ann Arbor is an awesome, mid-sized college town and Austin is an awesome large college town. Urbana Champaign is not quite as nice as either.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>But for Engineering, there is virtually no difference between the three schools. If people are telling you otherwise, they aren't being factual.</p>
<p>Thanks Alexandre. As of now, i am getting more inclined towards UIUC...lets wait for UMich. </p>
<p>Does anybody know , when is UMich finally going to announce ?</p>
<p>^ I read April 15th is the latest date you'd hear from UMich.</p>
<p>Still undecided.</p>
<p>austin: have family there...so kind of back up support.</p>
<p>UIUC: ranked higher, tougher to get in.</p>
<p>If cost is not an issue and assuming that you get in everywhere; and if I were you, I would go to:
1. UMich (Overall prestige, good location)
2. Austin (Great location, bit of family)
3. UIUC (Really not in the best of places)</p>
<p>Keep in mind that this is undergraduate; all three are great engineering schools.</p>
<p>
[quote]
From what i gather frm all above:
UMich>UIUC>UT Austin
[/quote]
I don't think you've got it. Everyone here is telling you that in terms of academic and engineering reputation, there is little difference between UIUC and UT-Austin.</p>
<p>Personally, I would prefer UT over UIUC as quality of life in Austin is a lot better.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If i happen to go all the way to the PhD, then UIUC should be the 1st choice for ECE program. Comments?
[/quote]
It's too early to think about graduate school ... but as a general rule of thumb, you don't want to go to the same school for undergrad and grad. Besides, if you do well in any one of these schools, you might be thinking MIT for PhD. All three schools prepare you well for graduate studies at the highest level.</p>
<p>What about Purdue. I have got through CMU (Comp engg in CIT), U Mich, UIUC (Comp Science) & Purdue ($ 10k scholarship, ECE dept). Cost is a concern but not at the cost of career (i.e. if going to Purdue & the rest of the 3 mentioned above are atleast $15k more expensive). pl. advice</p>
<p>For all things Computers, you really cannot beat Carnegie Mellon. UIUC and Michigan aren't far behind though and if you are more interested in Electrical Engineering, Michigan and UIUC are at least as good, if not better than, CMU. In terms of overall experience, Michigan is more well-rounded than CMU or UIUC. Purdue, although very good, is not quite as strong. </p>
<p>However, if finances are a concern, $60,000 over 4 years is a heck of a lot of money. It may be worth considering Purdue if the cost difference is hard to reconcile.</p>
<p>In short, given your interests, I would say CMU and Michigan would probably be best, closely followed by UIUC and then, last but certainly not least, Purdue. All 4 are excellent, no matter how you slice it!</p>
<p>waitlisted at UMich, they shall decide by May 15th. So, I guess I`ll be confirming UT or UIUC</p>
<p>Good idea shivkhemka. You'll be on the waitlist with about 10,000 other people. Well that might be an exaggeration, but it sure seems that way after reading the Michigan boards the past few weeks.</p>
<p>Go to Austin. I've visited Urbana-champaign as I applied to UIUC, and there's nothing to do outside of the town, just corn fields and chicago is a couple of hours away. Austin is the live music capital of the world, and with great restaurants and great Texan hospitability how can you go wrong. And if you're worried about the overwhelming Texan culture as many "foreigners" to the state are, know that Austin is one of the most liberal spots in the Southwest. The schools are honestly very equal, you will get great jobs from both. I'm from Dallas and even I would say that UMich is a slight step above UT and UIUC, but UT has a great campus atmosphere and great athletics.</p>
<p>Its not like UIUC will provide terrible college experience. UIUC also does have strong school spirit and great athletics. I really think it boils down to personal preferences. Visit both schools, and go with the school you like. I personally love my experiences at UIUC.</p>