Hi, I am an international student from Korea. I am leaning towards USC for electrical engineering because I have lived in California before, and have never lived in the midwest. But I know that UIUC is ranked higher than USC for electrical engineering on USnews. I forgot to apply for scholarship for USC so I’m going to be paying the full tuition, and USC is way more expensive than UIUC. My parents are not focused on the cost as much though. What are some pros and cons for both universities?
These are equivalent schools for EE, and for OOS I am not sure that UIUC is much cheaper than USC. Between the two, if the cost were the same I would choose USC as LA is a much better place to live for four years than Urbana Champaign.
Coming from Korea, which is very urban, I think your biggest shock at UIUC would be that it is in the middle of nowhere. USC on the other hand is in Los Angeles, one of the largest cities in the USA. Another factor is that Urbana-Champaign is just not an area with tons of Koreans. Los Angeles, by contrast, has one of the biggest Koreatowns in the USA, with lots of Korean restaurants, grocery stores, bakeries, Karaoke, Korean language churches, etc. Another thing is transportation. Los Angeles has an international airport that can take you and visiting relatives easily back and forth to Korea. UIUC is in the middle of nowhere (yes, I’m repeating myself) and would require some type of transportation from an international airport elsewhere to get there. Then there is the weather and lots of other differences. I just think USC is going to be a much better fit for you, if it really is affordable.