Wisconsin is in state for son. The difference is about 20k per year more for UIUC. For Wisc, son is admitted to COE not major. For UIUC, he is in major.
Any opinions to share?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-wisconsin-madison/684351-uw-vs-uiuc.html
Search the forum for “Illinois Engineering” or “UIUC Engineering” and you’ll find people who asked the same thing a few years ago.
Also look at the UIUC forum, since this forum is going to tell you to go to UW.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-illinois-urbana-champaign/
I would visit both to make sure, but the extra 20k per year is probably not worth it even if he ends up liking UIUC more. Both schools are very good for Engineering.
Do you have concerns he won’t be admitted to his specific engineering major at UW-Madison such that you’d pay $80k more?
Do not worry unless his desired program is one of the few that is limited in numbers (due to limits in facilities- UW wants students to get the needed classes in a timely fashion), even then if he is a good student he likely could get in.
Thanks. My son is a good student but not a hard working one. He likes Wisconsin and is familiar with it. Only concern is that he will see too many his classmates from his high school. He wants to venture a bit further away from home.
Besides, we received many emails and mails from UIUC about the school, like summer scholar program, research mentor program, etc. Not much from UW.
Although UW and UIUC are both having budget issues, I feel that Illinois’ budget troubles are worse. Plus, UIUC campus can’t compare to Madison. UW in a heartbeat.
UIUC definitely has budget issues worse than Wisconsin. It probably isn’t worth the extra $20k a year. My father is a professor at a university, and they are actually hiring lots of UIUC professors who are worried about the budget. As far as seeing too many high school kids, it shouldn’t matter. Wisconsin and Illinois are such large schools you can choose to see them or not.
Seeing old classmates on campus can be a nonissue. Eons ago I actually has a HS classmate in a small Honors Lit class but we never spoke et al- we were from the suburbs of Madison. The campus is large enough there are plenty of new people to meet and see. Given the huge number of courses, majors, buildings, dorms it is not at all like HS. I did not want to go to UW, I wanted to get away but finances dictated UW. I discovered a whole new world. Likewise son from a different WI city did not associate with hometown people but instead had his own life.
Do not let the fact that many HS classmates will be there influence the decision. Even coming from Dane County is not a reason to avoid UW. Every student has their own experiences- even having a parent who is a UW grad is not a reason to avoid it. Save the money.
We have a similar conundrum. Son accepted to UIUC Civil Eng, #2 in nation right now, our instate flagship, and $66K cheaper over four years than UW-Madison. I’d much rather give the extra funds to my son than give it to UW-Madison, and told him it would be his graduation present. Add to that the employment statistics showing UIUC grads in Civil are offered 20% more in salary than UW-Madison grads, it is hard to choose UW. Also, instate tuition will be frozen for our son at current rates for all four years, even campus housing rates.
One of the respondents in the links above had this to say, as he/she had been accepted to both:
"I’m a Minnesota resident, and I was accepted to both UW-Madison and UIUC.
It was between UW, UIUC, and U of Washington.
I was originally going to go to UIUC, because I had been postponed by Madison and had not yet been accepted into the university of washington.
I visited UIUC while I was still waiting to hear from UW, and I was nothing less than impressed. I was planning on going there. Then, WHILE I was in Champaign-Urbana, I checked my status and found out that I got into Washington. Then I was all excited about that and UIUC didn’t seem so nice anymore.
We never got out to Seattle to visit, and the letter from UW came about a month later saying that I was in. Finances would not have been a problem, but I did choose UW because of the price. And I wish I chose UIUC."
Your student is lucky to have such a desirable school an option at in-state rates, however uncertain the future. My son absolutely loved Madison, so this is a tough decision for him. Are youa ware that there is an accepted student event on April 22? A visit that day might help sway his decision. My son wanted to commit that day.
They are both awesome all-around for Engineering and overall academically. I just can’t see spending $80k more on a campus with probably less overall appeal. (acknowledging, of course, that appeal is in the eye of the beholder; I just think Madison is a special place)
We, the parents, both graduated from UIUC. So UIUC is always on our radar.
This is the UW forum so there’s a UW bias here!
@2muchquan said: Although UW and UIUC are both having budget issues, I feel that Illinois’ budget troubles are worse.
I recently recieved this document about the budget woes in WI.
http://legis.wisconsin.gov/eupdates/asm54/One%20Pagers%20Combined.pdf
Page five is specific to the Madison campus.
Re: Illinois budget issues, UIUC is only marginally affected by the stalled budget process, which is of course a political football in a game played every year. In speaking with a staff member in the budget office, the most serious impact is with students who receive MAP grants, as they have not been paid to the university yet, leavng students on the hook. This may not be applicable to your student.
What is MAP grants?
MAP grants are for low income students.