UIUC is in state so that is great $ wise, though Notre Dame is just due East. Just over the border. DD loves that ND is smaller and has been to many games, etc. We had a great tour of Wisconsin and loved the locations and town. Which has the strongest engineering program and prospects for graduate school? Obviously ND is more expensive, but fortunately that is not a concern. Want to be practical and DD wants to get a good job/graduate school at the end of this. Torn. My hunch says ND’s emphasis is business and the extra savings would be appreciated.
Has your D taken official tours at each yet? I ask because on paper my D loved ND but after visiting, was totally turned off. She wanted a more hands on, career readiness engineering program, with great internships and co-op opportunities. ND had too many non engineering requirements for her liking as well (theology and philosophy).
If she likes Wisconsin, I would say she’ll like UIUC, and schools like Michigan and Purdue better than ND.
IMO though, UIUC has such a solid engineering program that going out of state is not going to be worth it.
I/she loves a small private school, but the difference in the engineering degrees is probably just too great to rationalize going to other than UIUC. Where you get your engineering degree actually matters. Co ops are great at Wisconsin and UIUC. Forgot to look into that at ND. Will check out their website. Wisco’s co op/ internship website(Handshake) looks great.
My S20 researches Engineering programs in great detail, with an emphasis on scholarship of faculty and size/breadth of the research programs. The kind of research done at a university influences the education of the undergraduates (even if the folks doing the research barely talk to undergraduates). The power house researchers bring a lot of things to a university, many of which trickle down to the quality of the undergrad experience.
With Engineering programs, scale matters. It impacts the level of use of state-of-the-art facilities. Universities with large, continuing multi-institutional research grants have experts in cutting edge research approaches all over the place (faculty, grad students, post-docs). UIUC is one such institution. ND is not at the same scale. While you will get an outstanding theoretical education at ND in engineering, it cannot compare to the buzz of activity at a school like UIUC.
By the way, interesting that your D is focused on grad school right away. Can’t speak with authority but I think engineering students tend to enter the workforce right after undergrad. It is one of the few undergrad degrees which prepares work-ready graduates.
Does UIUC have an honors college or living/learning communities? Those types of programs can make a large school feel much more intimate.
We used to live in Champaign and are familiar with UIUC school of engineering - top-notch! I would definitely say it is great value especially if you are in-state. I believe there is an engineering honors program but no honors housing per se. And there is a Women in Science and Engineering learning community as well.
However it is a large school as is Wisconsin - pros and cons. For engineering at both schools, the applicant is required to apply to a specific major - and switching is possible but not always easy depending on the two majors. Wisconsin also has progression requirements (credit hours and GPA). https://www.engr.wisc.edu/academics/student-services/academic-advising/first-year-undergraduate-students/progression-requirements/
If you look at engineering school rankings, UIUC is in top 10, Wisconsin top 20 and Notre Dame is top 40. Just one data point in the decision process!
All that said our DD (Champaign HS class of 2019) applied to both UIUC and Wisconsin as her safety schools - she would have picked Wisc over UIUC primarily because UIUC was literally down the street from us. In the end she wanted a considerably smaller school far away from home - and ended up at Rice University in Houston. (Fortunately she did not have to consider financials in her decision.) Wash U was a close second for her as well.
I would encourage more exploration of size of school - what does she like? Smaller schools tend to have more undergrad research opportunities if that is of interest.
@cypresspat makes some good points. And yes an engineer with an undergraduate degree is ready for the workplace - many engineers do graduate work while working full-time.
D is definitely going to look at that. She loves the religious aspect of ND and their strong alumni network would be great but from talking to professional engineers and other sources, where you go to engineering school matters. Engineers don’t care about the name but rather, what classes you took, etc. Bigger school have those things. Anyway, yes, D will certainly look into honors as well as clubs that can make a large campus feel more manageable.
My friend has 2 kids at ND now and I know several alum. His son is either in engineering or physics. Don’t remember. They love it but it’s not for everyone. It has quite the network and many research opportunities. That said, I think the engineering program is very good but not top 20. I do remember him saying that they’re spending A LOT of money on upgrades and research for the engineering program. Might be a good time to get in.
Not grad school right away, but has heard it is necessary later. Maybe evening if possible? Once working, thats a lot to ask someone to lose income… and pay tuition. Will look for employer sponsored program or go at night
Rice is wonderful. She thought about it, but quite frankly put off the application. I think she wanted to be within driving distance. I would have liked that for her, but she is set on civil, so UIUC again wins out(#3 in country in that area). Maybe it was meant to be. Money was not an issue, so maybe I will spring for a nice wardrobe as a thank you. 
What engineering specialty was your D interested in?
Or save the $ for grad school! Although you can’t beat an employer sponsored program (that’s how I did grad school many moons ago)!
I misread your comment at first about the Rice application - I thought you said she was put off by the application (which made me think that it can’t be any more time consuming than ND’s… I know the Illinois and Wisconsin ones were somewhat “basic”.)
Regardless of where she ends up but especially at a large school, I would strongly encourage her to get involved with a program for women in engineering. Good luck to your daughter - and let us know where she ends up!
I’m a big fan of all 3 schools. For engineering though I’d be inclined to say UIUC or Wisc. UIUC has a women in enginygroup which someone pointed out and their I ternship/career placement is top notch. Lots of opportunities to work at research park as well.
In terms of housing you should look into the Newman Center- a nice option for Catholic students at a public institution. I say all this as a parent of both UIUC and ND grads ( kids also applied/accepted at Wisc.)
Betty, if the religious aspect of ND is a draw, know that IUIC has a top notch Catholic community and dorm, according to my friend whose son attends there in computer science. (We are OOS so the cost was too high.)
MY DD applied to UIUC as a safety because many of her peers in her electronics classes and robotics club did. She was thrilled to be admitted to her 1st choice major EE. I thought it was going to be too much $$ and not her best option, but they have now offered a merit scholarship which makes it about the same as IST. I came to this thread because we are waiting to hear from Notre Dame and she has very warm fuzzy feelings about Notre Dame, we have never visited either school. So far my impression is that for EE, UIUC looks unbeatable by ANY school if EE career preparation is your top goal. What I think are the cons is that she would miss out on a great Liberal Arts College experience, and can expect next to zero attention from Faculty, I went to Berkeley, rarely ever talked to Faculty, just TAs. But it seems that what we thought was a safety is now her first choice even though we don’t have decisions from her reaches yet.
My DD looking at civil. Visited both and facilities at UIUC are unbeatable. I also like the idea of a liberal arts education though the engineering community marketplace does not necessarily. UIUC is viewed as tops for civil, along w Berkeley actually. Cal is too far. She did not apply there. Very good civil though. I have heard classes get very small even at UIUC junior year and beyond.