<p>UIUC - Electrical & Computer
Wisconsin - Bio
Washington(seattle),Purdue - General Engineering</p>
<p>My priorities are:
Education > prestige >= job opportunities > student life</p>
<p>any other advice?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>The best engineering school among those by far is UIUC. IBM and Microsoft are well known to pick up some the top grads from U of I more than any other school.
But as a school overall, Wisconsin is about its equal, but Washington and Purdue aren’t bad schools by any means, but I don’t know a whole lot about the two.</p>
<p>The thing about Wisconsin is, is that you don’t get admitted straight to a program, you have to earn it with your first year grades, and that can be off putting to some people. U of I doesn’t do that.</p>
<p>Wisconsin is probably party school number 1, and the sports scene is extremely vibrant at this school. UIUC has good student life, but it isn’t as crazy as UW Madisons.</p>
<p>Have you been accepted into all of those programs? If so, then first you need to decide which program you really want to pursue. If you want to go into bioengineering, then go to Wisconsin. If you aren’t admitted as a freshman at UIUC, there is very little chance of transferring into it, even from another engineering program.</p>
<p>Is cost a factor?</p>
<p>You haven’t included cost in your priority scheme. Are you in-state for any of these? Eligible for any merit awards (Purdue has improved its merit picture in recent years)? If big debt is a factor for any of these, I’d scratch them.</p>
<p>I see that you put student life at the bottom of your list, but four years can get long if you don’t like where you are. These locations vary from one another in significant ways. If you haven’t visited, you should try to do so.</p>
<p>How about undergraduate research ops? Have you asked questions about that, assuming you care?</p>
<p>Cost is not a big factor. I’m an international so they are all OOS anyway.
Research ops… I haven’t thought about that.</p>
<p>My updated version of priorities would be:
Education > prestige >= job opportunities > research > student life > cost</p>
<p>I’m leaning towards UIUC.</p>
<p>There is no such thing as “by far” in this situation. All are excellent. UDub and Wisconsin are urban, Purdue and UIUC are in small towns. That should help narrow it down to two.</p>
<p>^^^Maybe Madison has changed a lot since I lived there (a long time ago) but I wouldn’t really call it ‘urban’. However, it is a lot more urban, and interesting if I may be judgmental, than Champaign/Urbana.</p>
<p>If research ops for undergrads is important, take a look at the websites and see if you can identify someone called ‘undergraduate program director’ for the various majors that interest you. Send some e-mails asking pertinent questions: how soon, how many undergrads participate, are you on your own lining things up or is there a formal UROPS-style program, etc.</p>
<p>I was going to point out that regional reputation can be important for jobs, and that could be a factor depending on where you want to live after graduation, but since you are an international, I guess that is not relevant here.</p>
<p>^ True, but I’d say that the location of UWisc right in the heart of Madison and the fairly large population of the region are more akin to UDub in Seattle than Purdue in West Lafayette.</p>
<p>I can’t discuss the undergrad programs at these schools in a really informative way–my daughter is in a Computer Science PhD track program at Madison-WI, and I know it is top 10 for that, which usually reflects on the undergrad programs too.</p>
<p>I can tell you about quality of life, which I consider quite high there–I visited last October and found it a lot of fun. It isn’t a large city but it is a vibrant one. There are many things to do, from the active music scene to outdoors activities, lots of community events, street fairs, farmer’s markets, pubs. Be warned, football is huge. The Memorial Student Union on the lake is awesome. State Street between the University and the Capitol building is a huge pedestrial mall full of hangouts for undergrads. Food is good, they have all the Wisconsin comfort foods and meat eating favorites, but also a good amount of vegetarian places, a Laotian population running restaurants, gourmet food trucks and great cheese and coffee shops. She gets around by bicycle in good weather and a there is a good bus system for otherwise. Hasn’t complained about the weather. She is in a Brazilian drumming and percussion band that is headlining Carnivale at the Majestic Theater in town this very night.</p>
<p>UIUC is very highly regarded for Engineering as said, but I hear that it doesn’t have the wonderful college town quality of life as Wisconsin or Michigan does. I have been to Seattle and didn’t get around the U-Dub too much but Seattle is <em>great</em>. More cosmopolitan than the midwest. Killer good food, some of the best in the nation.</p>
<p>All these research instutions should have opportunities for undergraduate research. But some schools concentrate research on grad students. Find out how many undergrads get involved. Look on each website to start, then ask current students when you can via CC here or contacting students when you get that opportunity. </p>
<p>It’s clear that one of the main reasons my daughter got into a PhD track program out of undergrad was the extensive amount of research she did while at Brown University as an undergraduate. Since the grad school is small, but they are still a research university, undergrads are extensively involved in research. To join research, it is almost as easy as knocking on the Professor’s door. Also they give university funded grants for summer work as well as semester work and she was awarded such grant for 2 summers.</p>
<p>So look at each school and find out the extent undergrads join research, or if grad students get to hog it all.</p>
<p>I think it’s probably better to major in a specific engineering discipline if you are going for a job straight out of a BS degree. The general engineering degree would be fine if you were going on for your masters.</p>
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<p>Try again. The total population of Dane County WI, which includes Madison, is less than 500,000 people. Madison has less than 210,000. A small city but hardly Seattle.</p>
<p>
I didn’t say that Madison is the same as Seattle. My argument is that Madison and Seattle will be better fits for someone who likes urban settings while West Lafayette and U-C will be better fits for someone who prefers small town or rural settings. And how one perceives a city isn’t entirely dictated by population - other factors affect whether it has an urban feel.</p>
<p>Just my 2 cents.</p>