UIUC's engineering reputation? Concerns of a senior...

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
21

<p>

</p>

<p>1) That has been mentioned several times here, so I don’t need to go into it too much. Outside of the engineering community, most East Coast-ers are perfectly fine living their lives without even knowing that there is anything west of the Appalachians.</p>

<p>2) The acceptance rate is high because it is a state school. You can look at any highly ranked and respected engineering program at a public school and it is going to have a decently high acceptance rate because they are huge schools and have plenty of room. That doesn’t mean that the education isn’t any good.</p>

<p>3) This has been one of the biggest complaints I have heard from people, including other people I know in the alumni network. My younger brother, who grew up being brainwashed by my dad into liking Illinois, didn’t even go there because this fact was such a turn-off to him (though he wasn’t engineering). I guess they are probably just looking for things to push since it can’t really play up things like its location. I can definitely tell you that despite this tactic, I went there and had an absolutely wonderful experience in my 4 years.</p>

<p>I had friends taking jobs all over the country before they even graduated in the middle of the recession. East Coast, West Coast, South… it didn’t matter, UIUC graduates are highly sought after nation wide.</p>

22

<p>“UIUC has a 92% retention rate”</p>

<p>Isn’t this the retention rate for the uni as a whole? What is the acceptance rate and the retention rate in the college of engineering at UIUC, the subject college of this thread.</p>

<p>bonehead,</p>

<p>“I went there and had an absolutely wonderful experience in my 4 years.”</p>

<p>what was wonderful about it? Sell my HS jr son from IL on UIUC. He is looking into college of LAS , comp sci or physics, and/or POSSIBLY engineering, comp sci. So we wd also like to know how easy it is to go from one collge to another. I see that you made it out of UIUC in 4 yr. Kudoes to you since I saw that its 4 yr retention rate was 64%. In which college were you a student?</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg06_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=982[/url]”>https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg06_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=982&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>again, I’d like to know retention rates for LAS and ENG colleges.</p>

23

<p>G.P.Burdell explained everything completely and thoroughly. Thanks.</p>

24

<p>perry, I guess it was not as completely explained to at least one person, else I would not have been asking the question. I understand the point about the large acceptance rate of a Public U such as UIUC. I was asking about about the acceptance and retention rates of the college of engineering, which is what the OP is entering into.</p>

<p>I tend to be FOR UIUC (I was the guy who posted the youtube clip extolling UIUC having the perception as the an important world center for computer science and engineering); just want to tease out more details.</p>

25

<p>Roderick, I understand what it is that you want, but I don’t think it’s very likely that you’re going to get that information from the CC website. Perhaps a call or an email sent to the respective college offices might help you more, if you can’t find it on the LAS or Engineering websites.</p>

<p>Bonehead is a Mechanical Engineering graduate by the way, who, I think, is currently going for his PhD in Aerospace Engineering.</p>

26

<p>Yes, I will attempt to get this info from the university. Further, I would probably not let the info from the CC web site stand by itself, as I would not let even what the salesmen, I mean the admission people, claim stand by itself. Acquiring knowledge is a little like in “Rashomon”+, where points of view of the same subject is different - and in Socrates++, where one assumes the opposite to get at the real truth.</p>

<p>One of the reasons to put this info out in a public forum such as CC is for others to examine , and possibly consume, it. They might possibly have another spin on the conversation, too.</p>

<p>Since Bonehead attended UIUC for 4 yrs apparently, I wanted to have his spin on UIUC as a parent of someone who might attend - and as one who might be plunking down around $120,000 at least. bonehead is a library of info vs me, I am one without knoweldge of UIUC but seeking that knowledge.</p>

<p>+
<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashomon_effect[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashomon_effect&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>++
<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

27

<p>

</p>

<p>I was in mechanical engineering.</p>

<p>What was wonderful about it was that I got a great education from some renowned professors in my field, had jobs lined up before I even graduated (even in the middle of the recession) and had a lot of fun while doing it. I met a ton of people, including my fiancee while at UIUC. Despite the tough engineering school, I still made it to every home football game except for 1 (had a wedding to go to) and every home basketball game except for about 4 (due to various tests and such). I had all the social life I could want while still getting a world class education. I don’t honestly know how anyone could ask for more out of a college.</p>

<p>There are plenty of people who don’t agree with what I just said, since it is a very large school with a diverse array of people. To me, sometimes the huge Greek system was a bit of a drag on the school. Too much is made of joining frats and sororities. They are great for some people, but not for everyone, and it does get a little obnoxious having so many at times, but as long as you try to keep your head on straight and find yourself the right niche of people to hang out with, be they Greek or independent, then it will be a great experience.</p>

<p>I don’t know how much I can help you with specific colleges outside of engineering, though. I started and finished in engineering.</p>

28

<p>thanks, bonehead. Sounds like UIUC was berry berry good to you. </p>

<p>Were you a member of a frat? I wondered how it is if someone did not join a frat. Would they be , or feel , marginalized? Or are there plenty of people like them at UIUC? </p>

<p>If you are extra studios, will you feel at home at UIUC?</p>

<p>Also, were a superstar with super stats coming in? I am trying to get at: To what extent did UIUC have support services for you in this very difficult program? I have heard a critique that big schools in general, presumably UIUC then, do not excel in hand holding and helping students along, and then allowing attrition to take its course.</p>

<p>Eventually I 'll track down the engineering retention rates as well as the acceptance rates into engineering. I know that the entrance stats req’d to get into engineering currently are pretty high (mid 50 ACTs in the low 30s , I believe).</p>

29

<p>I just saw this stat - unless my FIND key was not working, UIUC was not in the list of colleges with the highest pct in frats.</p>

<p>[Best</a> Colleges - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/most-frats]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/most-frats)</p>

<p>I see why. It is one below the cut off, 22 pct. Still , I had the impression that it was a very greek campus.</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg05_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=982[/url]”>https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg05_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=982&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

30

<p>UIUC has all the support services that you need. The issue with any large school is that you need to be proactive in utilizing the various forms of help that are there. College is the big leagues, and you wouldn’t have gotten into Urbana had you not been qualified. Having said that, you need to be disciplined in a way that you didn’t have to be in high school (not that you didn’t need a certain amount of discipline to do well there). In college, if you want to sleep in and not go to classes, you can do that. No one will hound you to go to class. If you want to blow off the homework and not study, your parents won’t get a note to sign and return to the instructor. However, if you are struggling, there are office hours, study groups, advisors, career services etc. that are there for you to utilize if YOU decide to make use of them.</p>

<p>No one will be marginalized, if they don’t join a frat, and neither will you feel out of place if you study a lot. Trust me when I say that most students there are serious about learning, and therefore you’ll find that the majority of people are “extra studious”.</p>

31

<p>I know the OP posted this in December, but it’s still a good FAQ for a student deciding on which school to attend.</p>

<ol>
<li>Thankfully the people who will count in your future (e.g.: your Employers) will.</li>
<li>UIUC as a whole has a pretty high acceptance rate because, quite frankly, there’s other “lower ranked” majors at UIUC. I am taking a blind shot in the dark here, but maybe the school of Liberal Arts isn’t as highly ranked and has much easier requirements. Engineering at UIUC is very tough to get accepted into, so don’t worry about that.</li>
<li>I would just reiterate what my boy from GT, GP Burdell said. ;)</li>
</ol>

32

<p>“most students there are serious about learning”</p>

<p>I have HEARD tell that there is lots of partying going on at UIUC. True? Just a stereotype? Does it depend on the college (in ENG, for example, are most students “extra studious”? But what about the other 33,000 kids that are there?)?</p>

<p>Now I know where I had the impression about the big greek scene. It was Princeton Review (ranked #13 Major Frat and Sorority Scene in the nation)</p>

<p><a href=“College Search | Find Colleges | The Princeton Review”>College Search | Find Colleges | The Princeton Review;

<p>Probably where I got the impression about less than stellar academic support, PR says UIUC is #4 in “Professors Get Low Marks”. I also have heard this said about big colleges in general - cf, Colleges that change lives, for example. <a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/[/url]”>http://www.ctcl.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>But I appreciate Balth.'s statement of the support that is available. Maybe the people who gave the prof s those low marks were the students who were not that pro active in going out to get the help that is already there?</p>

<p>and, </p>

<p>slightmanifesto said–
“but maybe the school of Liberal Arts isn’t as highly ranked and has much easier requirements”</p>

<p>Recall that UIUC has a comp sci degree in LAS, too. Let’s ask OP’s question for comp sci in LAS. Still reputable and well regarded? as reputable w/ all the positives as comp sci in ENG? I think I read that it has significant overlap of courses. But it does not have as strong as admission req’s and has not been around as long as the ENG pgm.</p>

33

<p>I will add:</p>

<p>[Note: with D1, during the sales pitch times, I recall the psych prof at one of those CTCL colleges say that the support IS there at the big schools (he got his UG degree at UW-Mad, after all), but one has to really get in the face of the profs to get help. That was his experience, at least. He thought that the smaller school were more structurally set up for personal academic assistance w/ smaller class sizes and the like]</p>

34

<p>What about the reputation of the Statistics and Computer Science major which is under the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences? </p>

<p>Is it offered jointly by the Departments of Statistics and Departments of Computer Science?</p>

35

<p>roderick,</p>

<p>I was not in a frat, nor did I feel marginalized. UIUC has the reputation for having a lot of people in frats because it does. That list you provided only has a few “major” schools on it that are above that 22%, the rest are all small schools from really small, random places. You would imagine that at small, isolated schools, the frat scene would be huge because there isn’t much else to do. UIUC does have a large Greek life and a very vocal one. Still, I had no problem making friends without going Greek.</p>

<p>Balthezar summed it up pretty well when he/she said that UIUC is like any other big school in that it has plenty of support services available, you just have to solicit their help instead of them coming to you by default. Personally, I am a little alarmed by your line about “hand holding.” I am adamantly against the concept of hand holding in college. I would think twice about any university that was renowned for holding the hand of all of the students and gently guiding them through their degree, as it likely will not be very good at preparing them for the real world. College is one big learning experience, one of the most important of which is learning that sometimes, you have to be responsible and proactive about things because no one is going to hold your hand.</p>

<p>Yes, a lot of partying goes on at UIUC. That is college. You will not find a college, especially one the size of UIUC, where partying isn’t a major part of college life. Engineers do tend to party less out of necessity (or flunk out of engineering in order to continue their partying ways), but there are still plenty who do their fair share of partying and are successful with it. Again, one of the great learning experiences of college is finally being free of your parents reins, and many, if not most students, experiment with alcohol to at least some degree, since for many of them it was that forbidden fruit that everyone did back home but they weren’t allowed to do. Many people do it, learn their limits, learn that they need to not let it get out of control, and carry on with productive lives. It is only a small percentage who start doing it and just don’t stop. Chances are, when someone goes off to college, unless they try incredibly hard to not drink at all, they will do at least a small amount of drinking. I don’t mean to scare you, but that is one of the most common ways for kids to exercise their new found freedom, and it doesn’t really matter what school you go to, it will happen. Even my friends who went to school at dry campuses drank. In fact, they might have been worse.</p>

<p>My last suggestion would be to stop going off of lists like the CTCL, Princeton Review, or US News. They really only tell the partial story. As you mentioned, a lot of UIUC professors got low marks from students who just weren’t proactive enough to get that help. UIUC had its share of bad professors, but I had some amazing ones as well. Additionally, those reviews pertain to the college as a whole. I doubt the quality of professors in the English Department is going to effect the collegiate experience of someone in engineering or math or chemistry or something like that. Review sites like that should be taken with a grain of salt. They are one small resource out of many.</p>