I am trying to decide between UM and UIUC. Through scholarships, I am paying about the same each year (plus a little help from my parents) so I am trying not to base my decision on cost.
I was admitted into the honors program and as a Mechanical Engineering undergrad at UIUC and just general engineering at Michigan (obv. since all freshman start as undeclared) and I was accepted into the LEAD scholars program. I am not 100% sure what type of engineering I would like to major in, which is why I like the flexibility of Michigan’s program. I am not the smartest female planning on becoming an engineer, I know, but at my small school of about 50 students per class I am valedictorian with a 4.0 UW GPA, a 33 ACT, and took as many AP classes as possible, and am involved in numerous extracurriculars available to me.
What are the similarities and differences between UIUC and UM? I am interested in both schools equally but am focusing on a major in aero/mech engineering. Which has the better program in your opinion? What other personal factors should I consider?
Main difference is that at Michigan, you can declare or change to another engineering major easily (need a 2.0 or higher overall GPA and C or higher grades in technical prerequisites):
https://advising.engin.umich.edu/declaring-or-changing-major/
In contrast, changing engineering majors at UIUC involves competitive admission to the new major:
https://wiki.illinois.edu/wiki/display/ugadvise/Want+to+Change+Your+Major
Both engineering schools are excellent. There is no bad choice. You will likely have a much better college experience in Ann Arbor, rated #2 college town in the US with far more cultural events, music, and better food and athletics. UIUC is relatively isolated in downstate IL while Michigan is 30 min from a large international airport.
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I like the flexibility of Michigan’s program
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reason enough to go for Mich, not to mention the other advantages listed by @TooOld4School.
“I am not the smartest female…”
All evidence to the contrary. I have no doubt you will do well, no matter where you go to college. If cost is not a concern, I think Michigan is a better option. The two universities are roughly equal in Engineering, regardless of your specialization, but Michigan is slightly better overall, and the town of Ann Arbor is nicer than Urbana-Champaign.
It seems you are OOS for both. What kind of scholarships did you receive? How are the renewal requirements? I am actually surprise to see either school offers merit scholarship to a 4.0/33 student. If any of them is a merit scholarship that has a GPA requirement for renewal, you may want to consider how likely you can maintain the scholarship in each school depending on the GPA requirement. ACT 33 is around the admission average at UMich CoE.