Help us decide. My son has been accepted into Umich and UIUC for Comp Sc and we are having a very difficult time in deciding between these two. National ranking shows Umich much higher than UIUC but for comp sc UIUC is rated higher than Umich. Also from all the information that we have received from these two colleges it seems like the average starting salary of UIUC graduates is higher than UMich graduates.
this is the wrong forum. you are on the Bryn Mawr forum.
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IF Cost(UIUC) < Cost(UM):
return UIUC
else:
return UM
they really are the same level, and UM will likely be a better college experience.
(in UM you’d still have to declare CS though, assuming you got into CS at UIUC)
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It’s a fit /feel /affordability decision. They are equal and starting salary will depend on company and locations. Both are getting jobs if your kid makes an effort. UIUC is really tough to change majors and Michigan isn’t. Kids do change majors. Culture of the school is different also. Where does your child see themselves at. I can load you up with why to go to Michigan. My son did and we are from Chicago… But which is more affordable for your family.
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Here’s another reason for Michigan. The Illini ruined my bracket. I had them winning. And they couldn’t even get into the Sweet 16.
Otherwise what knowsstuff said.
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How has your son’s experience been at UMich? We also are from Chicago area and are considering UIUC vs. UMich. Son has been accepted into CS in Grainger and is concerned about size of UMIch CS dept. in terms of class availability and competitiveness in research and internship opportunities. He is also concerned about the size of the UMich campus compared to UIUC. (Umich is more spread out) etc.
I am one of the regulars on the Michigan thread for about 5-6 years so I tend to know the school pretty well. My son’s experience was beyond anything I could imagine. My wife went there also. Michigan’s excellence from when my wife went there till now is the same. For CS UIUC is a national brand like Michigan. No problems getting jobs etc at either. My son started (with a business student) a very active Augmented /mixed reality org on campus. Had Microsoft, Ford etc lecture and present at conferences he put on etc. Many of the students were CS students. Besides working with NASA on a very cool project many of his friends had internships freshman summer at Amazon, Microsoft, etc. One of his board members won the MIT hackathon at MIT. Many taught the programming for the weekly meetings in the group. It is the largest AR lab in the United States and he just started it as a freshman. I could go and on how Alumuni and some from Silicon Valley reached out to him, and one group local to him became mentors with start ups etc.
The biggest difference to me is the culture of the school and majority of the students attending and also the ease of switching at Michigan. I know every student wants CS but what if they don’t like it? What if it’s too hard. UIUC is known for their brutal ways. I know people that graduated recently in CS there.
Plus my son didn’t want to seem to know everyone on campus. Lots of kids from his school go there for engineering. Plus being in Chicago sports leagues many went there. He wanted a break from that also.
All the CS kids at Michigan I met really enjoyed their programs. They all graduated last year with my son and all had expected great outcomes with jobs etc. All were hired very early in the process which of course is nice. All felt well prepared for real world work.
If you want to PM me more then happy to go further into detail.
My kids took the El train to a bus for school. Taking a 10 minute bus from North to central just isn’t a big deal for a city kid. Not one of his friends complained. I have never understood the big deal honestly. My son lived on Central first year then on North for the rest. He never missed out on anything
Anyway if questions ask. You have two really good options and it was the same for my son.
Amtrack to Michigan drops them off right on campus also and it’s packed coming home for holidays… All with college students… Lol
@Knowstuff I would appreciate if you can expound a bit more around “known for their brutal ways.” My S is also considering CS Grainger vs another U, not Michigan. He’s considering NU - CS in McCormick. Thanks.
Well, I have been getting a bit of questions about this and pm with someone else. I am local to Illinois living in Chicago by Wrigley. My son went to the top school and in Illinois in 2017. Like most of his school gets accepted to UIUC. From others families personal experience, stories is where I get that opinion. The Illinois thread might feel different. NU isn’t a picnic either BTW but when the head of engineering says 2/3 students won’t make it through the first year… To me that’s a signal. I also know of students that were very bright that didn’t finish engineering after the first year. Michigan is also very tough so is NU. I wouldn’t call GT a walk in the park either. But I think there is a overall feel that is different there. Michigan to some could be very tough indeed but there is more of a small family feel to it even at a big university. People that have kids there don’t get that same feel at UIUC. But… It’s a top like 5 school in CS
Have your student talking on Facebook to actual students maybe like Junior and seniors. See what they say. I know of one very top high school student that was a “C” student in CS at UIUC. His father wanted him to change out. He now runs a division with like 12 CS engineers underneath him so there’s that…
No doubt CS classes are all very challenging at all those schools you listed above. I am trying to better understand why the students you know may have struggled at UIUC"s CS program? Are you referring to a lack of community among UIUC students? Is there grade deflation? The size of classes in the first couple of years will be large, but I thought upper level CS courses will be smaller. We know students at both UIUC and NU for CS and they both said they love their respective schools and program. We also know students who went to NU and transferred or took a leave of absence for a myriad of reasons. We realize that there is no perfect setting, just want to gather as much information as possible to guide our S as he contemplates on his final choices.
So go with the current students you know. I am not a huge fan of either school. NU as great as it is has an issue with the mental health of the students. They are working on it and you can Google search it yourself. Why this is I don’t know. It might be the quarter system vs the semester system. I have heard this before.
UIUC is great for engineering and better for CS nationally. Talk to students to get a better feel. I am surprised I haven’t had either school rain down on me yet 
…
But I am local to both and it’s what I hear besides some limited exposure to the schools. My son didn’t want to go to either school…