Hello everyone, I have nailed down my choices to two schools: UIC and Iowa State. I plan on majoring in chemical engineering and I cannot make up my mind between these two schools as they both have really good programs. My parents have really encouraged me to look into UIC since my older brother went there for engineering and that UIC is roughly an hour away from my house. I have been leaning towards Iowa State for a while now but my parents are really not happy with Iowa State being 5 hours away from my house. Tuition and costs are not a problem with either my parents or me for either schools. My only concern though for Iowa State is that I have not visited their campus, so I don’t know how much I will like it. I have seen parts of UIC and it does not seem very appealing to me and appears to be kind of dull. Plus, I would rather not be in a large and crowded city. I am stuck at a crossroad choosing between these two schools and any thoughts and feedback is appreciated!
If you want a school with lots of spirit that should be in the big ten (commentary) with really good sports and sold out crowds that travel really well and with a great engineering program that kids get offers from. Plus one or the largest engineering fairs out there… Then go Iowa State. Everyone that I know that went there absolutely loves the school /atmosphere and got great jobs afterwards. It’s like a regular school. UIC will give you an education but you will miss the other parts of college. Talk to your brother about his experience also of course. Let your parents know “tons” of kids from Chicagoland go to Iowa State
It depends. If you prefer to commute, and/or prefer to have access to a big city, UIC is the better choice. However, if you want a “classic college experience”, as @Knowsstuff writes, Iowa State is the much better choice. He’s also correct in that Iowa State and U of Iowa are both big favorites among Chicagoland residents. A good number of kids from my daughter’s HS attend these colleges.
Another few things to consider. If it’s relevant, UIC has very good support system for minority students. Their engineering school is also going through rapid growth. However, they are also struggling to hire fast enough to keep up with the increases in enrollment, so they may have issues of class size and class registration.
Thanks, MWolf and Knowstuff! I definitely think that it would be cool to have a classic college experience, which is another reason I am leaning towards Iowa State, but it is not absolutely necessary. My brother says from his experience at UIC, students are out doing things around the city rather than on campus.
Please read what you wrote, OP
You basically said you don’t want the life style that UIC has to offer
Trying to give you the positives of ISU
I have always said it’s a diamond in the rough. Very underrated school. If it was located in like Ann Arbor everyone would be going there… People I know are getting offers in Junior year and or have 2-3 offers in senior year for engineering. That to me says something. As far as UIC, they are making great strides indeed https://engineering.uic.edu/about/facilities/eib/
Their second phase is starting soon also. If they get the industry partners they claim it could be a game changer for UIC. Think this building houses chemical engineering also.
I agree with the points made in the above posts. Iowa State has a great engineering program, and nice campus. Have you done the virtual tour? https://www.youvisit.com/tour/iastate
When I read the OP, it sounds like you have really answered your own question by saying ‘I would rather not be in a large and crowded city’. If that is important to you, then Iowa State is the obvious choice.
I know I said I would much rather not be in the city, but I feel like my parents are really pushing me to accept UIC instead because of convenience-It’s cheap, close to home, etc. I think my parents worry, especially my mom, if I went to Iowa State and something happened being 5 hours away from home. Plus my parents won’t let me have a car to take off to college, so I would probably rarely visit home if I went to Iowa State. Plus, I feel like my parents are really uninvoled in trying to help guide me through this college process. Heck, my parents didn’t even bother to fill out the FAFSA thinking that it’s a waste of time and that they won’t recieve any aid. Although, my parents do have the money to help pay for my tuition at both schools, they still complain about paying for expensive things and are often times somewhat frugal.
Did they run the efc calculator? Many people think they don’t qualify and they are shocked that they can get some funds.
So maybe sit down with them and show them a virtual tour and you tube things you find. It is far compared to UIC. Check out flights and see the costs. Many kids don’t have cars on campus BTW. Check out Facebook for the school.
But if they are saying a definite no then not sure why the discussion?
I don’t think m parents did an efc calculation, but from what my mom says, she talked to their financial counselor which she said discouraged her from applying for the FAFSA. Definitely going to plan on sitting down and talking through this with my parents this week.
we know some kids at ISU who love it - software engineering & mech engineering & urban planning. We’ve toured the campus. It’s pretty; green in season, big, and it has spirit.
ISU does not have a ton of diversity; it’s trying, but it caters to kids in Iowa, and there’s not a ton of diversity in small town Iowa. * so if that’s important, there it is. I know nothing about UIC; sorry! but ISU is pretty hopping.
Well I tried to talk some things out with my parents this past week, but every time I try to talk to them about my options, we never get anywhere closer in making a decision. They just tried to change the subject every time I tried to sit down and talk things out with them! I am just wondering if I should just go ahead and figure out these issues myself and just accept with going to Iowa State and telling my parents later? Really frustrated with the level of my parent’s involvement but I guess I need to start making some decisions of my own for once.
Who’s paying for college? Tell them you decided to accept ISU offer and want to go over housing options with them. See what their reaction is. Is the a relative that can help you? You don’t want to accept and send a deposit in then lose that deposit.
I don’t know what to do about the issue with talking to your parents or anything about UIC, but I can tell you that we visited Iowa State 3 times in the past 8 months and completely fell in love with the place. The campus is absolutely gorgeous, the history, the traditions, the intense school spirit…it’s all there in massive amounts. I wouldn’t be worried about having not visited, I haven’t talked to many (any actually) that didn’t love that campus. It’s HUGE, but it somehow still has a small school feel. All of the engineering buildings are clustered together and there are dorms right nearby.
DS20 ultimately ended up choosing a different school and I’m still mourning the loss of ISU. Had the cost been closer to the same or finances not mattered so much in our decision it would have been the clear winner. They gave us a great FA package, it’s just that our in-state option one was better.
Finally talked some things over with my mom. She asked what I thought and I told her that I was all in on Iowa State, but two things hold me back from accepting. One is due to a medical condition, Crohn’s disease, in which my treatment consists of getting an infusion once every 7-8 weeks. Of course, this would make things extremely inconvenient if I had to go home every 7-8 weeks, so I emailed somebody at the university to see if I could arrange for treatments there in case I were to attend. The second thing is of course the distance. I know Iowa State says you will never need a car on campus, but how the hell am I going to go home to visit family or if I wanted to visit for a couple of weekends throughout the school year? There is not a direct bus or train from the Chicago area to Ames, and my parents probably would say no to flights as an option. Plus, my parents won’t let me have a car so there is pretty much no options for transportation.
I haven’t talked to my dad, but he has been zero help at all in my college search and decision process.
Well that might change the story and maybe you should of stated this at the start so the people trying to help you have the whole story but…
You won’t live with your parents all your life and will have to go for these treatments at some point on your own. Maybe health services or the local hospital can assist you. Do you need any accommodations do to this for school? If so might need to talk to those people.
As far as coming home tons of Chicago people from that school. Try to get on some Facebook group or the like and question this. My daughter used to bring friends home that couldn’t go back home whether they were located in the United States or not.
Would your parents come to parents weekend or the like or will they use the distance as an excuse?
Really sorry your parents (father) is not more helpful. That is sad.
You have only great choices. Staying instate might just be easiest thing to do.
If you really wanted to go OOS I am sure you can figure it out.
@awoenker20 Jefferson Bus Lines goes direct from Ames to Chicago and over breaks CIT runs an express shuttle from Memorial Union that gets there in 5 hours. Otherwise, there are LOTS of Chicago area students at ISU. There’s a Facebook Iowa State Ride Share page as well.
cshell2, thank you so much! I will look into that!
Do find out the details for the medical stuff. Would you still be on your parents’ health insurance, or would you need to change to student health insurance at ISU? If so, what kind of coverage would that insurance offer for your regular therapy? Would it be covered both in Ames and wherever you spend your winter breaks or summer vacation?
The sad, hard truth is that many parents will dodge the discussion about University A vs. University B because they don’t want to have to start flat out that the only thing that will really work for them is University B. So look your Mom in the eyes and ask her if the reality of your situation is that only UIC can work for your family.
I’d go with Iowa State. It’s better for Engineering right now (I agree UIC is getting better) and it’s the traditional college experience, with a college town, etc. An advantage to being in a college town, v. a big city, is that the college offers lots of things to do for little to no fee. Much cheaper than having to go into Chicago, which costs money. Also, for your parents: Ames is WAY safer than Chicago.
As for Crohn’s, do check with Health Services, but it’s a rather “common uncommon” disease, and with such a large school as Iowa State it’d be very surprising if you were the first student with it. There WILL be physicians there, there’s an on-campus health building/clinic, etc.
Just so you know… you shouldn’t be going home that often even from UIC. Outside of “suitcase schools”, most kids return for breaks only, and parents come for Homecoming, etc. They’ll be happy to visit you! Your mom is probably sad that you’re leaving, but if you truly have enough money for both, try to give your reasons and see if she can be okay with visiting for Parents’ weekend, Homecoming, and your visiting for breaks.
As far as accommodations goes, I do not need any but my mom wants me to have my own personal bathroom no matter where I go. I tell her that I don’t need one since my condition is thankfully under control and in remission.
I have been able to reach out and talk with someone from the university who is willing to help my parents and I to set things up for treatments in case if I were to attend. Also, my doctor said if I were to attend Iowa State, he would recommend a doctor for me to see while I’m there. He also said he is willing to still see me during the summer or during school breaks. Same goes with my current treatment center.
Iowa State just overall seems better to me than UIC. I had an admissions interview at UIC back in February and I was able to walk around the campus and it just seemed depressing. Even some of the faculty/ staff seemed unhappy. Heck, I dressed nicer than the admissions counselor who interviewed me and all I wore was a dress shirt and khakis.