University of Illinois vs University of Michigan

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello,
I have 2 days left to decide on a college. I have narrowed it down to the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Right now I want to become an electrical engineer. The costs are</p>

<ol>
<li>Illinois 36K per year</li>
<li>Michigan 55K per year</li>
</ol>

<p>Right now, I want to go to Michigan but I don't know if it's worth it to pay that much. To me, Michigan seems more fun, lively, and exciting. The area is really nice college town and the atmosphere just seems great. On the other hand, Illinois seems kind of boring. There really isn't much of a town there. The buildings are all brown and ugly, and the atmosphere just doesn't seem right for me. I'm afraid that I just won't like it enough. Am I completely off target? I am looking for a school with bright, imaginative and fun students that want excitement in their lives. My dream school was MIT because all of the students love what they do, they take school seriously and work hard, they do stupid imaginative hacks, and there is plenty of stuff to do in the surrounding area (it's boston!). I'm got put on the waitlist there, so I have to assume that I am not getting in. I think that I would be really happy at Michigan, but I don't want to leave school with 220K in debt. </p>

<p>Right now, I don't think that I am going to go to grad school. I want to be an engineer in industry and not in a lab (I may change my mind but I'm not sure if grad school is for me). Does anyone have any suggestions about that by the way? Is grad school a good option for electrical engineers? Anyways, Because I don't think I'm going to grad school, I think that I should get the best education now because its the only college I am going to go to. Would going to Michigan give me an advantage over going to Illinois? Will I get a better job, or just have an overall better experience? I want to be inspired wherever I go to college, and I'm not sure if that will happen at Illinois. </p>

<p>Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks for all of the help!</p>

2

<p>I’m a UIUC engineering grad, so I’m biased, but I know plenty of people (relatives, co-workers, kids of friends, etc.) who went to both schools. You can’t go wrong for engineering at either school. </p>

<p>To me it basically comes down to cost and the vibe that you favor. I believe USN&WR ranks EE at Illinois higher than Michigan (#3 vs #7), although that is for grad school, and Michigan is almost always ranked a step ahead of UIUC in general, so these to me are somewhat of a wash. </p>

<p>I loved my time at UIUC and had a blast, and if you would really need to take out $220K in loans to go to Michigan, to me that would be a showstopper especially when you have UIUC EE as an option.</p>

3

<p>Hi Engineer,</p>

<p>Congratulations on coming so far. Having never been to either destinations, and not knowing you personally, I can’t tell you which suits you best. That said, you writ ‘I am looking for a school with bright, imaginative and fun students that want excitement in their lives.’ </p>

<p>Do your research but be bold. These years will shape the rest of your life, if Illinois fails to inspire and Michigan does, go for it. You’re going to earn a bundle of money in years to come anyhow. Right :)</p>

4

<p>UIUC has an excellent engineering program that has an excellent reputation throughout the midwest (and perhaps beyond, I wouldn’t claim to know). Ditto Michigan. But are looking at prettier buildings and living in a sexier town for four years worth $80,000 to you?</p>

5

<p>Illinois is slightly stronger for Electrical Engineering and is $80,000 cheaper so I would suck it up and go to Illinois unless your parents are very wealthy.</p>

6

<p>* I think that I would be really happy at Michigan, but I don’t want to leave school with 220K in debt. *</p>

<p>???</p>

<p>Are you saying that you’re borrowing the full cost whether you go to UIUC or UMich? That’s crazy…either way!</p>

<p>Are you saying that your parents aren’t paying for any of your college costs?</p>

<p>What very naive person is going to be co-signing these huge and unnecessary loans? Will that person qualify and agree to do this for 4 years? Does the person know that he/she will be responsible for the debt if you can’t afford it (which would be likely especially with that huge loan amount).</p>

7

<p>Regardless of which school you go to, you’re going to get out with a massive amount of debt if your parents aren’t paying for some/all of it. Are these your only two options? If they are, I’d say go for UIUC. Be aware, that amount of debt is going to be a huge burden.</p>

8

<p>*Thanks for all of the help. I am still deciding, although now I have expanded my choices due to money. I made another post but I’ll just put it here to. Maybe you could answer a few of my new questions. I am now debating Michigan and Minnesota because the University of Minnesota has given me a full ride? I don’t know what to do. </p>

<p>Here are my top choices right now</p>

<p>University of Minnesota-Full Ride
University of Michigan- 55K per year
University of Illinois - 36K per year
Cornell - 59K per year</p>

<p>I want to become an electrical engineer.
My top choice as of now is University of Michigan Ann Arbor but I would come out of school with $220,000 in debt!
My second choice would probably be Illionois, but that would still leave me with $144,000 in debt.
My parents, and anyone else I have asked, have said to go to the University of Minnesota because I have a full ride, but I really don’t want to go there. I know its a good school, but it’s 20 min from my house, I have already been down there a hundred times for science Olympiad and research, and everyone from my high school is going there. I want college to be a new experience where I get to go far away from home and meet new people and get to live in a new place. I wanted to go to MIT(on the waitlist…so maybe?) because I love the atmosphere of clever, creative, humorous students all doing what they love and having fun with it. I just don’t think I will find that at the University of Minnesota. Am I wrong? Will I find that at any of the other schools that I have applied to. I fell like I might at Michigan, or at least a little more than at Minnesota. </p>

<p>Is is really worthy paying all of the extra money to go to one of the other schools?

  1. Will I get into a better grad school (MIT/Stanford level) with a EE major from Michigan instead of Minnesota?
  2. Will I get a better job if I go to Michigan instead of Minnesota?
  3. What should I be considering most when making this decision?
  4. How much will grad school cost me. What is a fellowship?</p>

<p>I applied to the University of Minnesota as a last resort backup. I thought that Illinois and Michigan were great safety schools but I didn’t realize that I would have to think about cost. Until this week, I never even thought about going to University of Minnesota, but now it looks as if I will be forced to. I’d almost rather not go to college than go to the U of M (not seriously, of course I would go, but I just REALLY don’t want to go to the U of M). Am I over exaggerating? I welcome any advice! PLEASE!*</p>

<p>Oh good heavens…you’ve got a free ride to UMinn…there’s no reason to turn that down and take on ridiculous debt (which your parents won’t likely co-sign anyway.)</p>

<p>You’re instate for UMinn</p>

<p>Did UIUC give you some merit money??</p>

<p>Are you saying that your parents won’t pay anything? or how much will they pay?</p>

<p>Who would pay for Cornell if you got off that waitlist. It doesn’t sound like you applied to the right safeties.</p>

9

<p>Id say uiuc. it seems like an awesome college town when i drove through.</p>

10

<p>Here is a link to a loan payment calculator: [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Loan Calculator](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Loan Payment Calculator - Finaid)</p>

<p>Please use this as you consider your choices, engineer2012.</p>

11

<p>Do you have any idea how much 144K (UIUC) and 220K (UMich) in debt are? I suggest you look for much, much cheaper options.</p>

12

<p>At a school like UMinn, you’ll meet hundreds of new people and likely hardly ever run into the kids you know from HS. That is so clearly your best choice …</p>

13

<p>Do you have any idea how much 144K (UIUC) and 220K (UMich) in debt are? I suggest you look for much, much cheaper options.</p>

<p>Well, if he’s like lots of kids, he thinks that his graduating income will be large and all his to spend. </p>

<p>Welcome to the world of taxes as a single person with few or no deductions! They think, “Hmmm, an engineer will make $60k upon graduation. I can live on $35k and use the other $25k for loan payments. Easy peasy! Who’s afraid of the big bad loans? Not me!” </p>

<p>They don’t realize that a single person will see 1/3-1/2 of their income disappearing before they get their checks…federal taxes, FICA, state taxes, and of course, employee healthcare deductions. If they have to pay $20-25k per year towards loan payments, they’re soon going to find that the rest of their paychecks won’t cover all of their living expenses…rent, utilities, car, gas, car insurance, repairs, cell phone, cable, internet, food, clothes, entertainment, etc. Then, back home to live with Momma to avoid rent.</p>

14

<p>Based on the limited info available here, I agree that Minnesota is the way to go. The interest rate alone on those loans could pay for rent in some parts of the country. I’d go to Minnesota, an excellent school by any measure, and then invest the savings in graduate school or in your first house.</p>

15

<p>I’d go UMinn! You can’t beat a full ride, especially with the amount of debt you would incur at other schools. UMinn’s chemical engineering is ranked 3rd in the country for undergraduate, so I’ll bet their other programs are fairly strong as well. As a state school, it’s going to big a large campus, so I wouldn’t worry about constantly running into kids from your school.</p>

16

<p>“Right now, I want to go to Michigan but I don’t know if it’s worth it to pay that much. To me, Michigan seems more fun, lively, and exciting. The area is really nice college town and the atmosphere just seems great. On the other hand, Illinois seems kind of boring. There really isn’t much of a town there. The buildings are all brown and ugly, and the atmosphere just doesn’t seem right for me. I’m afraid that I just won’t like it enough. Am I completely off target?”</p>

<p>I don’t think you are off target with your assessment but I would recommend the free ride to Minnesota unless your family is extremely well off. If your parents want you to take the free ride, then I suspect the money is important to them. I think your assessments are not off-base but they are a bit exagerated. You will like it enough - how much you like it is mostly having a positive attitude and making most of the opportunity you have - more important than towns and buildings. You can you the $220,000.00 in after tax dollars to do a lot of things such as going to Michigan for grad school.</p>

17

<p>Minnesota is the way to go.</p>

18

<p>Minnesota for free is the correct choice here. Best of luck!</p>

19

<p>Is there a difference in jobs I can get or grad schools I can go to after undergrad for any of these schools? I think Illinois or Michigan would be much more impressive than the university of MN.</p>

20

<p>Really, engineer2012, the answer is no; your chances of a good job and grad school acceptances will not be appreciably better if you go to U of I or Michigan than they will if you go to U of MN. Really, they won’t be. Certainly if there were a difference, it is not worth $144K (or $200K)! And the chances that you will get a job right out of college, from any of these schools, that will make paying back those kinds of loans comfortable is highly unlikely. </p>

<p>I know it’s hard to go somewhere that seems so much less exciting than your other options. But those options? They’re not really options because they are unaffordable. </p>

<p>As to being impressive: Seriously, the school name on the diploma is not the most important one. You can guess which name is. You are going to have to bring it and be impressive yourself, wherever you go. Good luck.</p>