<p>Sorry this is sort of a repost, but I wanted opinions from people on this section of the forum as well. I am just going to link to the other thread, to avoid too much confusion and let it be an actual discussion: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-illinois-urbana-champaign/1317899-uiuc-vs-ut-austin-elec-engineering-consider-financial-details.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-illinois-urbana-champaign/1317899-uiuc-vs-ut-austin-elec-engineering-consider-financial-details.html</a></p>
<p>I would say if you’re looking into doing Materials (solid-state engineering), you should definitely go to UIUC. They have the best program in the nation.</p>
<p>Otherwise, I would strongly consider UT. Austin is quickly growing as a tech hub and having access to industry is a tremendous benefit. Many of us were able to work at Intel or AMD part-time throughout the year. There’s also National Instruments and Freescale that do a huge amount of recruiting at UT for local positions. Also, as more of the software industry takes off, UT has an arguably better CS program than UIUC if you should decide to go that track. Austin is also a growing hub for start-ups especially spurred by SXSW. In the same way that Stanford and Berkeley students have tremendously benefited from proximity to Silicon Valley, attending UT over UIUC will have similar advantages.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response. That’s what I had thought about UT and was the big reason why I was able to easily consider forking over the extra 6k a year. How difficult is it to receive internships or part time work in Freshman and Sophomore year? I was told by some of the students at UIUC that internships can be a challenge the first two years. Also, how difficult is getting research opportunities as an undergrad? Again, I was told this can be difficult in the first two years at UIUC.</p>
<p>Also does have any one have information about EHP? I have heard it is well respected, but I have also heard that it may not be worth it because of the extra work and the supposedly limited advantages of the honors program.</p>
<p>Finding an internship as a Freshman or Sophomore in EE will be difficult. At that point, you probably haven’t taken enough EE courses. As for CS internships, if you have a portfolio of side projects/school projects that demonstrate your ability, this will be extremely compelling for recruiters. </p>
<p>As far as research goes, UT (and UIUC) is a large public school. Also, EE is a fairly large major at first (shrinks considerably later). Many professors have research positions and opportunities available, but mostly will not be advertised. It’s up to you to figure out what types of things you like doing and approaching those professors, asking about research opportunities. There are lots of opportunities, but you’ll have to take initiative. </p>
<p>As far as EE goes, EHP is a set of basic sequence courses that you’ll take the honors version. This includes calculus, physics, diffeq, and the first EE course. Otherwise, there is no difference between the EHP and regular curricula. One advantage of EHP is access to Honors housing which some argue is worth it. Otherwise, the honors program in EE is somewhat limited in scope.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it! Hopefully I can be confident in whichever decision I make after I visit UT. Both are such great schools that I am having trouble leaning one way or the other. I do think I would enjoy the city feel more than the rural feel but I cannot really be sure until I visit!</p>
<p>I just want to clarify that though finding an internship early is difficult, it is far from impossible. I know a handful of EE’s who received internships going into the Summer after Freshmen year, and a heap who received internships as Sophomores. I wouldn’t even say that many of my friends who got internships as Sophomores were even anything above average. If you get to UT, get involved in activities as a freshman, and hold your grades up, you shouldn’t have much of a problem either.</p>
<p>Oh ok thanks for clarifying! I have heard UIUC has a similar situation although I met with about 10 kids from the IEEE (the electrical engineering student organization) and HKN (the ECE honors society) who were telling me that its is not unheard of to get the internships early on but only 2 of them - one was the HKN president and the other was a first semester senior with a job offer - who had gotten internships before junior year.</p>
<p>I was also wondering how UT’s connections in the rest of the Midwest are. I live near St. Louis and might want to try to find internships closer to home. I have been told UIUC is not incredible for St. Louis but not awful either. Do you (or anyone else) have any knowledge about UT’s students getting internships throughout the country?</p>