I’m still talking the classic definition of Chicagoland.
I agree with pizzagirl, the NS seems to be more “name-brand driven” than other Chicagoland areas. It’s a more affluent area, for one. And it’s affluence is more established than some of the newer (and newer money of) NW burbs.
Going OOS is not seen as so exorbitant and frivolous of an expense.
Here in the NW suburbs, there are a LOT of Asian immigrants, Eastern-European immigrants, and transplants from working-class areas of Chicago proper; the latter who went to college at places like Northern Illinois or Southern Illinois, or even Northeastern IL and they’ve done quite well for themselves. Newer money, and/or also more upper-middle class rather than outright wealthy… Why should they send their kids to Madison or Bloomington when they can get in-state tuition at UIUC?
Another probable reason for the greater popularity for UW-Madison and other listed colleges versus UIUC is the perception UW-Madison academic strengths(superstrong departments in many STEM and non-STEM areas) are strong and wider across the academic spectrum as opposed to UIUC which is perceived to be very uneven(superstrong in engineering/CS, STEM, and English lit…ok in the rest).
@BeeDAre “Why should they send their kids to Madison or Bloomington when they can get in-state tuition at UIUC?”
- The price difference is less than most.
- Few parents want to make a kid go to a school
- UW is marketing better to students
- UIUC''s Byzantine application process to change majors leaves you wondering whether you will be able to change, if you want to.
In-state tuition at UIUC isn’t all that great, especially in engineering. An OOS scholarship could be very tempting for an in-state student. That’s a trend that will continue, as the Midwest schools start competing more and more for OOS students (see UW-Madison’s recent plans to increase merit scholarships…), UIUC’s financial issues (really the state of Illinois’s financial issues), will make it hard for them to compete on price.
At Glenbrook South, UIUC was number two in college matriculations in my year. The number one school was Oakton Community College. Rounding out the top was UIC, NIU, and Indiana. With the exception of Indiana, they were are local in-state public schools. When college admissions counselors would come, UIUC would have one of the largest number of students.
With the exception of the closed undergrad majors, it is very easy to change majors within a college at UIC. All you literally had to do was to fill out a new major declaration form. If you wanted to change colleges, you would have to apply. UIC’s student population has large numbers of by graduates from Chicago Public Schools Magnet grads. I believe neighboring Whitney Young was the highest number of students.
The University of Illinois system has not been as effected by the financial issues as some of the other schools. I believe no more than a quarter of their budget comes from the state, nowadays. Each campus has its own ways of dealing with the financial issues. As seen recently, UIC loves to rent out its buildings to anyone who can pay.
“In-state tuition at UIUC isn’t all that great, especially in engineering. An OOS scholarship could be very tempting for an in-state student. That’s a trend that will continue, as the Midwest schools start competing more and more for OOS students (see UW-Madison’s recent plans to increase merit scholarships…), UIUC’s financial issues (really the state of Illinois’s financial issues), will make it hard for them to compete on price.”
Most state flagships are becoming increasingly private institutions over time. In 30 years, I think many will be entirely private.
Have I learned a lot about UIUC on this UW based thread!
While this is a broad generalization, having lived on both the North Shore and the W suburbs:
-
The NS is more brand name conscious. Many of them are simply unaware that there are areas in the NW, W and SW suburbs that are just as wealthy as the NS. They wouldn’t know, say, Hinsdale or Burr Ridge or even Barrington if they tripped over them. People in those areas, though, know the ritzy NS suburbs.
-
more of the wealth on the NS is derived from professions where a fancier degree is relevant/valued. Much of the wealth elsewhere, while equivalent, is derived from professions where a fancier degree isn’t as relevant - owning a chain of car dealerships or restaurants, a small manufacturing business, etc.
@Pizzagirl In my experience, as a broad generalization, I agree with you. That is my general experience too, although there is a lot of intermixing.
When I was mentioning students preferring Wisconsin, vs. UIUC it did not have to do with a quality difference though. I have not heard students mention that. What I hear is that they think Wiscy will be more fun. Honestly, I don’t think they are much different. I just think that Wiscy is doing a better job of understanding the students they are targeting, and marketing to them effectively.
My chicago suburb child doesn’t want to go to UIUC because the campus is in a “middle of a cornfield” and UW Madison is a more appealing college town. I actually haven’t seen much “marketing” from either school. I’m also thinking that although the 2 schools are similar academically, it is probably more difficult to be admitted to UW as an OOS student which makes it more prestigious for Illinois kids.
^Plus, nobody looks good in orange.
^^^Hey Now! There is something about UIUC colors I really like…nothing wrong with orange and blue…
OK, just keep the orange as an accent. 
The issues with UIUC aren’t with the academics; they are top notch. The issues surrounding UIUC primarily deal with:
1 - The high percentage of non-resident aliens attending campus, particularly in the COE.
2 - The in-state tuition which is among the highest in the Big 10 and across the country.
3 - The incompetence and corruptibility of the administration which seems to have a major scandal and change of leadership every 24 to 36 months.
4 - Lack of a vibrant “college town” atmosphere that most Big 10 schools have. Having a huge percent of the student body NRA does not help whatsoever in that regard.
5 - There is very little in the way of merit aid which many other Big 10 schools are eagerly willing to offer to high stat Illinois kids.
6 - The alumni network is weak compared to other schools in the Chicago area. UIUC grads do not seem to be willing to look out for each other like the grads of other regional schools.
The merits of UIUC’s admissions policy was discussed at length on CC last year on the following thread:
An interesting read. I never considered #7 that is missing from your list, but discussed in the linked thread: NRAs do not tend to ‘give back’ to the university once they graduate. So, UIUC’s financial issues are only aided short-term by increasing the size of the NRA student body. If UIUC had typical OOS students, then they may get more in return.
Sigh.
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2015-04-17/updated-taiwanese-ceo-gives-12-million-ui.html
The repeated disparagement of UIUC on this UW-Madison thread is sad. I must try harder to refrain from clicking on this thread. 
Illinois is a huge exporter of college-bound students—second only to New Jersey in net out-migration of college freshmen, both in absolute numbers and as a percentage of college-bound HS grads. This isn’t just a UIUC v. UW-Madison thing—Illinois actually sends roughly equal numbers of college freshmen to Iowa, Indiana, and Missouri as it does to Wisconsin, and Michigan and Ohio aren’t far behind. And among beneficiary OOS institutions, UW Madison ranks seventh, after Iowa, Mizzou, Indiana, Marquette, Iowa State, and Purdue, with St. Louis U hot on Madison’s heels (2012 data).
Given this general pattern, it seems a little pointless to blame the UIUC administration (which is not to excuse them for whatever faults they may have). There’s a bigger picture problem here. Some of it is economic. Especially with merit scholarships, many of the OOS options are cost-competitive with in-state public options for Illinois residents. But I suspect a lot of it is a cultural “grass-is-greener” phenomenon. Like their New Jersey counterparts, many Illinois kids tend to see their home state as boring and generic, and their in-state public universities as similarly pedestrian and uninspiring. And there may even be some truth to it. Really, now, would you rather spend a Saturday night in Champaign-Urbana, or in Madison, Ann Arbor, or Bloomington? But it also becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If a lot of kids avoid Champaign-Urbana because they think it won’t be fun and vibrant, and many of those who attend do so expecting a good education notwithstanding the lack of a fun-and-vibrant college town atmosphere, the chances of the college town atmosphere being fun and vibrant are substantially diminished. Madison is perhaps at the opposite end of the fun-and-vibrant scale, with high expectations in that regard helping to make it so, Not sure how UIUC breaks out of that box, but that’s what they need to be focusing on, because the academics are already first-rate, especially in their key areas of strength.
@bclintonk and @Zinhead-
You state that Illinois is a huge exporter of college-bound students, second only to NJ. You may want to see this. It was posted on another thread by ucbalumnus:
The above data may be from 2010 or 2008:
http://chronicle.com/interactives/freshmen_insts/#id=145637
Back then 90+% of UIUC’s freshman are in-state.
This presentation is from 2015:
https://www.iacac.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/H-60-The-Trend-of-Leaving-Illinois-for-College.pdf
For example, between 2002-2012, the % of Illinois students that are attending in-state colleges grew 3%. During that same time, out-of-state attendance grew 42%.
There is a LOT of info in the presentation (a lot of comparisons to other states and schools). They also discuss possible motivations for leaving Illinois.