<p>I'm very interested in studying engineering, and I have a 31 on my ACT, and a 3.75 unweighted GPA. I'm deadlocked between choosing UW Madison, university of Iowa, and university of Illinois Urbana Champaign. I've visited all of them and like them all. however:
I really really like Madison and the campus there and love the feel of it, the campus and city are beautiful and lively. I'm a very naturey and outdoors guy and at the same time very outgoing and Madison has the best of both worlds there. I feel that I would fit right in. The engineering program is very good there. However the out of state tuition is sky high for me and money is something my family does not have a lot of. I've heard that Wisconsin doesn't give a lot of financial aid to out of staters either. this would be my top choice if it didn't come down to money.
Illinois has an amazing engineering program and it is huge. I heard it's fun down there and mostly everyone likes it. I'm in state guys this school so money won't be too much of a problem. But I feel the program might be too rigorous for me. I've heard the horror stories of how crazy and stressful engineering is there and I feel that it may be too much for me. Also Urbana is in the middle of a bunch of cornfields and smells like alcohol, so im not entirely sure about how I would fit into the city.
Iowa on the other hand is another beautiful campus on the river and seems very nice there. They are offering me a lot of money to go there and I would probably graduate with little debt to none. However, the engineering department is small and not as highly ranked as the other two. I feel that getting a good job after I graduate would be tougher to get if I went here. Also, Iowa City is small and I heard there isn't much to do there besides drink, which is fun at times but something Im not super into.
Please answer with thoughts and suggestions. I'd really appreciate it. </p>
<p>Isn’t Iowa State still accepting applications? I believe it’s the primary engineering school of the Iowa system of higher ed, and gives merit scholarships for certain stats. Much less of a party school than the University of Iowa, and the application is extremely easy to complete since there’s no essays, only entering in a bit of information. </p>
<p>Here’s the link to the application if you wanted to apply: <a href=“• Office of Admissions”>https://www.admissions.iastate.edu/apply/online/index.php</a></p>
<p>Iowa State, after merit, would likely be about $8,000 per year less than U Iowa. Iowa State has much more of a ‘weed out; only the strong survive’ mentality for engineering than U Iowa. But the students tend to be very laid back and friendly. Not quite as snooty as the typical U Iowa student. Chic fashion design majors attend classes side by side with ag majors donning cowboy hats and boots.</p>
<p>A lot more companies recruit at Iowa State…they host the largest engineering career fair in the Midwest. Lots of UIowa engineering students attend the ISU career fair.</p>
<p>ISU is in a small college town, have the size of the Iowa City area. If you don’t like rural life, Iowa State is not for you. </p>
<p>Not really interested in ISU, Iowa City is small, but Ames is even smaller.</p>
<p>You can’t get around the fact that Iowa State engineering is stronger (I didn’t say better; just stronger) than the program at U of Iowa.</p>
<p>I didn’t ask about ISU though, I just asked about these three, </p>
<p>If money is something that your family doesn’t have a lot of, and U of Iowa is the least expensive, then go there. Yest recruiters do come to campus. If you want the details, speak directly with the engineering program and find out how to get yourself on the list for the recruiting events. Once you have found your first job and worked for a while, no one is going to care where you studied. They are going to care what you did at that job.</p>
<p>You may be instate for UIUC, but you said in another thread that you don’t have much money. So, how would you pay the $30k+ for instate UIUC? It doesn’t give much aid. </p>
<p>How much will your parents pay each year?</p>
<p>Is Iowa your safety school?</p>
<p>I’ve gotten scholarships from Illinois but not much, but it still would sorry of cheap compared with Wisconsin</p>
<p>sort, not sorry</p>
<p>Iowa is my safety school also</p>
<p>I would choose Iowa since you say it’ll be cheaper and you prefer the campus and environment over Illinois.
Finish with an engineering degree, little to no debt, and you’ll have a strong foundation for your future.</p>
<p>Never hurts to ask Wisconsin for more financial aid.</p>
<p>If I get a good amount of scholarships and financial aid from Wisconsin, it’s most likely I will go there, if I don’t, I feel like Iowa would be best</p>
<p>It really depends on what type of engineering you’re pursuing. You should look at rankings for individual areas - e.g. ME, EE, CS, Comp Eng etc. My son decided to attend UIUC over Madison because he’s majoring in Computer Engineering which is higher ranked than Madison. Also, he wants to have option of career in Silicon Valley which UIUC has stronger alumni connections in the internet industry than Madison. </p>