UW vs UIUC

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Washington
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<p>I'm from CA and graduated in 2009 (before budget cuts/tuition hikes became serious enough to pepper-spray students protesting against them)</p>

<p>Back then, it was a lot easier getting into the top UCs, but now it's looking more and more likely that I'll have to go OOS. I just got rejected from UCSD, which used to be a low match school back in 2009. Now it's only taking people with 4.0+/2200+ stats and I shat bricks seeing so many qualified people denied along with me. I'm not keeping my hopes up for Berkeley or UCLA.</p>

<p>I've been accepted to both UW and UIUC, both of which have equally kickass CS programs. UIUC has a pretty big Greek scene (which I am not too keen about) and outside of its famous engineering program, isn't well known at all. It's also in the middle of nowhere. From my experience, they're not very tolerant towards minorities there and that worries me a lot as I like making friends of all races.</p>

<p>I'm considering going to UW because I've been to Seattle a few times and quite like the place. I'd like to get a feel for what the culture is like at UW.. how life is like in the dorms, what the campus atmosphere is like.. what is there to do on a normal day/on the weekends.. what the weather is like.. do i need a car.. that sort of thing.</p>

<p>And of course, if you're a current CS student reading this it'd be great to hear an inside perspective.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Well, I use to be a CS major(I’m now a pre-pharmacy bio major. I did an internship didn’t like CS as a profession) and I have a ton of friends who are CS majors.</p>

<p>I was considering both schools along with Georgia Tech. All schools are great for comp sci…but to be perfectly honest? CS kids kind of do their own thing most of the time. I’m sure you know, not that they’re all nerdy, but most of us are haha</p>

<p>CS/engineering kids often mingle and make their own groups. It works out well because they often have the same classes and same course rigor. It’s like how pre-med/pre-dental/pre-pharmacy students mingle because they all have to go to the same volunteer events, research programs, clubs, classes, etc. It’s great for networking too. UW and UI are good name schools. Who knows what will happen after you graduate.</p>

<p>Btw not all frats are like what you picture frats to be, udub and IU are both big on football and have a strong greek life. I don’t think you’ll have trouble meeting people. However, do look at the demographics. I don’t think it’s fair to make a generalization that one school is cold towards minorities unless you have a story or a figure to back it up.</p>

<p>Collegeboard says UI is a lot more diverse than UW. UW has a huge asian minority population, few blacks, and few latinos. Actually, the white population at UI is 55%</p>

<p>I can say that a lot of CS students are east asian, indian, and white. There are other ethnic groups in there obviously, but that’s the majority. You’ll meet people easily in college even if you’re shy. So just pick whichever school you like.</p>

<p>–</p>

<p>If I were you I would go UW. You’re from cali so you’re familiar with the west coast. The west coast is THE place to be for the tech field. UW has a little less diversity, but I have never heard of anyone being racist there(I’m planning on transferring to UW too). You don’t like greek life as much, and UI is all about greek life. You already seem to be leaning towards udub. If I were you I would go for it.</p>

3

<p>Regarding the minorities thing – I know a good number of people (including my parents) who went there and reported that while people weren’t typically openly racist, minorities were left to mingle in their own groups. I’m not sure if that applies to the CS department, however. I’ve been told that engineering at UIUC is in a bubble, and people there are easier to get along with.</p>

<p>I’m not exactly leaning towards UW, but it is quite near the top of my list. And you did tip the scales in UW’s favor… If I don’t get into a top-tier UC, it’ll come down to either UIUC or UW…</p>

<p>One big factor is that UW is in Seattle, while UIUC is in the middle of nowhere really… I’ve also heard that UW is considered a “commuter” school. How true is that? Is it relatively easy to just take a walk off campus into a coffee shop downtown? What are typical activities like weekday nights/weekends?</p>

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<p>UW is a big commuter school. I think at least half of people live off-campus and commute via car or bus. The school is probably 10-15 a minute (traffic willing) drive from the middle of downtown. It’s in its own little bubble near the North Seattle suburbs.</p>

<p>Be forewarned that the UW CS department is notoriously difficult to get into (statistically, it’s easier to get into an ivy league). I’m working my way into it after an initial rejection, be prepared to ace all your classes.</p>

<p>If you like California, you may well hate the weather. It’s drizzly, dreary and like a Tim Burton movie year round. My uncle moved up from socal and he’s moving back after a year because he can’t handle it.</p>

<p>However, if you’re a straight-A student and can handle the Northwest weather, UW would be a very good choice.</p>

5

<p>CS student here.</p>

<p>Everything that has been said so far is very true. Now to add on …</p>

<p>Going downtown is really, really easy. Like MK said, it probably takes about 10-15 minutes drive. However, downtown is a driver’s worst nightmare. Okay, not really worst, but it’s really terrible. Learn how to parallel park, be sure to know that some streets alternate direction for one way, and the bus system runs frequently enough that if you’re just going to go get coffee downtown, don’t drive. Downtown Seattle is honestly the only place I wouldn’t drive to … and I’ve been living here for more than 20 years (so I’ve seen my parents drive around too). Wow, that just made me feel a bit old.</p>

<p>On weather, it rains a lot but it’s not like Florida’s downpour. It’s the slightly annoying drizzle that gets you kind of wet, but not crazily wet. If you come, invest in a lightweight “shell” jacket that will keep whatever else you’re wearing dry! Or get an umbrella. Seattle natives may scoff at you for using an umbrella, but you’ll honestly fit in on campus with one. I also use an umbrella because as a commuter (>1 hour back and forth) it’s a lot easier to carry around instead of a shell if it doesn’t rain. Also, I like taking pictures with a dslr and an umbrella makes it a lot easier. ;)</p>

<p>There are also some coffee shops on the Ave, which is our term for University Way, the street with all the food 8D … as well as some bookstores and smoke shops and stuff. It’s just west of campus by a street. </p>

<p>Racism isn’t a problem in the UW CSE department. Same with sexism. People do form groups of friends but I haven’t felt discriminated in any way from joining in a group. Off the top of my head, some of the international students are more comfortable talking in their own language (mostly Korean and Chinese), so they do homework together while chattering in their native tongue. However, they are very warm and welcome to others and develop great relationships with others (and vice versa). We have several labs and people who regularly go to each respective one generally form their own group of friends. However, people fluidly move back and forth between them. I personally go to different labs depending on if I want to have a more quiet setting or if I want to play cards or just hang out with people. I guess you could say the majority of people is Caucasian, but I personally can’t tell just off the top of my head what percent of people are Caucasian because my network within the department is so diverse.</p>

<p>**A question for you: Are you guaranteed a spot in UIUC’s CS department? **</p>

<p>As MasterKuni said, the CSE department is terribly difficult to get into. We have 180 spots per graduating class for undergraduates. About 30 of those will be taken up before freshman year even starts by the direct admit students. After that, they take a few people at a time so that others who apply later or decide to change majors to CS/CE in other years have a shot to get into the department. </p>

<p>I love our department, but with our limited spots and competitive applicants, many come to UW only to choose to transfer after a year or two simply because they can’t get into our CSE department. You can major in ACMS or Informatics, but the job opportunities at career fairs for internships that are just waiting for you to snatch at are just not the same. I don’t want this to happen to you. </p>

<p>Obviously it’s your ultimate decision, but I want you to know the situation with admissions into the department before you come here and then hate it if you don’t get in.</p>

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<p>Oh yeah … interestingly, I have almost the opposite story as halcyontimes. </p>

<p>Even though I was a direct admit CS student, I originally was going to go the pre-med route while majoring in computer science. It would be gutsy (especially with the GPA as a big factor for med school) and I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to get into. I was planning on dropping CS if I had to. </p>

<p>As I became more immersed with my cs courses, as well as learning about the different career choices in the future (it’s not all being a code monkey, guys!), I ultimately decided to stop taking pre-med courses and to focus on computer science.</p>

7

<p>When they say commuter school it isn’t a bad thing. Many people opt to live at home(due to costs) or get their own place(for a ton of reasons. Most upperclassmen will do this eventually). At udub, I don’t think that means any less of a community. The campus and student population is massive- too massive actually. You will never feel alone or bored on the weekends like you would at other commuter schools. Seattle is a great city though. It’s a lot safer than other cities and there’s plenty to do(a very rare combination in the US)</p>

<p>UIUC has an amazing campus though. It may be in the middle of nowhere, but trust me… the “I live in -insert major city here-” thing gets old after the first three months. As a CS major at these schools you won’t have a whole lot of free time anyway. Both are good choices.</p>

8

<p>I see. I have a family member at UW who didn’t make the cut for engineering and is now at a loss… hopefully I get direct admit, then UW will become my #2. I think we only find out early April?</p>

9

<p>Yes you’ll find out during the first week (or so) of April.</p>

10

<p>Will we be notified if we did /not/ get direct admit? i.e. If I don’t near anything by mid-april does that mean I’m screwed?</p>

<p>How exactly do they select direct admit applicants? Can I make an appeal? I have a very strong case.</p>

11

<p>You will not be notified if you don’t get direct admit. If you don’t hear anything by mid-April, you may be on the waitlist (people who decide not to go to UW are direct admit, then decide to go elsewhere) and if there is a spot for you, they will let you know in May. However, obviously that would be too late for you to decide what school to go to if direct admit will tip UW towards your favor.</p>

<p>I’m not sure exactly how they select direct admits that they look for “potential.” Some DAs have never programmed before. However, they have strong maths/sciences background and most likely have taken calculus or physics before.</p>

<p>I’m not sure if you can make an appeal. Some majors allow it for direct admit. Please feel free to contact the advisers.</p>

<p>Contact info:
[url=&lt;a href=“Contact Advising | Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering”&gt;Contact Advising | Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering]Advising[/url</a>]</p>

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<p>Speedsolver, on the CSE page it said that 40% of students get in to CSE eventually. Would you say that is not accurate?</p>

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<p>momto: I think it’s accurate. Some students apply several times before they’re accepted, so the number of applicants seem higher than there really is.</p>

14

<p>Ugh. I really hope my son gets DA CSE.</p>

15

<p>Overall UIUC and UW are very much on par overall. UIUC has many top depts outside CS and engineering including Physics, Psychology, math, chemistry and soon.</p>

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<p>You guys rock, thank you so much for the info. I do like UW a lot, but DA CSE will be the deal-breaker for me, especially since i’m already into CS at UIUC.</p>

<p>Fingers crossed for momto4squirts as well!</p>

17

<p>Yeah, I wanted to enthusiastically reply to this thread in favor of UW CSE, but admissions is a *****. I’m still marveling at the fact that I’m in the department, even though I was accepted a year ago.</p>

<p>If you /do/ get in, then I’d feel comfortable saying that UW CSE is one of the best CS departments in the world and that there are a staggering number of opportunities available. My experiences here have been pure awesome.</p>

18

<p>Udub has plenty of connects too. Microsoft, google, silicon valley, amazon, etc.</p>

<p>Like I said. west coast = win.</p>

<p>US news says UI is ranked 5th while UW is ranked 7th. I think the internship and job prospects is higher for UW because of it’s location(being based in seattle is also a plus)</p>

19

<p>UW has great connections to the companies if you’re in the department. Although it isn’t impossible to get interviews or ultimately internship offers from these companies, it is a lot more difficult without access to the departmental career fair.</p>

20

<p>This is an epic necro but this thread is a pretty high result for a lot of web searches and I wanted to point something out to others who might be passing through.</p>

<p>I am an undergrad at U of I (UIUC) and I just want to make the comment that I have never, ever, ever felt that there was even a semblance of racism. Now I cannot speak to the surrounding area, or some of the older shop owners, but on/around campus, there is an ENORMOUS amount of Asian students (Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Indian), many of whom are international students. There are other minorities as well (Latino/African/Eastern European).</p>

<p>I know what OP is talking about when he mentions white people not associating with others, but as a person of Korean descent myself, I think I can say that this is generally the other way around :P</p>

<p>As far as reputation goes, I hear lots about UIUC being great, but that could just be because I was raised around Chicagoland area.</p>

<p>One last thing - yeah it is in the middle of nowhere, but the Amtrak goes right to Chicago for 14 bucks.</p>

<p>Anyway, my two cents.</p>