Any recommendations for OOS prospective/admitted students and parents when visiting UIUC. My S has been admitted to CS CoE and we are visiting over the next couple days.
You might consider shadowing a current student. Check out the link at the bottom of the page.
http://engineering.illinois.edu/admissions/visit-campus/
I’ve visited UIUC several times now (I’m awaiting a transfer decision), and the campus tour guides are great. I’m a physics major, and I was able to meet an adviser in the physics department and even discussed a rough academic plan and course sequence. They gave me a tour of the physics department and I got to check out some of the research projects in condensed matter and high energy physics. It was a really cool trip. The engineering campus is essentially a separate campus right next to the UIUC main campus. They have separate tours of the whole engineering quad on certain days. This would definitely be worth checking out.
Also, go to Papa Del’s and get some deep dish pizza. You won’t regret it.
Thanks @88jm19 and @comfortablycurt
We visited UIUC all the way from Boston on the two coldest days - the windchill must have been in negative teens and came back very impressed with their Engineering - the opportunities are mindblowing - the sheer number of programs and Institutes devoted to specialized research and interdisciplinary opportunities is something to consider strongly.
We had little time to plan everything but my son was able to sit in on a CS class and talk to students in ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) and that was very very helpful.
We met with Lenny Pitt, the Director of Undergraduate Programs and his take was simple: if your child needs some handholding or likes an environment where your Profs know you be name and will check on you periodically then UIUC is likely not for you; if your child on the other hand wants to seek out opportunities to excel in or even explore areas of interest outside of required academics then the possibilities are endless - from entirely student/peer driven organizations to ones where graduate students act as mentors to ones where a student can be part of a Professor’s research. Prof Pitt talked to us at length about all the programs available.
My son (CS major) was very impressed and I am glad we visited. Unfortunately it was brutal weather-wise (and we are no stranger to cold) so we couldn’t explore as much on foot as we would have liked.
I’m glad to hear your visit was a productive one despite the cold. Too bad the weather prevented you from exploring the campus on foot. (side note: we were in Ann Arbor yesterday and had a similar experience.)
You might like to check out this drone video of the UIUC campus under more favorable conditions. (warning: it starts out a little choppy)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXbFu91a0t4
Good luck with your college decision-making!
What days were you there? I only live about three hours from Urbana-Champaign, and we’ve been getting some pretty bitterly cold days lately. It got down to like -18 last night. O_O
I’m glad you had a productive visit. It sounds like your take on UIUC is fairly accurate. It’s a giant state flagship, and as such it isn’t going to have as much of the 1-on-1 environment that a smaller school will have. As a freshman there will be some classes with hundreds of students in them. However, the sheer number of opportunities there staggering. Just about anyone that wants to get involved in research or other types of academic projects will have the opportunity to do so.
@comfortablycurt we were there Wed and Thursday - and boy was it skin-numbing cold!!
Weather in Illinois has been horrendous the last week. Today feels like a heat wave, although it’s still only in the 20s.Although not usually this cold in February takanuva, this is pretty par for the course for our winters.
Wednesday and Thursday were some of the coldest days of the year, if not the coldest. It’s typically not consistently that cold here in the winter, but we typically have some cold snaps throughout the winter where it reaches those temperatures. It’s 30 degrees by me right now, and it feels warm compared to most of last week.
My D attends UIUC and my S will be attending a cold weather school. I keep telling them, it builds character. 
Last year was pretty much like this plus with all the snow. Hopefully it will warm up soon; we are making a visit to UIUC soon and the idea of walking around the campus in this weather as adults does not appeal to me one bit.
Anyone know much about the Admitted Student Days? I’m signed up for the March 16th date, but the online paragraph was pretty vague. Does anyone have an example schedule, or past experience? Is it possible to visit the majors/colleges you were not admitted to, but want to pursue a minor/second degree in?
@88jm19 The cold is one thing and then add on the wind … Besides, we here in Boston are getting a darn hefty dose of that ‘character building’ you are talking about :((
@srparent15, unless you have a strong preference otherwise, I would suggest staying at the Illini Union - we loved the atmosphere - the shuttles (I think they are called Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit) leave from right outside and the rooms are comfy.
Thanks for the info @takanuva. We are actually staying at a place that we have hotel points so it’s free. I will keep the Union in mind for future visits as I expect I will be going down there more regularly now that I will have a student enrolled. We’ll be meeting with an advisor, but not the one you met with. My son has been to UIUC for many of his academic competitions and has checked out the ACM room/building, and Siebel in the past, so this visit is more for deciding where to live, finding out what classes transfer, etc.
@BMEAero We have not yet signed up for an admitted student visit, but I’m now leaning towards skipping it since we have been in contact with some Computer Science majors already, are meeting on our own with the advising department, my son has been there numerous times, and I agree that it is very vague, plus I don’t want my son to miss more school and the dates are not ideal. If you find something that lists more specifics of the day, I’d love to hear about it as that may make me lean more towards taking him. We’ll already be back in the summer for registration so he can see more things if he wants then, plus I think he has 2 more competitions there in April and May before he graduates so those are additional opportunities for him to talk with people.
Haha @88jm19 I’ve been sucking it up in this cold for the last week and I should have a stellar character by now! Our schools were even closed this week for the cold - second time this winter for that reason. They will be able to ride a heated bus in Champaign which I hear is free if enrolled, and probably drops them pretty much right where they need to be. They can deal with it like the rest of us who have to walk outside when going to our jobs, etc.
We spent an hour in the Illini Bus # 22 (N and S) and toured the whole campus clockwise and counterclockwise, seeing both sides of the street every which way and yes they can get as close to wherever they need to be.
In Boston, its been a month since we had a Monday/Tuesday school.
The joke these days is:
Welcome to Massachusetts - Closed on Mondays :))
@srparent15 I think @takanuva has us beat! 
and I don’t mind losing that competition…not one bit!
yeah… rub it in… while I stare at 6 foot icicles and a snow mountain that beckons me to climb it stick a flag in it.
Yeah, I would take the cold over the snow any day. Maybe one of my other kids will go to school in a warm climate; nice weather would make a great excuse for a visit (and to get away from here in the winter)!
@srparent15 will do. I’m admitted for Aerospace, and there is a more extensive Aerospace and engineering day the Saturday before my current visit day, so I’m considering switching flight dates for that and I’m looking for more Monday information first…