<p>first of all, i've never been to UIUC let alone visit illinois, so i don't know much about the college other than its big reputation for engineering. i recently got admitted into EE and i've been wondering what makes UIUC rank higher in EE than UC Berkeley or any of the UC's for that matter. i would just like to know if it is worth leaving southern cal for UIUC.</p>
<p>(basically, this thread is yet another debate of UIUC vs. UC's)</p>
<p>thanks, i look forward to reading your responses.</p>
<p>I think, if you live in CA and Berkeley admitted you, then you should go to UC Berkeley. The engineering rankings between UIUC and Berkeley in my view are pretty much the same. No big difference. Speaking about the other Cals, I pay my high repect to UCLA. All the other UC's are overrated. This is just my thought.</p>
<p>UC Berkeley > UIUC , since it is alot cheaper for in state and Berkeley is better I would say as a whole</p>
<p>UCLA >= UIUC, since it will be alot cheaper for you, but EE here is better</p>
<p>UIUC > Other UCs</p>
<p>Well Berkeley is a great engineering school and beats UIUC in most of those engineering fields (albeit just barely). However, UIUC has a stellar reputation in ECE and has some high profile inventions and research, which helps boost its rankings. It is one of UIUC's flagship engineering departments (if that makes sense) so they put a lot of effort into making it a good one. You really can't go wrong with either school though.</p>
<p>Berkeley would be worth staying home for because you will get a nearly identical education for far less money. UCLA might be worth looking into over UIUC based solely on the cost of going there, but, at least in ECE, UIUC is the better choice. UIUC is quite a way ahead of any other UC.</p>
<p>To think that there is really some difference between programs ranked by USNews in the top five and ranked 6-10 is like believing there is a difference in the government's spending $1.4 trillion and $1.3999 trillion. It is meaningless. Reality is that MIT and Caltech (regardless of where USNews puts them) are really considered the top two and then several thereafter really cannot be distinguished from each other. If you get into Berkeley (or UCLA or even some other UCs), you would be hard pressed to justify going elsewhere particularly because of in-state tuition. Also, though many of us who live here consider Illinois God's country, there have been many a student who has come from Southern California who by mid-January of their freshman year are asking themselves why they were so crazy to even think they could survive a winter here.</p>
<p>Haha, I am from Illinois originally, and I feel like asking myself "why am I cursed to HAVE to survive a winter here."</p>
<p>personally, I've heard loads of horror stories from UC Berkeley and I seriously doubt that I would be happy there as an EECS major. my other bets are 1. UCSD, 2. UCLA or Cal Poly SLO (already admitted to SLO) and worst case scenario, 3. UC Berkeley. as for UIUC, my parents and I will try to cover some costs through money saved, scholarships, and maybe loans. I think I should be fine for at least 4 years.</p>
<p>by the way, is there a mechatronics concentration at UIUC within the ECE dept?
and...
into which industries do EE's mostly go from UIUC? I'm interested in the automotive, aeronautical, and defense industries</p>