<p>Hi,
I got accepted to both WPI and UIUC for computer science. I am an international student and received 15K from WPI and they will cost virtually the same and maybe, WPI cheaper.</p>
<p>I am aware that UIUC is ranked really high for CompSci. However I have some doubts about the amount of attention that I will get in UIUC as it is more research oriented and crowded.</p>
<p>Which one would you choose, and why?</p>
<p>If it were for undergraduate engineering, there may be some difficulty in decision as the environments are different and both are good (though UIUC has stronger national reputation). WPI has a very good approach to engineering education.</p>
<p>But for computer science, it is almost a no-brainer. The CS department at UIUC is one of the top five in the country and is far better than the CS department at WPI, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. For CS, it is better than the nearly all of the Ivies except Cornell and Princeton, which are peers of Illinois CS. UIUC alumni founded of Youtube, Siebel Systems, Netscape and many other top companies while I can’t think of too many prominent software companies that were started by or are led by WPI alumni. CS is not really WPI’s strength and I think the program has holes in many key areas.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Microsoft hires more from UIUC than from any other university in the country. Granted, UIUC CS is very large (and thus is not as good in my opinion as, say, University of Washington CSE for undergrad). But still that is quite an accomplishment. That being said, Microsoft hires from WPI as well. I am not a computer science major but I will be joining another very well-known and well-paying west coast technology firm as an SDE intern this summer so if you plan it well, WPI CS may not be a bad idea.</p>
<p>Thank you for your detailed reply. It really helps me in the decision-making process. I will be hearing from University of Washington this week. Making a decision of matriculating is really tough given that three schools that I am considering have their own advantages.</p>
<p>I believe that any of the 3 schools you have mentioned will provide an excellent education in your chosen field. A suggestion: look at what opportunities each offers. Opportunities in research, internships, project work while in school, etc. Looking at stats tells a lot of what the average student can expect. If you want to excell, then you have to know how high you can jump!!</p>
<p>I got accepted to University of Washington today. This makes my decision-making process even harder but I can’t complain. :)</p>
<p>Thank you for your valuable input. More input will be appreciated. :)</p>
<p>First, I will admit that I do not know anything about the U of Washington CS program and know little specifics about WPIs CS program. S is accepted to WPI for ECE and we like the program there for many reasons, though national rankings and research dollars are not among them. But, since I am the daughter of a retired UIUC faculty member, I know a little something about UIUC.</p>
<p>I can see very little downside to attending UIUC. The only caveat is that the State of Illinois is undergoing significant financial difficulties. It is not clear that it will impact UIUC, but it is reasonable to expect the tuition will rise at a faster than average rate.</p>
<p>Despite its central Illinois location, UIUC is known nationally, possibly internationally. It is a very large school in a nice, safe, Midwestern town. The towns of Champaign and Urbana have good infrastructure housing, public transportation, restaurants, shopping, etc. There is a large international student population. The University is home to major college sports, a fine arts complex, and many other facilities are available to students. I have many friends who graduated from UIUC in CS and are all very successful in their fields. This was many years ago, but the school has only improved since then. The school has since spent millions and millions of dollars on new computing facilities and resources.</p>
<p>The program sizes at UIUC and Washington appear similar, in terms of the number of CS degrees awarded last year. Large state-sponsored institutions attract more research money. If you look at the Engineering CS research budgets for UIUC vs. U of Washington, UIUC s research budget is nearly twice the size of Washingtons. Although research dollars might have more meaning in grad school, it can only mean that there are better facilities and faculty available to all. See the following website where you can look at all schools. </p>
<p>[ASEE.org</a> - ASEE - Publications - College Profiles - Search the Profiles](<a href=“http://profiles.asee.org/]ASEE.org”>http://profiles.asee.org/)</p>
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<p>As an ECE student at WPI, I must agree that the ECE program is very good. My interaction with the professors have been very strong and I feel that the program is far more hands-on than even many other similar or higher ranked programs. </p>
<p>Opportunities for research as an undergrad are abound and professors are very friendly and competent (and current in their fields). For example, software defined radio is a new and very interesting area; one professor teaches an undergrad level course where students build an entire wireless communication system (from frame detection, transmission, error correction, etc) using software defined radio.</p>
<p>The lack of research funds shouldn’t be too big of an issue for undergrards. WPI ECE has $5M of research and WPI CS has $3.5M of research per annum. Students who want to do rersearch have the opportunity and faculty always step up to bat for the best students, using their connections to find students top internships and giving them opportunities to serve as undergrad teaching or research asisstants (often paid). Graduate students are supported both at MS and PhD levels and there is some graduate coexistance, which I think is good.</p>
<p>The reason I find CS to not be so great at WPI is two fold. First, CS classes are enormous even at the upper division. There are too many non-majors in Robotics and Game Design who also take the same classes and there are simply too few course offerings and professors. This leads to my second concern that the classes seem to be “dumbed down” to accomodate non-majors. Data structure coverage is not very strong. I believe UIUC or UW are better choices for CS.</p>
<p>I would love to hear of a small college, the size of WPI, that ** does ** have an impressive CS program. Second-tier is fine - doesn’t have to be CMU or MIT. I’m finding it very hard to assess CS programs at colleges. Seems like the only way is to know a CS student at each of these schools. Speaking of that, THANKS IndianPwnerDude, for being so active and helpful in this WPI forum. We are lucky to have you. Most other smaller schools such as Rose, RPI, CSM, don’t have active CC participants who can describe their CS programs from personal experience. (I realize you’re not a CS major but your input still counts as personal experience.)</p>
<p>My son is deciding among RPI, CWRU, RHIT, WPI and University of Rochester. My S is looking for a smaller atmosphere with a strong CS program. If anyone has opinions about these schools I would love to hear them. Thanks!</p>
<p>about tuition rising - UIUC says that it locks in your tuition when you enroll. so whatever tuition you pay coming in is what you pay all four years</p>