The Pros and Cons of UIUC

What is UIUC’s reputation?

“Top 5 in the nation for engineering and CS” “Top 10 for data science” “located in the middle of nowhere” “great business program” “small but fun twin cities” “harsh winters” “fairly large international population” “75% of students are in-state” “professors focus more on research than on teaching” “big Greek life” “party school reputation” “lots of school spirit” “prestigious honors program” “engineering students are treated like gold” “diverse but segregated” “lots of paid internships at Research Park” “very competitive in impacted majors” “Top 10 psychology program”

UIUC (or “U of I”) stands for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. It’s a large public university that’s ranked Top 40 in the nation and has 35,000 undergraduates. UIUC is obviously very well known within the state of Illinois, and about 75% of students are in-state, many from the Chicago area. But nationally and internationally, the school is recognized for its world-class tech programs including engineering, CS, and data science, which are some of the best in the nation, as well as its top-ranked undergraduate business program.

Where is it? If you’re not familiar with this part of the Midwest, you might say that UIUC is in the middle of nowhere — this is the agricultural heartland, and you‘ll find miles and miles of flat, rural farmland, mostly corn and soybeans. In either direction, it’s about 2 hours to Indianapolis, 2 hours to Chicago, 3 hours to St. Louis, or 3 hours to Louisville, Kentucky. So yes, it’s sort of in the middle of nowhere. And the closest major airport is 2 hours away (but there is a small regional airport just a few miles from campus).

One university, two cities.

UIUC literally straddles the border between two mid-sized cities: Urbana and Champaign. Half the campus is in one city, and half the campus is in another. Yes, it’s a very large campus. Urbana has a more subdued, eclectic, artsy feel with farmers markets, museums, and concert performances. It’s more residential, peaceful, and has a lot of different ways to explore nature. By contrast, Champaign is more social, lively and modern with lots of bars, live music, trendy restaurants, and nightlife options. It’s a more vibrant city, with a thriving tech startup culture.

Some students say that it gives you the best of both worlds. Not only does it give you a choice between a place to chill out or a place to find excitement, but both cities are easily walkable from campus; it’s about a 15 minute walk in either direction, or you can easily grab a free shuttle. So you can party on one side and picnic on the other. For some students, this is the perfect balance — even if it is hours from the nearest major metropolis.

The Pros of UIUC…

#1: Grainger Engineering — UIUC’s undergraduate engineering program is ranked Top 5 in the nation, right alongside the elite programs at Georgia Tech, Caltech, University of Michigan and Carnegie Mellon, and higher than all the Ivy League. It’s also ranked Top 5 for Computer Science, where it’s particularly strong in areas like AI, systems, and cybersecurity. Plus it has a massive alumni network that includes the co-founders of YouTube, PayPal, and Yelp, among many other tech companies.

It’s also said that the engineering students at UIUC get treated like gold: they get their own special mini-campus that’s surrounded by coffee shops, food trucks and maker spaces; they get plenty of funding for research and travel; and they get heavily recruited for high paying jobs by top companies from all over the country.

#2: Research Park — Located right next to campus is UIUC’s Research Park. It’s a sprawling technology and business hub that hosts more than 100 top companies like NVIDIA, State Farm, John Deere, Bayer, and Capital One. And there’s a startup incubator that provides mentorship, funding, and lab space. This is a great space for anyone interested in engineering, data science or business who wants to launch a new company or get a paid internship with a top firm. And this can often lead to full time positions after graduation.

#3: Gies Business — UIUC’s Gies College of Business (pronounced Geese, like the birds) is ranked Top 15 in the nation, and it’s particularly strong for students who want to merge business with technology. They offer a number of innovative hybrid business majors such as Finance + Data Science that sets you up to work in banking, consulting, risk management, market research, etc. Plus, Gies is ranked Top 5 for Student Satisfaction, which includes everything from affordable tuition to faculty responsiveness to campus culture.

#4: Campus Honors Program (CHP) — Every year, about 100-125 freshmen applicants are invited to join UIUC’s prestigious Honors Program, which includes a variety of perks: honors-only classes with the best professors, priority registration, special housing, faculty mentorship, plus grants for summer research or travel, and a very small merit scholarship. No separate application is required; you’ll be invited to join based on the strength of your application to UIUC.

#5: Greek Life — UIUC famously has nearly 100 Greek organizations, among the most of any university, and Greek life plays a prominent role on campus. But only about 20% of students actually join a house; so if you want to take advantage of the big party scene, you can, but you certainly don’t have to. The school is big enough where you can find of plenty of other things to do. Also, many of the Greek houses are spectacular mini-mansions, and some of the sororities houses are beautifully maintained. with in-house chefs, furnished bedrooms, yoga rooms, and private libraries, making them feel more like a boutique hotel than typical college housing.

The Cons of UIUC…

#1: Rigorous and Competitive — When you apply to UIUC, you have to apply directly to a specific major within a specific undergraduate college. And some of the most popular options are extremely competitive, even more so for out-of-state applicants. For example, while the overall acceptance rate at the College of Engineering is about 25%, if you wanted to major in CS, it has only about a 7% acceptance rate. In addition, the classes are very difficult, and graded on a steep curve, designed to weed out all but the best students.

#2: Teaching Quality: One of the common gripes of students is that many of the professors at UIUC seem to be much more interested in their own research than they are teaching their classes. They get TAs (teaching assistants) to do most of the heavy lifting, and students are left to more-or-less learn the material on their own. This is not a small, nurturing environment that you might find at a private university: this is a school with large lecture classes of 300 or 400 students and a sink-or-swim mentality. For that reason, some students say UIUC is a better option for graduate school.

#3: Extreme Weather — UIUC's weather is harsh and unpredictable, with frigid, windy winters and hot, humid summers, plus frequent tornado warnings; the flat campus offers little protection from the elements, so students need to be ready for sudden snow, rain, or heat.

#4: Giant Campus — The UIUC campus is nice, but it’s huge, and it can take forever to get across campus to your next class. And this is compounded in bad weather when it’s not practical to walk or bike. While the campus is technically walkable, many students take crowded shuttles to get them where they need to go. You just have to remember that this is a very large school with a ton of students.

How to get into UIUC…

#1: Choose a Major Wisely — UIUC gives priority consideration to your first-choice major. So if you apply for a CS major within the engineering school, which is extremely competitive with only a 7% acceptance rate, and you don’t get your first choice, you might not get your second choice either. But if you choose a less selective major – such as Electrical Engineering within the engineering school, or CS + Statistics within the Arts and Science school (called CS + X majors) – those have about a 20% acceptance rate, so you’ll have a much better chance of getting in. In other words, don’t throw your first choice away on something you’re not likely to get. (Note that some of the best career and networking perks are reserved for students within the prestigious engineering school.)

#2: Apply EA — While UIUC doesn’t publish its Early Action acceptance rate, it’s probably higher than its Regular Decision rate, which is about 55% for in-state applicants and 35% for out-state and international applicants. Plus, applying EA usually gives you a better chance of getting into the major you want, plus qualifying for merit scholarships. And since there’s no downside to applying EA, and it’s non-binding, it’s best to take advantage of this option if you can.