collegekid1189

I have got a serious dilemma that I need some help with. I plan on studying to be a computer engineer and have narrowed my college selection down to two schools: Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Illinois. As I understand it, UIUC has a vastly superior engineering program compared to WUSTL. However, WUSTL has given me a HUGE amount of scholarships in comparison to UIUC, and WUSTL is a MUCH better school in general. Which school would give me the best prospect for the future?????

P.S. Whether I will attend grad school is currently unknown....

ken285

It might be worthwhile to take a look at these two threads regarding WUSTL:

Please help with College Decision!!

Big Ten Schools vs. Smaller Private Universities for Engineering

im_blue

Are you in-state for UIUC? Forget how much WUSTL gave you - their tuition is much higher, so it only makes sense to compare the total cost of each school.

collegekid1189

When I say that WUSTL gave me a huge amount of scholarships, I mean that the total cost of attendance would be triple to attend UIUC over WUSTL. I do know that WUSTL is having some serious engineering bellyaches, however, I can not argue with the money that they are throwing my way. I just wonder whether the "real world employers" would prefer a UIUC degree.

im_blue

Of course the "real world employers" would prefer a UIUC degree. WUSTL's general prestige is irrelevant to engineering companies. The question is, how much is that worth to you?

collegekid1189

If I take the financial plunge and go to UIUC I will probably have a better undergrad degree. This much I get. However, I also want to keep grad school an option, and paying an ungodly amount of money for my bachelors will make this extremely difficult. Do you believe that Washington will hurt my chances of getting into a top notch Stanfordesque program?