College Decision Engineering International Applicant

tkengg19
Sun, 12 Apr 2015 12:51:16 +0000

Hi Guys!

So I’m an International Student from India applying for engineering to the US. I’ve gotten acceptances from quite a few schools including Purdue, University of Wisconsin Madison, Purdue, Virginia Tech, Boston University, University of California San Diego, University of Illinois- Urbana Champaign and University of Southern California.

I am currently in a pretty happy dilemma choosing between these few schools. I have shortlisted UIUC and USC as my top two schools but am still confused as to which is the better option.

USC is a phenomenal school and is ranked highly in the US-News National University Rankings. It is ranked as a top 25 university in the nation and is well known throughout the world. It is also located in Los Angeles and is known for its strong alumni network.

UIUC is no less with one of the highest ranked Engineering Programs in the Nation with only MIT, Stanford, UCB, Caltech and Gtech being ranked higher. UIUC is located in relatively small cities of Urbana-Champaign and it is relatively less selective.

UIUC has a much better ranked engineering program (#6) as per US News and USC is ranked significantly lower at #24
UIUC seems to be less competitive school with an acceptance rate of 60%. USC is far more selective with an admit rate of about 17%.

The primary factors I want to base my decision on are (in order of importance):

Strength of Engineering School
Job Prospects for International Students
Rating of Engineering Program of UIUC vs USC for admissions to Graduate Programs
Rigor of Engineering Program
Class Size
Student Faculty Ratio
Public Vs Private University
Accessibility of Classes/ Wait-lists for classes as I’ve heard that sometimes students at Public Schools don’t get the classes that they require ( for eg. UCLA)
Prestige
Type of Students
Location
Social life

USC is probably the more prestigious overall among the two schools, but its engineering program isn’t as highly ranked as that of UIUC. Will this affect job prospects and placements later on??/ I have been admitted to both schools for Mechanical Engineering.

Any opinions will be greatly appreciated! Really hope those who are attending UIUC and USC can comment on the social life, career prospects as well as academic rigor/reputation of both schools. Thanks!!!

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