I am considering going to UIUC but as a Chicago student I can’t help but feel that UIUC is a back up school. I hear a lot about how it is good school but the high acceptance rate makes me worry that it isn’t all competitive and that I wont prosper as much academically. It is also a huge party school which gives me the vibe that it’s more play than work. I can encourage myself to work but I know that personally, I want to be in an environment where there’s manageable competition and nerds studying on the weekends. Also, can someone please tell me how are the academics are here. I hear that the school has run down departments and not-so-challenging work. I want to go into a math major and I’m no genius in math I have to work to understand it, but I’m motivated to learn it. In order for me to learn I need to be provided with professors who know what they’re talking about and can effectively teach. Are professors/GSI’s here known for that? Teaching effectively, not just lecturing. I also want to major in education so any knowledge on this department would be helpful too.
UIUC is a great school. Yes the acceptance rate it high but that only accounts for the overall acceptance rate. However, some programs, especially College of Engineering, College of Business and anything stem related is highly competitive, almost (if not more) to an ivy league level, hence is why UIUC can be referred to as “public ivy”. Even though it is a huge party school, a many of the students are still competitive. For your math major, it is still pretty competitive, and as long as you did well for math in high school or sats or anything math related, you should be more likely to be accepted and more prepared for a math major. As for professors, I can’t answer those (since I’m also considering uiuc as well) but you are a little too early to ask that, so you just gotta wait!
UIUC is an excellent school in many disciplines. IT is large but that means you can find all kinds of activities there. If you don’t like to party, then you don’t have to. There are plenty of STEM students there who are not all that into the social life.
The acceptance rate is typical of a large public university. They are obliged to accept a a certain fraction of in-state students who apply. As the previous responder states, the acceptance rate varied form college to college and so you cannot generalize.
One final point. You are looking for a good, challenging education and you can get this at many universities. UIUC is one of them and rankings are not really indicative of how good it is overall. Rankings have lots of factors and it is generally true that smaller private universities do better in these kinds of lists. That does not mean that you will necessarily get a better education though.
[QUOTE=""]
Is UIUC a good school?
[/QUOTE]
That’s a loaded question. It can be a bad school if it’s the wrong fit. It can be a bad school if the professors aren’t decent at teaching the material and open to helping students. It can be a bad school if it encourages you indirectly to do some questionable things. Etc. etc. All of this can be found in every university and college across America.
Academically, for a public university, it’s a very solid school. It shines in some departments like finance, accounting and computer science on the undergraduate level. It has a stellar reputation in engineering on the undergrad and graduate level.
[QUOTE=""]
I am considering going to UIUC but as a Chicago student I can’t help but feel that UIUC is a back up school.
[/QUOTE]
It can be a back up school depending on where you’re applying and what your concentration is. If you’re applying to the Ivies, Stanford, U of C or highly ranked LAS then, in general, it can be seen as a back up. Then again most public flagships would. There are exceptions, though. My class valedictorian was “Ivy material” but he opted for UIUC in a heartbeat. It was his dream school and not even Stanford could rip him away.
If you’re applying to programs like engineering then I don’t see how UIUC is a back up to the Ivies or to U of C. UIUC would be equal to Stanford in that regard.
[QUOTE=""]
I hear a lot about how it is good school but the high acceptance rate makes me worry that it isn’t all competitive and that I wont prosper as much academically.
[/QUOTE]
What’s your idea of prospering academically? If you seek an education you can find that in almost any university regardless of its acceptance rate. I’ve come across Yale kids that were National Merit Finalists who couldn’t argue out of a wet paper bag. I’ve also come across kids from state universities who were complete idiots while others were brilliant.
The high acceptance is somewhat misleading. Since UIUC is a land grant university the mission of the school is innately different from highly ranked private universities and colleges. Besides the traditional route demographic - the college freshmen who’s 17/18 - the range of students UIUC accepts is rather diverse if we don’t count’ ethnic, national and racial diversity. These students can be transfer students coming in as sophomores or juniors from other universities or junior colleges, people returning to school who are non-traditional (veterans, parents) to people who are part-time students. You’ll most likely find a 60+ yr old obtaining his BA at a public university like UIUC than, say, U of C.
The university also has a large amount of seats to fill up, so naturally there will be a high acceptance rate as with most public universities. (“Secret”: top private universities and colleges have very low acceptance rates because there are more applications that are rejected than seats available. The real question is whether or not those rejected would be the equivalent to the accepted students.)
Each academic college has its own standards (GPA, ACT/SAT score, class rank). Someone who’s applying to become a music teacher versus a prospective civil engineering student will probably have lower stats. But this doesn’t matter much because those two aren’t competing against one another in admissions - the music student will have different standards to meet in order to be accepted into the music program (live audition). The same with the engineering student who’s applying to the college of engineering. Given this, ACT/SAT scores will vary greatly. The resume of each student will probably greatly differ too.
Keep in mind that public universities are more raw numbers based when it comes to admissions. If you meet the median GPA for your college and a high enough ACT/SAT score you might gain admissions. Though anecdotal, my friend had a 3.65 GPA in high school and scored a 31 on his ACT. He applied online (psychology) and within a week he was granted admissions.
Going back the land grant fact, the university accepts a wide range of students, both in academic ability and traditional vs non-traditional. You’re going to have kids who are morons and kids who are quite smart. You’ll may meet a 45 year old woman getting her BA after raising her kids; she’ll probably have more wisdom than all your professors combined. There are departmental honors and campus honors so there are smart kids to be found.
In short, an acceptance rate doesn’t accurately gauge a university’s (supposed) academic quality.
[QUOTE=""]
It is also a huge party school which gives me the vibe that it’s more play than work. I can encourage myself to work but I know that personally, I want to be in an environment where there’s manageable competition and nerds studying on the weekends.
[/QUOTE]
It all depends on how you approach your studies and the culture of red cups. If you want to party then there’s the opportunity to do so. If you want to be serious about your studies you can. There are cases where students put partying over studies and flunk out. There are cases where students didn’t party that much and focused on studies and excelled. There are cases were students met a balance. You get the idea.
If you want a strict nerd culture, it can be found at UIUC, but at a smaller number than places like U of C. If you want a “nerd school” then look to U of C.
[QUOTE=""]
Also, can someone please tell me how are the academics are here. I hear that the school has run down departments and not-so-challenging work. I want to go into a math major and I’m no genius in math I have to work to understand it, but I’m motivated to learn it.
[/QUOTE]
See above on what I wrote about each college/department having their own admission standards.
I’m not a math major so I can’t really comment on it with much accurate knowledge. I’d be more worried on whether you’ll survive the required courses to be a math major than worrying if the department is run down and not-so-challenging. If math isn’t your forte, or if you’re not that good at it, the not-so-challenging courses will probably be challenging. Gauge your own ability in the discipline first.
[QUOTE=""]
In order for me to learn I need to be provided with professors who know what they’re talking about and can effectively teach. Are professors/GSI’s here known for that? Teaching effectively, not just lecturing. I also want to major in education so any knowledge on this department would be helpful too.
[/QUOTE]
Again, I’m not a math major, so I can’t really comment on the quality of departmental teaching. I do know a couple of kids who became teachers (English, music) and I didn’t hear any complaints from them, but I also didn’t hear any stellar reviews. How does UIUC’s education department compare to places like ISU, NIU and EIU - universities where many are education majors or focusing on teaching - I don’t know. The most important thing is whether or not UIUC gets its teachers licensed/certified, which it does.
Visit UIUC and meet with the Education Department or math department while you are there, to determine your fit at this large public program.
There is a focused bachelors degree at UIUC for students who want to teach middle school math:
http://catalog.illinois.edu/undergraduate/education/departments/curriculum-instruction/middle-grades/
And a focus for students who want to teach high school math as well:
http://catalog.illinois.edu/undergraduate/las/academic-units/math/teacher-education-minor-mathematics-grades-9-12/
There are masters degrees in teaching offered specifically in STEM fields at UIUC:
https://education.illinois.edu/ci/programs-degrees/mse
No wonder Illinois has such excellent K-12 public schools, with this kind of specialized teacher training available.
UIUC is known as a powerhouse program in computer science, math and physics. So if your math ACT is 32-36, you will probably do well, if you work hard. If your math ability is lower, you will work harder at UIUC in math to pass the classes, but since there are teaching majors, ask more about the classes you need to take to get the degree, how much pure math versus applied math. Computer science at UIUC requires a lot of math so you will be in math classes, maybe with CS and engineering students, who got a 36 on the math portion of the ACT, but ask about that.
UIUC National Ranks for mathematics programs at the graduate level are very strong, with Logic ranked 4 in the country, discrete math and combinatorics ranks 8, and mathematics department overall is ranked 17 in the country. This is a very very strong math rank for UIUC. Here are the other science ranks, so you see why your state school is so famous internationally. (Engineering, Agriculture and psychology rank in the top five or ten nationally as well)
UIUC is ranked number 1 in some physics fields like Condensed matter physics. So a degree at UIUC will take you far, especially if you change your mind about becoming a teacher and want to become a data scientist, or other quantitative field.
While its a fun undergraduate environment, and may throw some good parties, the graduate programs are internationally regarded in many fields.
Given that you get in state tuition, I would consider it, if you have a strong math score on the ACT/SAT.
Coloradomama said “No wonder Illinois has such excellent K-12 public schools, with this kind of specialized teacher training available.”
The state of Illinois or UIUC’s education department? If the former I wasn’t aware that Illinois’ public school system was known for excellence. Though I am aware that the Charleston/Mattoon area was known for its public school education. But that was then.