UiUC vs UW-Madison for Business major

rainyswish
Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:25:21 +0000

I’m majoring in Finance. I think because UIUC is such a big school, there are bound to be bad professors and good professors. So the teaching quality varies, you should look for suggestions from students who already took the courses you are going to take. I.e. for microeconomics people say Gottheil is a toughie. As for the students, some of them are not motivated at all, UIUC is definitely not a school that has only highly competitive /overachieving students (which may affect your motivation as well).
First year is really easy to be honest, but once you start taking actual business courses it’s not easy at all. You do not need to worry about the course load though, most courses only give you 2 assignments and 3 exams per semester unless it is econ or math which requires more practice.
I do enjoy studying at UIUC, I think it is a great place to make friends. Especially if you live in a dorm, you will form a close bond with the students who will be practically living with you for a year. Students at UIUC are very athletic,like to keep in good shape, and they are really into leisure activities. People tan on the main quad often during good weather and just relax. I believe I became a lot healthier since I arrived at UIUC; I lost over 10 lbs just by walking a lot on the big campus and engaging in a lot of ECs rather than using a computer all day.
One thing to be careful of is to pick the right classes on time. You do not want to be left behind! Picking class is tedious at times especially if there is a limited space. There are some courses that you should never skip a semester especially the business core courses. Some of the higher level classes require prerequisite courses, so do not miss out on those! I will list a few that you should take as early as possible: econ102/103, the two math courses, and CS 105 are the courses that you should not miss freshman year. ACCY 201/202 , Econ 202/203, and FIN 221 are courses you should not miss sophomore year.
Finance is a lot tougher than Accounting so be prepared!