UMich vs UIUC (international student)

Rossmom2
Wed, 04 Apr 2018 23:08:30 +0000

I am familiar with both schools and towns as one sister in Champaign (brother in law is a professor at UIUC, nephew a student there), and myself living in Ann Arbor with several family members affiliated with U of M one way or another.
If you are 100% certain about your major, saving $10k/year at UIUC makes sense. If you are not, U of M would make changes much easier. Being an international student studying in the US, it’s a wonderful thing to have family or family friends not too far away. If money is not a consideration, I would choose U of M. It is an easy car/shuttle ride to Detroit Airport where as you will need to get to Chicago (2-3 hours away depending on traffic) for international flights from UIUC. Ann Arbor is also a much better town than Urbana-Champaign in terms food and culture.