UVA or UIUC?

College Search & Lists
1

<p>I got acceptance from both schools as an international freshman student. I want to get my undergrad degree in Comp. Engineering (possibly with a double in Math or Business) and later pursue an MBA. I’m having a hard time choosing between these schools.</p>

<p>1-Undergrad Business Rankings are; UVA 5th, UIUC 14th
2-Undergrad Comp. Eng. Rankings are; UVA 28th, UIUC 3rd
3-Endowments are; UVA $4.45 billion, UIUC US$ 1.28 billion
4-UVA has shown a greater interest in me so far. They even had a special note for me in letter of acceptance. However, I have not even received the letter of acceptance by UIUC yet. Is this a reflection of student/faculty/administration relations in schools?
5-How are the schools’ student body? In terms of intellectual depth and personal relations?</p>

<p>I also think about transferring to an Ivy League level school later. Which of these two schools will help me in terms of my chances for transferring to an Ivy League school?</p>

<p>Thanks for all your help</p>

2

<p>Is there any difference in cost? Does that matter to you?</p>

<p>Is there a difference in ease of transportation to these universities? Would you rather live on the East Coast or in the Midwest?</p>

<p>Don’t worry about the letter. Some places only notify by email. UIUC may be one of them.</p>

<p>Choose the university you think you’d be happy to spend four years at in case you can’t transfer out.</p>

3

<p>There isn’t any difference in costs as they both are public universities and don’t have any kind of financial aid for international students. Both living in the Midwest or the East Coast is fine for me. </p>

<p>The important factor for me is the quality of education, intellectual depth of the student body and the reputation school has so I can pursue my MBA in one of the top schools.</p>

4

<p>

I would go with UVa then.</p>

5

<p>The good MBA programs will expect you to have a minimum of two years of increasingly responsible work experience before you enroll. Five years would be better. MBA admission is based on your undergraduate GPA, your GMAT score, your essays, and your letters of recommendation from your work supervisors and college professors. You can graduate from any college or university on the planet and get into a good MBA program provided your work experience is interesting enough to the admissions committee.</p>

<p>As an international student, you need to think about which of these universities will help you get a job in your home country after you graduate. Do employers there have a preference? Sometimes the only thing that matters is that you have a degree, but in other countries there are clear preferences for certain universities.</p>

<p>You should check out the discussion forum for each of these universities. The students there might have useful information for you:
[University</a> of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-illinois-urbana-champaign/]University”>University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign - College Confidential Forums)
[University</a> of Virginia - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-virginia/]University”>University of Virginia - College Confidential Forums)</p>

6

<p>Thank you for your helpful responses. </p>

<p>What is the importance of my undergrad university’s reputation in MBA Application? If it has any importance which of these schools would give me a greater leverage in terms of presenting a stronger application to top MBA programs?</p>

7

<p>No significant difference.</p>

8

<p>To get into a top business school, you need to have good work experience. UVa has stronger recruiting and will give you a better shot at landing a great job.</p>

9

<p>I agree with jc40, you seem to have a clear preference for UVA:

</p>

10

<p>UIUC is great in CE but it’s really boring in the middle of corn fields.</p>

11

<p>Not that my opinion matters, but I would go to UVa. I am admittedly biased :)</p>

12

<p>Your opinion does matter and thanks to everyone sharing their opinions. It seems like I will be studying in UVA next year, even though high ranking of UIUC in CE still sways me.</p>