<p>Go visit Auburn. While on campus, make an effort to see their Career Office and ask them what companies have recruited Industrial Engineering majors on campus over the past year. Compare to UIUC.</p>
<p>In my engineering experience, the education will pretty much be the same so you need to look at cost and environment. Top engineering programs, like UIUC, will be more widely recruited - possibly by national firms and moreso firms in its home region. Auburn will likely be more widely recruited by Southern based firms and likely less widely recruited nationally. If you go to Auburn and want to work back up in your Chicago homeland, you’ll likely have to do more legwork to get a job up north…but you’ll get a job from either.</p>
<p>A masters degree is probably not necessary for an entry level job. My standard advice is to get your BS and then work for a while…your interests may change…then go back for a masters or MBA.</p>