So I got accepted into UIUC for electrical engineering and am wondering if it’s worth applying to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. I know that UIUC is better ranked for electrical engineering but Michigan is better ranked overall and I have heard that Ann Arbor is a really nice place to live in (I’m an international student if that makes a difference). I would like to know people’s opinion about which is better and why. Any additional insights would be much appreciated.
I would say Michigan for its prestige
LOL…so Jerome Fisher(UPENN) is THE best program for management & technology in the US. So your question would be should I go into the JF program or MIT because it’s more prestigious but not as good?!
If there is a possibility that you may change major, check into how difficult it will be to change into any of your possible alternative majors.
UPenn vs MIT is splitting hairs. If that were the case I’d consider where I want to end up. Financial firms/start-ups? UPenn for sure.
Anything more engineering oriented, definitely MIT.
There is a marked difference between Michigan and UIUC and the difference between programs is minimal. Also, the funniest thing about CC is that people seem to rail on the US News overall rankings and then praise the same rankings for specific departments. In reality, the overall rankings are probably more legitimate simply because that’s the accepted form that society has appreciated and because it aligns with what people initially consider as the rankings of schools (psychological heuristics). I think people just try to find the ranking that rate their own school the highest…
Michigan is a much better college town, and the programs are pretty comparable. You won’t suffer from a drop in opportunities or skills if you can get into Michigan.
What you are saying makes sense in part. However too many try and choose based on brand names over a better program but lower ranked school. So a student wanting to major in CS gets a chance to go to UW or CMU( top CS programs) and has a tough time deciding because they also were accepted to Dartmouth which is ranked higher and more prestigious. Shouldn’t even be a decision except that pesky prestige they can’t get over.
Fair point, since CMU is always regarded as the premier CS program. This is honestly probably the only decision where I could go either way simply because of the nature of this department (this and maybe something like film). For the majority of other majors, prestige usually does it. To me, it seems that CMU has derived nearly every ounce of its university reputation from its CS department. However, I would want to know if there are recruiters exclusive to CMU CS that Dartmouth doesn’t have. I bet for sure that Google, Facebook, and the rest of the tech giants recruit at both, so in my eyes, it would be a coin flip.
I’m sure people who are more interested in just the learning over the recruiting would prefer CMU, but that’s my take.
That is a bit of thread drift. If the costs are similar, I would go with Michigan over UIUC for practically any major other than CS.
So you guys are trying to say that UIUC is not really better known for EE? Also, does the city make any difference? Since Illinois has Chicago while Michigan only has Detroit.
UIUC is closer to St. Louis than Chicago. You will never go there, except maybe to fly home.
Ann Arbor is about 40 miles from the city of Detroit and 25 miles from Detroit airport. Detroit airport has non-stops to most major cities worldwide and is a hub for Delta. There is good public transport via the airide bus to the Ann Arbor Campus. You can easily rent a car for a trip to Detroit.
Champaign-Urbana is 150 miles from Chicago and its airports (great connections everywhere). It is not easily accessible, but there are commuter flights and unreliable, infrequent Amtrak trains. Chicago is a nice weekend trip but definitely not a day trip if you do not have a car (2.5hr drive)
As a student, you probably will spend most of your time on campus. Ann Arbor is rated in the top 10 small cities in the USA, and the #1 or #2 college town. Ann Arbor has the cultural footprint of a major city, plus the great atmosphere of a college town, and great sports. AA even has pick-up cricket games! You can see all sorts of cultural events, major orchestras and artists, world class theatre, etc. all at student prices ($10-$25). The summer art fair is the largest in the USA. C-U is nice but not in the same class as Ann Arbor. In addition, C-U seems a little isolated in downstate Illinois.
Both are excellent universities with similar high engineering rankings. It is the rest of the university that makes the difference, Michigan is ranked higher is almost everything else and the student body is of a higher caliber.
If you really like Chicago, you can take an equally unreliable (but 3x/day) 250mi train trip (about 4-5 hrs) from the Ann Arbor Campus to downtown Chicago. It’s very popular with students. Some travelers fly into Chicago (airfare is usually cheaper) and take the train to Ann Arbor.
As an FYI, Michigan has about 1500 undergrad students from Illinois (about 6% of students) . But UIUC only has about 250 students from Michigan (<1% of students). So even Illinois students (who pay 3x the tuition prices for out of state ) choose Michigan at nearly 10x the rate of the converse.
Thanks for all your information and advice, I think I will apply to Michigan and decide later since there isn’t much between the two universities.