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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Illinois alum here. Madison is a much nicer town than Champaign-Urbana, no doubt. But I do believe it is harder to get into Illinois than Wisconsin (at least it traditionally was). In addition to a great engineering program, UofI also has a top undergrad business program (not graduate). Huge numbers of kids from the North Shore suburbs of Chicago go to Illinois -- a very similar demographic to Bethesda or McLean. Lots also go to Wisconsin and Indiana. This can be a good or a bad thing, depending on your perspective and what you are looking for. [/quote]

I live in Illinois and gave a talk there and found that U of I people are obsessed with it, incredibly proud, and absolutely love it there. I was a little surprised because Champaign-Urbana isn't exactly some exciting metropolis, but I was surprised by the universal adoration I see. They have a lot of Nobel prize winners on their alumni list, too.

UW people also seem quite fond of it. Generally, though, my experience with both unis is basically tangential and mostly about the cities and Madison is a much nicer town than U-C. I'd love to go to undergrad there. [/quote]

As an Illinois alum that has visited Madison quite a few times, there’s little doubt that Wisconsin has the superior college town as an objective observer. However, I still loved my time in Champaign and always thought that it gets a bad rap because its main direct competitors for students are the all-world college towns like Ann Arbor and Madison. If you’re looking at Champaign solely from the perspective of an actual college student (not as an adult in his/her 30s and older), it’s a spectacularly fun place that actually fits a normal student budget. There a tons of cheap food options and a legitimately large number of authentic ethnic cuisine restaurants (a byproduct of the very large international student population), a 19-year old bar entry age means that most people can head out to the main nightlife locations as early as freshman year, Big Ten sports (basketball game day culture is much stronger than football game day culture, so it’s more similar to Indiana than Michigan/Wisconsin in that respect), tons of concerts ranging from large acts to smaller ones and from rock/hip-hop/country to classical), etc. It’s quite an active campus with a ton to do.

The main drawback of Champaign (and it admittedly can be a large one for a fair number of people) is the lack of natural scenery and outdoor activities. Madison, despite being in a colder weather location, beats Champaign by a mile on that front with its directional access to lakes along with Midwestern-standard ski areas and other recreational activities nearby. Otherwise, though, Illinois is the epitome of a “work hard, play hard” campus. The academic preparation is great, especially in engineering and business, while also being an incredibly fun place to go to college. I’d be more than happy if my kids went there, too.

That being said, I think the in-state public flagship is perpetually underrated wherever you live. Most people in the Midwest would find it quite crazy that someone would pay extra money to go out-of-state if you have schools like UVA, William & Mary and Virginia Tech as in-state options. They would look at a place like Charlottesville as a top tier college town with a lot better weather. So, there’s a lot of “grass is greener” or “I want to get away from my high school classmates” thinking where people romanticize getting away simply to get away. The reality is that when you’ve got a good-to-great in-state public university option that has an active social scene, I find that most people end up loving their time there even if they didn’t think they would coming in. [/quote]

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