Have your kid get use to overnighting 1 night in Chicago anytime they travel back or forth to campus ~ problem solved.

Anonymous wrote:Just visited UIUC after a stop at NorthWestern. Huge school but well laid out, and plenty to do, and a gazillion majors. This is our 2nd child going thru the college process, so we've toured many other schools, but this is the 1st time we experienced so much kindness from folks not in admissions. Several examples where folks (staff, students, etc) came up to us to ask if we needed anything...it was so refreshing and just left an impression on all of us. Case in point, the librarian gave us a personal tour of the library as he saw us just wandering around.

The downside, a bit of PIA to get to if ur OOS.

Yes it is a nice friendly place miss it (only sometimes tho) after east coast interactions. The libraries are good and many librarians from area universities get their MLS from UIUC. Many majors. students from out of state as well as international "back in the day."

OP, re: UIUC, probably the only reason is, it's hard to get to. Honestly, I think that's it. If you can solve that problem, it's a great choice. Our two kids went OOS. Each flew to their different schools. In each case the nearish airport (of any reasonable size) was 1 hr, or 1+ hrs away, but not 2, and the university would pick them up, when prearranged/and paid for. It made such a difference.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Champagne-Urbana is not the college down that the other schools mentioned in this thread are. As such, unless you are from in state or doing one of those more selective programs, there is not a lot of draw.

I was heavily recruited there for athletics years ago. From Illinois. Nothing negative to say about the school itself then, or now. Illinois public universities are in a sorry state, and UIUC stands out. As in really stands out. There are excellent programs there. Even their ag major is superlative. My late classmate owned the largest floral grower in the Midwest and nd really put his business on a cutting edge with UIUC ag degrees.

The challenge is as indicated above. The school is located in a flat featureless prairie. It is the least attractive of the historical Big 10 schools. The downtown has grown through the years (there are actually three downtowns, but I am referring to the one near campus). It is mostly a collection of new but unremarkable buildings. But definitely a breath of fresh air. Most Illinois cities have become depressing places, with limited economic opportunities. Decatur, Rockford, Peoria, Danville, Metro East, all economically depressed. The Southland - the southern suburbs of Chicago - are essentially collapsing and not coming back. High taxes and huge public debt everywhere. I would not count on Chicago to continue to be a jobs engine. I say this with five generations in Illinois behind me. A factor for UIUC, but also for Indiana, Iowa, Purdue, Wisconsin and the like - historically lots of grads flock to Chicago. UIUC grads competitive anyw

My U of I friends - my very good public high school sent over 80 in my class - led a nice lifestyle. The school in any number of majors is difficult, but with the right mindset one can eliminate distractions. I envied my friends. After their last final, they could take the train and relax to Chicago, the hop a few tracks to head to the suburbs and their homes.

If you want a feel for UIUC, look up a guy named Chris Harden on YouTube. He does automobile camera documentaries, and his piece on Champaign Urbana is rightly positive. Gives you a good virtual feel for the campus. Harden has a feature on Bloomington Normal - home of Illinois State (where my parents went) and while Bloomington Normal is not the typical Illinois economic disaster there is a marked difference between Illinois State and UIUC.

I presume your ommission of Springfield from the list of despressed Central Illinois communities is because my home town is thriving (in its own way).

UIUC is a great school/community for so many ways and beyond CS. In terms of the logistics of getting to/from, I struggle to see how that would be a major issue - with the local airport, the airtport in Bloomington (IL), the Indy airport, and the multitude of ways to travel from campus to the Chicago-area airports. (I used the Bloomington, IL airport for most of my college <--> home trips.)

DP here. How long of a car ride is it from the airport to IU? That was our issue.

There is also an Amtrak train station at Champaign Urbana to Chicago about 2 hours. It's located in an area easy enough to get to and from major cities and it's easy Midwest driving.

Anonymous wrote:much luv for UMich and even Indiana on this site, but rarely hear about UIUC. My older child works for a FAANG+ and says it’s the top school for public recruiting at his company. Is it friendly to out of state kids? seems like 20%-30% OOS, similar to Penn State etc

Maybe this other thread from last year has more https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1185898.page

CS tougher admit
In the middle of corn fields
Two hours from major cities/airport, but town does have an airport that has flights to larger airports (to Detroit to DCA for example)
19yrs to get into bars/clubs💃🕺

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Champagne-Urbana is not the college down that the other schools mentioned in this thread are. As such, unless you are from in state or doing one of those more selective programs, there is not a lot of draw.

I was heavily recruited there for athletics years ago. From Illinois. Nothing negative to say about the school itself then, or now. Illinois public universities are in a sorry state, and UIUC stands out. As in really stands out. There are excellent programs there. Even their ag major is superlative. My late classmate owned the largest floral grower in the Midwest and nd really put his business on a cutting edge with UIUC ag degrees.

The challenge is as indicated above. The school is located in a flat featureless prairie. It is the least attractive of the historical Big 10 schools. The downtown has grown through the years (there are actually three downtowns, but I am referring to the one near campus). It is mostly a collection of new but unremarkable buildings. But definitely a breath of fresh air. Most Illinois cities have become depressing places, with limited economic opportunities. Decatur, Rockford, Peoria, Danville, Metro East, all economically depressed. The Southland - the southern suburbs of Chicago - are essentially collapsing and not coming back. High taxes and huge public debt everywhere. I would not count on Chicago to continue to be a jobs engine. I say this with five generations in Illinois behind me. A factor for UIUC, but also for Indiana, Iowa, Purdue, Wisconsin and the like - historically lots of grads flock to Chicago. UIUC grads competitive anyw

My U of I friends - my very good public high school sent over 80 in my class - led a nice lifestyle. The school in any number of majors is difficult, but with the right mindset one can eliminate distractions. I envied my friends. After their last final, they could take the train and relax to Chicago, the hop a few tracks to head to the suburbs and their homes.

If you want a feel for UIUC, look up a guy named Chris Harden on YouTube. He does automobile camera documentaries, and his piece on Champaign Urbana is rightly positive. Gives you a good virtual feel for the campus. Harden has a feature on Bloomington Normal - home of Illinois State (where my parents went) and while Bloomington Normal is not the typical Illinois economic disaster there is a marked difference between Illinois State and UIUC.

I presume your ommission of Springfield from the list of despressed Central Illinois communities is because my home town is thriving (in its own way).

UIUC is a great school/community for so many ways and beyond CS. In terms of the logistics of getting to/from, I struggle to see how that would be a major issue - with the local airport, the airtport in Bloomington (IL), the Indy airport, and the multitude of ways to travel from campus to the Chicago-area airports. (I used the Bloomington, IL airport for most of my college <--> home trips.)

DP here. How long of a car ride is it from the airport to IU? That was our issue.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Champagne-Urbana is not the college down that the other schools mentioned in this thread are. As such, unless you are from in state or doing one of those more selective programs, there is not a lot of draw.

I was heavily recruited there for athletics years ago. From Illinois. Nothing negative to say about the school itself then, or now. Illinois public universities are in a sorry state, and UIUC stands out. As in really stands out. There are excellent programs there. Even their ag major is superlative. My late classmate owned the largest floral grower in the Midwest and nd really put his business on a cutting edge with UIUC ag degrees.

The challenge is as indicated above. The school is located in a flat featureless prairie. It is the least attractive of the historical Big 10 schools. The downtown has grown through the years (there are actually three downtowns, but I am referring to the one near campus). It is mostly a collection of new but unremarkable buildings. But definitely a breath of fresh air. Most Illinois cities have become depressing places, with limited economic opportunities. Decatur, Rockford, Peoria, Danville, Metro East, all economically depressed. The Southland - the southern suburbs of Chicago - are essentially collapsing and not coming back. High taxes and huge public debt everywhere. I would not count on Chicago to continue to be a jobs engine. I say this with five generations in Illinois behind me. A factor for UIUC, but also for Indiana, Iowa, Purdue, Wisconsin and the like - historically lots of grads flock to Chicago. UIUC grads competitive anyw

My U of I friends - my very good public high school sent over 80 in my class - led a nice lifestyle. The school in any number of majors is difficult, but with the right mindset one can eliminate distractions. I envied my friends. After their last final, they could take the train and relax to Chicago, the hop a few tracks to head to the suburbs and their homes.

If you want a feel for UIUC, look up a guy named Chris Harden on YouTube. He does automobile camera documentaries, and his piece on Champaign Urbana is rightly positive. Gives you a good virtual feel for the campus. Harden has a feature on Bloomington Normal - home of Illinois State (where my parents went) and while Bloomington Normal is not the typical Illinois economic disaster there is a marked difference between Illinois State and UIUC.

I presume your ommission of Springfield from the list of despressed Central Illinois communities is because my home town is thriving (in its own way).

UIUC is a great school/community for so many ways and beyond CS. In terms of the logistics of getting to/from, I struggle to see how that would be a major issue - with the local airport, the airtport in Bloomington (IL), the Indy airport, and the multitude of ways to travel from campus to the Chicago-area airports. (I used the Bloomington, IL airport for most of my college <--> home trips.)

Thanks for your detailed review!

Anonymous wrote:Champagne-Urbana is not the college down that the other schools mentioned in this thread are. As such, unless you are from in state or doing one of those more selective programs, there is not a lot of draw.

I was heavily recruited there for athletics years ago. From Illinois. Nothing negative to say about the school itself then, or now. Illinois public universities are in a sorry state, and UIUC stands out. As in really stands out. There are excellent programs there. Even their ag major is superlative. My late classmate owned the largest floral grower in the Midwest and nd really put his business on a cutting edge with UIUC ag degrees.

The challenge is as indicated above. The school is located in a flat featureless prairie. It is the least attractive of the historical Big 10 schools. The downtown has grown through the years (there are actually three downtowns, but I am referring to the one near campus). It is mostly a collection of new but unremarkable buildings. But definitely a breath of fresh air. Most Illinois cities have become depressing places, with limited economic opportunities. Decatur, Rockford, Peoria, Danville, Metro East, all economically depressed. The Southland - the southern suburbs of Chicago - are essentially collapsing and not coming back. High taxes and huge public debt everywhere. I would not count on Chicago to continue to be a jobs engine. I say this with five generations in Illinois behind me. A factor for UIUC, but also for Indiana, Iowa, Purdue, Wisconsin and the like - historically lots of grads flock to Chicago. UIUC grads competitive anyw

My U of I friends - my very good public high school sent over 80 in my class - led a nice lifestyle. The school in any number of majors is difficult, but with the right mindset one can eliminate distractions. I envied my friends. After their last final, they could take the train and relax to Chicago, the hop a few tracks to head to the suburbs and their homes.

If you want a feel for UIUC, look up a guy named Chris Harden on YouTube. He does automobile camera documentaries, and his piece on Champaign Urbana is rightly positive. Gives you a good virtual feel for the campus. Harden has a feature on Bloomington Normal - home of Illinois State (where my parents went) and while Bloomington Normal is not the typical Illinois economic disaster there is a marked difference between Illinois State and UIUC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just visited UIUC after a stop at NorthWestern. Huge school but well laid out, and plenty to do, and a gazillion majors. This is our 2nd child going thru the college process, so we've toured many other schools, but this is the 1st time we experienced so much kindness from folks not in admissions. Several examples where folks (staff, students, etc) came up to us to ask if we needed anything...it was so refreshing and just left an impression on all of us. Case in point, the librarian gave us a personal tour of the library as he saw us just wandering around.

The downside, a bit of PIA to get to if ur OOS.

Midwestern nice is real. And it can be a shock to the system coming from DC.

UIUC does very well with FAANG. It's a legit top school for CS and engineering. And it's generally solid overall. But it's one of those schools where you can get an interview with Google but you are unlikely to get an interview with JP Morgan. It's a good regional school, but flies below the radar nationally except in tech. But UIUC is seriously outstanding in CS and engineering, which are usually super hard, single digit admits for those two majors.

makes sense but some of their other programs also took us by surprise because of size/scope, for example we walked around the Performing Arts Theater and I don't think I've seen a bigger space for theater/actor junkies....I mean, there were 5 levels of this huge building with anything/everything you would want.

Anonymous wrote:Just visited UIUC after a stop at NorthWestern. Huge school but well laid out, and plenty to do, and a gazillion majors. This is our 2nd child going thru the college process, so we've toured many other schools, but this is the 1st time we experienced so much kindness from folks not in admissions. Several examples where folks (staff, students, etc) came up to us to ask if we needed anything...it was so refreshing and just left an impression on all of us. Case in point, the librarian gave us a personal tour of the library as he saw us just wandering around.

The downside, a bit of PIA to get to if ur OOS.

Midwestern nice is real. And it can be a shock to the system coming from DC.

UIUC does very well with FAANG. It's a legit top school for CS and engineering. And it's generally solid overall. But it's one of those schools where you can get an interview with Google but you are unlikely to get an interview with JP Morgan. It's a good regional school, but flies below the radar nationally except in tech. But UIUC is seriously outstanding in CS and engineering, which are usually super hard, single digit admits for those two majors.

Just visited UIUC after a stop at NorthWestern. Huge school but well laid out, and plenty to do, and a gazillion majors. This is our 2nd child going thru the college process, so we've toured many other schools, but this is the 1st time we experienced so much kindness from folks not in admissions. Several examples where folks (staff, students, etc) came up to us to ask if we needed anything...it was so refreshing and just left an impression on all of us. Case in point, the librarian gave us a personal tour of the library as he saw us just wandering around.

The downside, a bit of PIA to get to if ur OOS.