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What to choose: business or electrical/computer engineering?

Which school would be better for engineering/research/entrepreneurship, UIUC or Northwestern?

  • Currently trying to decide between the two. At this point in my life, I'm pretty certain that I want to be involved in something that deals directly with science/engineering. I'm not sure that I want to be an "engineer" per say, but I'm pretty sure that I want to major in engineering because I find it to be a very interesting and diverse field. I've always been interested in entrepreneurship, and kind of envision myself as either starting my own company, or working at an innovative start up. Both schools are great, and have many pros (and cons). I know I can't necessarily make a "wrong" decision, but I'd like to go the university that offers the best all around experience (social, academic, etc.) while also giving me enough resources and support to pursue my research and business interests. Northwestern has an overall "more prestigious" reputation, but UIUC probably has a more well known engineering program, with more engineering majors to choose from. The thing is, since its undergrad I feel like there'd be very few differences, if any, in the material I'd learn from either institution. It seems like the primary difference in teaching would be that one has larger class sizes (UIUC). Another (less important) factor is distance from home. UIUC is a little further, which is enticing because I'd like to explore a new area. However, I don't know how much of a difference it would make, seeing as both are within driving distance.  Given that cost is not an issue, what school do you guys think would be better for me? Factoring in things like which school has more research opportunities for undergrads, more entrepreneurial opportunities/support, better contacts, and would give me a better shot at being admitted to top grad schools (either engineering or professional).

  • Answer:

    Can you tell us a little more about your situation? Where you live, what you want to study, what sort of funds you have? If you're an Illinois resident, there's about a $200,000 difference in the tuition between the two schools over four years.

Peter Kerrigan at Quora Visit the source

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If you're an undergrad, I would recommend UIUC (and I've been associated with both). The infrastructure at UIUC is significantly better for what it sounds like you're looking for. Per the requests, let me elaborate: 1. University & People: UIUC has decades of experience doing research that then reaches out into the real world - from Mosaic (the first web browser), to advanced materials, chips, etc. today. The people at UIUC, from professors to staff to local startups, there is a proven track record and support available to you. The university has a GREAT tech transfer group too. 2. Incubator: EnterpriseWorks (http://researchpark.illinois.edu/enterpriseworkss) is a fantastic place to go - there are free resources, space, events, access to funding agencies, and connections to people in industry. In a 2 minute walk there are offices for Microsoft, Sony and I just saw a new Yahoo building is going up. 3. Local capital: there are good local capital resources and the people there have fantastic access to bay area funding agencies -- and UIUC is known as "the place" for advanced technologies. If you go to the big VC's in the bay area, it's hard not to find a UIUC project, startup or alumni. So, in summary, as a student you have easy, fast and useful access to all the people, organizations, processes and education you need to get familiar with this space. Once you're ready to leave, with your top 5 engineering degree, you have professors and organizations to work with to ideate, plan and launch your idea into a business. And if you're a grad student it is even better! :)

Sultan Meghji

I'll add to the other answers on this page.  I also grew up in Chicagoland (high school in Libertyville) and came in with a lot of AP and community college credit (effectively all freshman and some sophomore courses).  My opinion is that UIUC is the better choice for you. If you are going to go into entrepreneurship, UIUC will open more doors for you, speaking from personal experience: more contacts, more brand recognition (thank all the millionaire graduates).  My Northwestern friends have significantly more trouble. UIUC has more variety of undergraduate research (due to size, if nothing else) and will better position you for technical graduate school or law school.  MBA is a different beast and you will need to get the appropriate positions and recommendations at work, e.g. go into management consulting or a competitive Fortune 500 company. Urbana-Champaign is something of an outpost of Chicago: yes it's different, but it's not comparable to Boston, NYC, Atlanta, Austin, Seattle, and especially the SF Bay Area.  So don't expect a new world, except for the corn and the smell of farm animals when the wind comes from the south.  Too many people come from Chicago for it to be radically different.

Shane Ryoo

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