Western Illinois University

Date: Jul 08 2003
Major: Computer Science (This Major's Salary over time)
I was a double major, so I dealt with advisors from two different schools. I can say that one really didn't do much advising of me and didn't offer me a whole lot of help that I couldn't have found on my own, but the other one went so above and beyond his duties, I feel that it is unfair to group all advisors into the category of

don't care about students

This advisor went so far as to send me handwritten letters after each semester to congratulate me on academic accomplishments. And I was never a number to him. He saw me on campus one day with a nasty cold and made an effort to call my dorm a week later to see if I was feeling any better. Was it part of his job? No. Did it enhance my college experience? You bet. I had wonderful relationships with many of the faculty and staff I encountered over the years at WIU, some of which continue today. I can tell you from graduate experience and from the experiences of friends who went to other state universities that you just don't get this sort of attention everywhere.

I would suggest a high school student visit this campus. You will never know if the school is right or not without the visit. The community around is very small, which may be a turnoff for some potential students. For me, it created a situation where I formed close friendships with a diverse group of people, since there was a very limited set of non-univerisity related activities. It's distance from Chicago meant that it was difficult for students to leave every weekend. That was important to me - it is hard to form life lasting relationships at a suitcase college.

This school shaped who I was as an individual. I have done great things in my career and I feel that I owe it all to the 4 years I spent at WIU. I had terrible motivation problems coming out of high school. I probably studied a grand total of 1 hour in my entire high school career. I received a very high mark on my ACT, but had a low GPA. My high school wrote me off as learning challenged who just got lucky one Saturday. WIU more correctly identified me as "bored". I was placed in various situations where I was challenged and I could shine. I graduated Magna Cum Laude from WIU and have since moved on to work on my MS degree part time at a different school where I have a 4.0. My motivation is no longer an issue thanks to the professors who made me realize that giving it my all is very much a reflection on who I am. I would now classify myself as a work-aholic. Many other schools who staff their classes of 100+ students with graduate students who barely speak English would not have accomplished this for me.

Most importantly, I think people should know that there are no egos at this school. I almost transfered to UIUC at one point, since I thought the bigger name would help me in real life (side note: it doesn't! don't let colleges fool you into thinking that - it's a recruiting game many like to play). After a couple of campus visits out to Champaign, I had experienced enough of the "I'm smarter than you" attitude from the students, and even worse, had a professor ask me if I was ready to leave WIU to "rub elbows with the smart people". That sealed my decision there. WIU never made me feel inadequate, my fellow students never acted superior to me, and the professors never insulted where I had been in the past, they were just concerned with where I would be in the future. I learned so much from everyone around me and I would not trade a second of that experience for a "more prestigious school". My 6 figure salary shows that a big name school isn't the only way to the top.

This school is the state's best kept secret. I would recommend it to anyone!