The University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign

Date: Dec 30 2003
Major: Computer Science (This Major's Salary over time)
There are a million things to do every day and night if you wanted to, but there is also a LOT of work to do if you want to get good grades, balancing these is the key. The place would be a resort if you didn't have to do homework/projects/papers/exams etc (for example, if you're an LAS student:). When you get there first you get thrown into everything, you need to make an effort to take it all in. Talk to everyone you can right off the bat, make friends, it's easy to do if you try just a little because everyone else wants to do the same thing. There are a zillion clubs and organizations which are all laid out for you right away on Quad Day. CS was tough, I definitely had to work hard. A lot of the learning you had to do on your own, and for a lot of the stuff that's probably the only way you'll really learn it anyway. In the toughest classes, going to class everyday was crucial and doing other things like going to office hours, checking the newsgroup etc. is a big help as well. How much you put into it directly relates to how well you do. In general, the school is great, beautiful campus, great value for in-state, ranked very high in all engineerings and other programs as well. Half the people seem to be from Chicago (I wasn't). The bus system is great, I always walked or took the bus to everywhere, I didn't need to drive very much at all. The surrounding city is your basic mid-sized city, and like most cities in the midwest it is surrounded by farmland. In my opinion the school rules the city, that may just be my pride, but that's fine with me. I decided that I wouldn't like schools in big cities, it just doesn't seem to fit. What would you want from the city anyway? Everything was on campus, thousands of people your own age, tons of stuff to do. They had lots of big name concerts so it has the draw of a big city. There are lots of open greenspaces on campus to do everything from frisbee to cricket. The Quad on a warm sunny day is full of frisbees, footballs, bikinis, people walking to class, on trees and grass. Campustown is great, lots of restaurants, bars, shops… There still is no substitute for a campus bar. Sports are really strong as well. I never cared much for my teams in high school but it was different there, a different experience. That is why I love the school. The whole place has an amazing energy.