The Illinois Institute of Technology

Date: Sep 25 2004
Major: Other (This Major's Salary over time)
IIT is a tech shool environment and students applying to get in to a program here should be cognizant of that when applying. Most majors are math and science based. Unless you want to be an engineer, scientist, or architect, you might want to reconsider schools since it is almost $21,000 in tuition alone, and I've seen too many students transfer or drop out because they were unsure of what they wanted to do upon entering. I don't know any undergrad that goes to IIT that isn't recieving some sort of financial aid other than loans. The school is very good about academic scholarships *be sure to apply for Cameras, Heild, or similar scholarships throgh the school. The environment on campus is quite depressing where even on the weekends it uncomon to find a party on campus. I've heard the dorms are anti-social, but I joined a fraternity right off the bat. Greek life enlivens the campus, but it is still a small tech school which means small membership therefore little resources to hold truly awesom parties. There is a CTA stop on campus which makes it easy to go a-bar-hopping, clubbing(21+), or searching for a party in one of chicago's MANY other colleges. Research is available early in most programs, unlike in big state schools where you have to be a grad students to get any opportunities. Be prepared to compete with some very bright students, especially foreign students who come to the US just for higher education. The retention rate of IIT is not all that high, with many students not cutting it then failing out and many transfers, since this is not the place to figure out what you want to do with your life. My department in particular (Biomedical Engineering) is new and I am in the accrediting class. The professors in the department are great, however since this is the first couple of years, the program is not structured well. Unlike other programs I've check out (Northwestern, Marquette, Washington U, etc) IIT's program threw a bunch of classes together in attempt to get a broad education the first two and a half years. Check out the cirriculum at www.iit.edu ->current students tab ->areas of study… Other programs are structured with a specific focus in BME with tons of BME courses…not available at IIT yet, or possibly ever since it's so small.