The Illinois Institute of Technology

Date: Feb 28 2009
Major: Aerospace Engineering (This Major's Salary over time)
From what I was told by super-seniors (5ht year students), years ago, IIT's housing and food options were of poor quality. Now they are not.

I have stayed at the dorms of MIT. Comparing the quality of housing, I would say IIT's and MIT's are the same: students decide how much social interaction they want to have and the buildings are in good conditions. Of course, MIT has many more students.

In terms of the food, I like the food options at IIT much more, as there is a central cafeteria with a delicious buffet at breakfast, lunch and dinner. At MIT, breakfast and lunch are offered only in fast food restaurants on campus; then the quality and nutritive value of the food are poor by default. Dinner during the weekdays in MIT is offered at the different residences at half the cost, after paying for a mandatory $400 meal plan every semester.

At IIT, the student organizations are very active. IIT's Union Board organizes events many times every week. Creating a club and getting funds for it may require some paperwork and formalities, but is generally easy.

IIT's curriculum is very comprehensive and, although not very conceptually challenging, it is very time consuming: lots of homework, tests, quizzes, and presentations for every class.

It is very easy to talk to world-renowned faculty, like Leon M. Lederman, Physics Nobel Laureate. There are many symposia for every department throughout the semester.

Undergraduate research is easy to get, as many students are more interested in working after graduation. There is an office of undergraduate research that matches interested undergraduates with faculty members and gives a nice stipend every semester.

Finally, after coming to IIT, I was surprised to meet so many people who got accepted into Ivy League schools but decided to attend IIT because they either wanted to work with some faculty members here, liked special programs at IIT, got the Camras Scholarship, or got tons of financial aid.