#Purdue vs UIUC for Computer Engineering

23 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

tardy lake
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Schools: Purdue & UIUC
Intended major: Computer Engineering (but not 100% sure I will stay with this major)
The end goal for now is to do some sort of hardware engineering for airplanes
Similarities: location- both are kinda in the middle of nowhere and very close to home

Purdue
School 1 Pros:

  • in-state tuition (total cost per year is like 22k or something)
  • lots of friends going here
  • enjoyed the vibes on campus
  • close to home
  • in general great for engineering

School 1 Cons:

  • location, in the middle of nowhere
  • not that great for anything other than engineering in case i wanted to switch majors

UIUC
School 2 Pros:

  • seems to be more renowned for ece
  • better college town
  • close to home

School 2 Cons:

  • 66k per year total cost 😬
  • location

My parents insist that cost should not be a deciding factor but ik that the factor still exists and is very big. Also, could anyone enlighten me on the major differences between the two schools and if there are any huge differences between their ECE departments?

bitter star
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Honestly Purdue

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You mentioned you want to work with airplanes and even if you don’t stick with computer engineer Purdue has a fantastic aeronautics program plus it’s almost 1/3 the cost of UIUC

random oracle
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airplanes = purdue no-brainer

cold meteor
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exactly what he said

random oracle
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purdue ece is very hardware-focused (but you can still do software stuff)

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uiuc ece is very software-focused and basically just a cs degree from what i've heard

inland isle
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purdue cheap

pure sun
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Obviously this your decision, but idk how you could turn down Purdue for 22k a year. Obviously if there’s a specific reason you like uiuc better u should go there, but I think even if uiuc is slightly better for ece (imo I think they’re on the same level but I could be wrong ), is that worth an additional 40k each year. Also both schools (at least to me) seem to be college towns in the middle of nowhere. I haven’t been to uiuc tho I’m just restating what ppl have told me

bright skiff
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yeah probably Purdue since its far cheaper and has better aero

bright skiff
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You probably talked to someone who only wanted to cs classes so as you can tell theres a lot of flexibility in the degree

granite stirrup
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Purdue, considerably cheaper

bitter star
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ive been to all the b1g college towns (not the west coast except seattle) and west lafayette is lower on the list sadly

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my fav is far and away madison wisconsin folloed by ann arbor and then iowa city

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im not gonna count columbus or minneapolis

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college park and new brunswick are like on the edge

fading hornet
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CompEs are only required to take 4 CS/coding classes

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A lot of people in the program just happen to specialize in software but a lot of people also specialize in hardware.

fading hornet
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The lower tuition is a big factor