#UIUC vs UMD vs Purdue vs UCSD

24 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

spark minnow
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Schools: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Maryland College Park, Purdue University West Lafayette, University of California San Diego

Intended Major: Computer/Electrical Engineering (First-Year Engineering at Purdue)

Similarities: All are large public universities with strong undergraduate engineering programs and a lot of engineering-related opportunities

Costs:
UIUC - $72K
UMD - $63K
Purdue - $52K
UCSD - $86K
Can easily cover them all as full-pay international

UIUC
Pros:

  • Ranked very high for undergrad engineering
  • Known for very strong career fairs and on-campus recruiting pipelines
  • A lot of robotics opportunities, such as student orgs and projects
    Cons:
  • Very competitive
  • Rural location, cold weather

UMD
Pros:

  • Near Washington DC, not rural (opposite of UIUC, somewhat) and good access to internships in government/defense/tech
  • A lot of robotics-related opportunities
    Cons:
  • Generally ranked below UIUC/Purdue for engineering

Purdue
Pros:

  • Cheapest of the bunch
  • Ranked slightly below UIUC for undergrad engineering
  • Known for hands-on engineering
    Cons:
  • Rural location, cold weather
  • First-Year Engineering system means no direct admission to major (need to qualify for ECE)

UCSD
Pros:

  • Location and weather are nice
  • Well-known for strong research output and opportunities
  • Warren college for engineering?
    Cons:
  • Generally ranked below UIUC/Purdue for engineering
  • Very expensive
  • I don't like beaches

Tiebreaking considerations:

  • How internship pipelines and undergraduate research opportunities compare across these schools for international students (I haven’t been able to find clear comparisons on this)
  • Robotics opportunities at each school

Preferences:

  • Undecided between industry and grad school
  • Want strong opportunities in both internships and undergraduate research
  • Interested in robotics
  • Prefer smaller class sizes and moderate climates but not as much as the three above
deft bison
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I'm not gonna lie I want to say purdue

sly niche
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I think UIUC has more interesting robotics faculty than UMD ATM. It's been a few years since I looked

deft bison
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You still have time to determine if you want to do industry or grad school. All these universities will provide you opportunities to do so

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Purdue has a really good robotics scene, especially with its electrical engineering department, is where a lot of the robotics is located at

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When it comes to rural location of purdue, it's the middle of nowhere, but it's not rural

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Uiuc more rural

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Getting into electrical engineering is not particularly hard at purdue university, you just need to get a minimum g.P a requirement that mostly everyone gets

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Just like our neighbor to the west, purdue has a lot of robotics opportunities clubs organizations and projects

rare rock
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If you can afford them all, recommend UIUC 100%

worldly osprey
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yea if ur not a beach dude / textbook surfer socal vibe guy fade ucsd

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it’s great for engineering but just probably not what ur looking for vibe wise

thorny dust
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Purdue bro

cold grotto
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If you need to save money purdue

spiral coral
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if money's not a factor at all, uiuc

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else purdue

solemn juniper
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uiuc is higher ranked for both computer and electrical engineering but between uiuc and purdue you would get similar value. i would say don't fully think about just academics and also think about stuff like social life and which school you think you would be a better fit at after looking at the clubs they offer and other stuff

sly niche
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Purdue

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UIUC

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A direct comparison would be
Required courses for your major
Electives that can count toward your degree
Other course offerings that are interesting
Faculty research areas

silk cypress
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if money is completely no object like u have generational wealth and stuff then consider uiuc or ucsd

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you will likely have a bit more fun at ucsd / cali