Please help me decide

[EEGradStudent1]

Mindcraft, are you from the midwest, the coasts, or international? (Just want to know how the perception of UIUC changes in terms of geography) Thanks.

[esquif]

Hi EEGradStudent1,

I picked UIUC for you because it's an extremely strong school in Solid-State electronics, which can be a combination of EE and Materials Science. Aside from their extremely high EE ranking, UIUC is ranked 2nd for MSE. My friend who got into their MSE PhD is strongly considering going.

Also, I am an international (from Canada) and have known about UIUC for about a few years now.

[Mindcraft]

Originally Posted by EEGradStudent1

Mindcraft, are you from the midwest, the coasts, or international? (Just want to know how the perception of UIUC changes in terms of geography) Thanks.

I am from the south, but I don't think that plays much role in why I would choose UIUC. I've been to UIUC and have seen the beautiful campus, incredible professors, and quality of program. I'm not sure if this is the case anymore, but when I was there, the school bragged that it's EE program was among the best in the world. Thus my experiences lead me to believe that UIUC is the better school.

Yousuf

You did your undergrad in the US in EE and never heard of UIUC??
UIUC is definitely the place to go for solid-state electronics - the transistor was invented on the UIUC campus, which got EE professor John Bardeen a Nobel.

Originally Posted by EEGradStudent1

Thanks for all the responses....

prochainarretus: If funding were no issue, I would pick Cornell, then UT-Austin, and then UCLA. However, in my opinion (as valid as that may be), I think Cornell and UT-Austin are roughly the same, with Cornell having the edge because it is an ivy. However, I think they are both much better than UCLA.

Also, it seems that most people think I should go to UIUC....I am from the East Coast and until about a year ago, I hadn't even heard of UIUC....hence, my gut feeling is Princeton because of the name recognition for industry....however, by US News, UIUC is #4, while Princeton is #11...can anyone from the East Coast or West Coast rate UIUC....Thanks again everyone.

[EEGradStudent1]

Thanks for all the responses....I am definitely liking UIUC more and more....I could be wrong, but I think Bardeen invented the transistor at Bell Labs, not UIUC....I think you are thinking of Jack Kilby, who was a UIUC alum who proposed the Integrated Circuit while at Texas Instruments.

[EEGradStudent1]

Hi,

Although I have heard a lot of great responses from people who say I should go to UIUC, no one who voted for Princeton seems to have responded....can anyone who voted for Princeton state why they voted that way. Thanks.

I thought Bardeen was a prof at UIUC when he got the Nobel.
Or maybe he was at UIUC when he got the second one for superconductivity.

[EEGradStudent1]

Hi,

I visited the UIUC campus and really liked it (the people, the facilities, etc.)

At Princeton, I really liked the people too but they are very focused on one area and one area only (which I have passing interest in).

I talked to some professors and domestic EE students and most told me to go to UIUC. However, talking to some international EE students, most said Princeton.

Does anyone know which school's Masters students in solid stated electronics are recruited more, UIUC or Princeton?

Also to the people who voted for Princeton, would you choose UIUC instead if Princeton was not an option?

Lastly, does anyone know about funding cuts at UIUC?

[bigredx24x]

Originally Posted by EEGradStudent1

Lastly, does anyone know about funding cuts at UIUC?

No, I have not heard anything about this, have you heard something?

What aid did UIUC offer you?

[EEGradStudent1]

I got an RA position, but I heard from some grad students at Michigan and Illinois that there were definite funding cuts at the schools due to a shortfall in the states' operating budgets - i.e. when a state is in debt, usually the first thing they cut is higher education.

I think however the situation at Michigan is worse than Illinois.