University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Reviews

"It's a very rigorous academic program with brilliant, collaborative, and friendly faculty."

"A Challenging program, brilliant researchers and a dynamic atmosphere."

"The pros are that I am studying exactly what I want and I have great support from my advisor. The con is that the area is kind of dull and I wish I was in a bigger city."

"The campus has people from diverse background. The faculty are technically competent and are involved in cutting edge research. The Financial aid scenario for international students is not so great."

"Top engineering college, especially for graduate programs. Aerospace Engineering is more inclined towards the "space" part more than the "aero" though. Very few options for aeronautical students in terms of course options and research. However, for space students, there are some very good classes in orbital mechanics, space dynamics, attitude and control, rocket propulsion, stability and control. Also, there are many opportunities for research in these fields too. CubeSat is one of the more popular projects that started at UIUC. Overall a very good engineering school. For social life, transportation and other aspects, I guess the ratings say enough."

"The faculty here are amazing. It's nice to have cheap living, but you are living in an industrial cornfield."

"Coming from a more urban environment, it took some time for me to adjust. I also had an issue where my PI left after accepting me in the first year and the department did not support me in finding new opportunities. After a lot of work scouring other divisions, I was able to find other faculty willing to support me. With that said, I HAD to switch divisions. Ultimately, it has been a mixed experience here, but things are looking up (better late than never...)"

"The program is prestigious but faculty isn't as accessible as I would wish."

"UIUC is great. We lack diversity and our university continues to cut resources from Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. And they're treatment of Steven Salaita has kept many world-renowned scholars and professors from giving talks here. Other than that, UIUC is ranked high and has great faculty."

"The sciences at the U of I offer tremendous financial support for graduate programs that are research and thesis based, especially in agriculture and animal sciences. The community is small and incredibly close. Even in undergrad my professors knew my name and knew me personally. It is a very competitive atmosphere but an incredible place to experience your college years at a Big 10 university."

"This program does a good job recruiting good students who will be an asset to it. I feel mentally stimulated in the discussions we have in class. It also has really great faculty. Cons include short training time for teaching and the amount of topics we have to cover as instructors for Rhet 105."

"Pros: the department is quite generous with their financial support and make sure that their students are funded I'm also impressed by the expertise of its faculty. Cons: I'm satisfied with my graduate program although the way the university administration treats their graduate employees leaves a lot to be desired."

"This is one of the top graduate programs in the field, and the faculty are not only intelligent and successful, they are collegial and supportive."

"Very competitive program, but one of the most rewarding experiences."

"I think the program is quite nice. We can choose different courses, and find a professor to do some research in the areas you are interested in. However, winter is coming and it is quite cold."

"The Informatics program is a relatively new program, but it is interdisciplinary in the true sense. It strives to make its students well-rounded and acquainted with the latest technology and trends being followed in science as well as arts. It offers rigorous training to its students, preparing them for professional life, following the top standards, U. Illinois has held."

"Undergrads are depressingly unimpressive. Winter is cold. Natural sciences faculty are often extremely good."

"The basic science part of the veterinary curriculum is not really clinically relevent. There are a lot of extra things to memorize that will be forgotten in a few weeks. The clinical rotations part of the 2nd year is interesting and I have yet to decide if it is a good idea. It takes up a lot of time if you are used to not having to study much and skip class. Otherwise the faculty is very helpful. There are also a lot of foreign teachers with heavy accents that make it hard to understand them."

"The German program here is competitive for PhD students, rather than Master's students (since less people apply for this program). Although no financial aid is offered, there is other financial support, such as a teaching assistant ship or research assistantship. But this means juggling teaching German in a communicative way and homework, along with thesis or preparing for the thesis exams. It is quite a lot of work, meaning there is little time to have a social life, despite U of I being famous for being a party school. Overall, I really enjoy the program with a wonderful faculty, whom are all highly educated and very helpful. They will go above and beyond to help you understand the literature or to work with you for a presentation/essay."

"Excellent faculty, world-renowned research, brilliant students, great parties"