Illinois Schools -Rank 'em, please!

In My Humble Opinion
1

I was seriously thinking about posting this question, even without having seen this thread: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=364882

In Illinois, what would the non-Major-specific ranking be for Universities? I offered my opinion to a friend (a 17-year old daughter and a 16 y.o. son), and setold me I was loopy.

My undergrad rankings:

[ol]
[li]Northwestern[/li][li]U of Chicago[/li][li]University of Illinois C-U[/li][li]DePaul[/li][li]Northern Illinois / Loyola (in my opinion, about the same)[/li][li]Illinois State / Southern[/li][li]Eastern / Western[/li][/ol]

I may be missing some…do people vehemently disagree?

-Cem

2

Got a daughter gonna be a Redbird next year.

I think I’d put ISU slightly ahead of Northern - certainly no lower than equal (she looked into both).
And both ISU and Northern ahead of Southern.

And I have no real knowledge of DePaul or Loyola.
Not sure why they would rank that high, other than the Chicago catholic alumni.
I’ve heard Loyola has made strides recently.
They are much smaller than the state schools.

Tough to do on a non-major specific basis, tho, as well as an individual kid’s preferences.
For example, my daughter chose ISU over U of I (my alma mater), and I fully agree with her choice.
Most people would say U of I was a better choice even given her chosen major.
But “most people’s” opinions didn’t dictate when the decision involved my kid.

Also, talking about value - can’t imagine why an NU bachelors’ would be worth $45g a year, with 0 merit assistance available.
I assume DePaul and Loyola are also more expensive than the state schools.

What was your friend’s ranking?
Why did she consider you loopy?

3

Friend’s daughter could write her own ticket, really. They thought I was loopy for two reasons (I thought it was quibbling, but you asked!):

[ul]
[li]Placing NU over UC[/li][li]Placing DePaul and Loyola over ISU/NIU[/li][/ul]

I didn’t take networking into consideration, but nowthat you brought it up, I’ll stick to my guns on Loyola and DePaul.

If you factor in cost, I agree that Value is another list entirely. I might put your and my Alma Mater at the top of the list then, and maybe NU second still? Good question.

And the daughter will probably go to U of Michigan, which frosts my hide. The son likes U of I, though.

-Cem

4

Naturally, NIU is at the top of the list because I graduated from there. That alone should skyrocket its position. And it was extremely affordable.

5

My friend’s boyfriend goes to Loyola. Expensive, but apparently a very good school. And also apparently bordered by not so nice area, but I have no real info on that.

6

What makes this so tough is the many factors involved.

For example, Loyola and DePaul might be great schools, but if your kid doesn’t want to go to a school that is a. small, b. in a large city, c. private, d. religion affiliated - they don’t even make the running.

Another huge factor is major. For example, my kid is studying music ed, hopes to be a HS band director. Hard to say any school in IL has better education departments than ISU and NIU, both of which have near 100% placement rates.
If you want to study engineering, they might be far behind UofI and others.

ISU, IL, NU, and UofI are pretty much considered to have the best music departments in state. But our impression is that UofI focuses far more on performance majors than education. And I cannot imagine NU being so much better to justify 3x the cost for a bachelor’s. NU offers NO merit assistance, and ISU has already come across with $8,500, with the possibility of more coming.

Many folks would say to consider out of state schools for music such as IU, or small schools like Butler, Oberlin, etc. But an out of state school does not provide a clear advantage if you currently expect/desire to be certified to teach in IL.

Then you add in the personalities of the schools. I was a little disappointed at how monolithic, anonymous, and standoffish UofI was compared to ISU/NIU. UofI’s posture was essentially “submit your materials and they will be processed.” When my daughter asked about meeting with professors, maybe taking a lesson or 2, she was actually told, "Why? You won’t have any classes with professors until your Jr. year."
As opposed to NIU and ISU which readily set up full days where she met numerous profs including department heads, had lessons with flute and piano teachers, sat in on classes, etc.
UofI might have the rep, but ISU and NIU easily convinced us that they would be providing a superior service.

And personally, I don’t understand why anyone who wanted to go to a Big 10 and could get into UofI would pay out-of-state tuition to obtain an bachelor’s at another Big 10 school.

The other thing we considered was distance. ISU and UofI being 100-150 miles from home were far enough that the kid would be independent, and not a commuter scool (as even NIU can seem) but not so far that it is too much hassle and expense for the occasional visit. Even Butler and IU were just a little bit farther…

Bo is gone many a year - as is Woody, but I have to admit I would have a hard time getting excited about my kid going to either M or OSU!

YMMV on all of the above points.

7

I would stick IIT between UIUC and DePaul for overall. If we’re talking about technical majors (comp sci, engineering, etc.) I would rank UIUC #1 and IIT #2.

8

If we’re including IIT, where do we put DeVry?
(Just kidding!)

9

What programs are you interested in? Northern has very good programs in business, music, and liberal arts in general, although we place more of an emphasis on graduate programs and research/education.

Why, yes, I do work here. :stuck_out_tongue:

10

To finish my thought: obviously Northwestern and U of I are the biggies, if you can afford 'em. Northern is more for students from middle-class families from the Chicago area and northern Illinois (although we are surprisingly diverse; I’ve always wondered how students from all over the world find us).

11

Grr!

IIT , not ITT

Sorry, I know you were kidding, but as a student there I had to endure way too many ppl getting the two mixed up, even newspapers.

Nothing against ITT of course, it’s a fine trade school :slight_smile:

12

I wondered the same thing when I was earning an Associates degree at Blackhawk College in Moline. Where do people in Japan hear about Blackhawk College of all places??

13

I’d say UChicago and NU command more respect than UIUC overall (except for the technical majors) but if you’re an Illinois resident who isn’t supremely wealthy I’d say UIUC is your best choice because you can get a great education and save all the money you would have spent on undergrad for grad school.

My sister and I both went to IL for grad school, me at UIUC for law and her at NU for medicine…so we have a kinda rivalry even though we were in completely different disciplines.

14

Dinsdale, I wish I’d consulted you before pursuing my Music Ed degree from WIU. :frowning:

15

What you doin now, vert?
Hope things are going good.

Everything I read says while it is very important that you get a bachelor’s degree, where you get it from is of far less importance.

Most employers/grad schools are sharp enough to realize they are better off hiring from the top of the class at Podunk U, than the bottom of many more highly ranked schools.

Might be a little more difficult, but those with ability and desire generally eventually get an opportunity to show it.

16

Absolutely. If you’re serious about getting an education (not just getting a degree), I firmly believe you can get just as good an education at good old State U. as you can at a more expensive “name” school.

Having said that, again, it depends on what program or major you’re interested in. Some departments can’t keep up with the demand for their courses and can’t afford to hire more instructors (not our fault - blame Springfield). Some programs are better at different schools, more challenging. Call up the chair and ask - they know this stuff.

17

I can’t believe I forgot to include IIT. One of by best pals went there, and he’s doing pretty well as a techie at Tellabs (sic?).

I think the friend’s daughter is looking to major in a general Liberal Arts field, and the son wants to be an Engineer. Money’s not really a problem for the family (must be really nice!), so I suggested NU and UIUC, respectively.

I was then told (by the aforementioned daughter) that she wanted to go to Illinois Wesleyan. So much for ranking anything! (that is to say I also neglected to rank IWes in my initial posting).

Fair disclosure…I’m a UIUC alum, so I detest other Big 10 schools on principle (except for NU…always loved that campus).

-Cem

18

Just above Moody Bible Institute?

19

Oh, so you’re an IIT grad, eh? So were you at IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Kharagpur, IIT-Madras, IIT-Delhi, IIT-Roorkee, IIT-Guwahati, or IIT-Bombay?
:smiley:

20

Academically, in general, I might put UofC above NU - and I’m speaking as an NU alum. It really depends, however, on your major interest. For Music and arts (I was a radio/TV/film major), I would give NU the edge. I also give NU the edge in terms of non-academic activities: Big 10 sports; fraternities/sororities; size of student body. I also preferred NU’s location (lakeshore, just outside Chicago) to UofC’s downtown campus.

I don’t know UofC’s tuition (I assume it ain’t cheap), but the major drawback to NU was the cost. I had plenty of financial aid, loans, and some private scholarships, but it was still quite a stretch to pay for.