University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Top Questions

The academics surprised me when I first attended Illinois. I heard many people say that going to a big school would eliminate the small classroom experience and get good relationships with your professors. But I learned that's definitely not true. I have some classes that are only 20 and even 12 people. It's great. I love that I have good relationships with some of my professors. Some classes can be easy and some challenging, which I found was a great range for a college.

Lecture aren't all that intimidating and if you make an effort to speak with your professor, they'll know who you are. As you progress through your major, you'll have more intimate settings in the classroom, which is really when stuff like that matters. You can't coast here too much. Blow-off classes do exist, but no that many. There's always students at the libraries, which are highly regarded nationwide. Illinois is definitely competitive, but that comes with the territory of many of the students here used to being the smartest in their class. Job preparation and learning for its own sake is pretty balanced,but probably leans toward job preparation. I am a journalism major and am on the school newspaper, The Daily Illini. The DI is great and has taught me much, much more than the journalism school itself. Overall, professors are very good about having office hours available.

There is always something new to learn in life, and that's no exception at the U of I. Classes are geared at creating a common goal between teacher and students: succeed. Success in the eyes of a teacher can be different from what a student sees as success, and that's okay. Professors are eager to help students, in and out of the classroom, some will even want to help you over coffee. Most students are here to get a job in their future, others just want to know more, but the great thing about U of I is it doesn't matter why you're here. You've done great so far and with the great learning environment here, students can only do better.

When I chose my classes in the summer going into my freshman year, I had a lot of help from my adviser, who was in the same room as me. We had had a meeting earlier that day after orientation and she had already critiqued the classes I wanted to take and suggested what would be helpful for my major and this just really made picking classes for me so much easier and faster. When school started, I was surprised by how many small classrooms I had. It was very similar to high school. The only difference is the material can be harder. Usually, the smaller classes are taught by T.A.'s, which I thought I would hate at first, but I have grown to really like it. The T.A.'s really get to know each of their students and their closer to our age so they can relate to us when we forget an assignment during a stressful week because they are still dealing with school themselves. They usually have time outside of the classroom, all it takes is a quick email. When a small class is taught by a professor, it is pretty much the same situation. I had an awesome professor who taught my Hazardous Weather class. He had everyone's name memorized by the second class. He was so helpful and always willing to answer any question that anyone had. These professors know what U of I students are capable and they'll get it out of you to push you toward a better future. Any class you take will teach you skills that will be necessary when you get older. If you'd like classes that are geared toward your career, there will be classes your adviser makes you take that are required by the school. So no matter what, you are getting the education you need for the future you want.

So here's the thing, you can be FOOLISH and sign up for all the weed-out classes that your adviser will "highly recommend" when you meet with them over the summer, but it would be a really bad idea. These classes (CHEM, BIO, CALC, etc.) are going to screw up your GPA. I don't care how well you did in high school, you're NOT READY for college. You are about to enter a really HUGE transitory time period in your life, and even though you're dealing with so many different issues your grades are most important. Don't screw yourself over by getting in classes that (A) don't really interest you and (B) are just going to mess up your GPA. On another note, UIUC has a ton of really interesting classes across all of their departments. Sign up for classes that interest you. You will have more than enough time to finish all your gen eds. In fact, you may be pleasantly surprised to see that many of the classes that interest you will satisfy a gen ed.

The academics at the University of Illinois are a mixed bag. While many of the lower level courses are taught by teachers assistants, the higher classes offer outstanding opportunities to connect with world renown academics. As a journalism major, my early classes were not the most exciting. However, the higher classes provided one-on-one time with Pulitzer Prize winners. Sticking through the early years reaps great rewards in the later years.

The academics at the University of Illinois are a mixed bag. While many of the lower level courses are taught by teachers assistants, the higher classes offer outstanding opportunities to connect with world renown academics. As a journalism major, my early classes were not the most exciting. However, the higher classes provided one-on-one time with Pulitzer Prize winners. Sticking through the early years reaps great rewards in the later years.

Academic life is no breeze at Illinois. Over the past few years, things have only gotten more competitive. U of I is a challenging academic environment and that is one of the reasons why I chose to go here. It is important to prepare yourself properly for the job market. U of I academics will do that for you. It isn’t Harvard, or Stanford, or even Northwestern, but Illinois is a top tier academic university. It is a good balance for strong students who don’t want the day-to-day grind of a Northwestern-type university.

Academics are extremely important at U of I. If you want to get a job, you have to do put effort in to your classes and try. Of course there are "easy" classes, but even those you have to do well in. I know tons of kids who loaded their semester with easy classes but did poorly in all of them because they just saw them as easy classes. I personally see no point in doing that, especially because you're paying for education in college. My professors know my name because my classes are smaller. I'm in a Broadcast Journalism major and our classes are smaller and more intimate, so you actually get the chance to talk one-on-one with your professor and get to know your whole class. I love that about my college because I get the best of both worlds. My college is one of the smaller ones but I still get that big university atmosphere. I can't measure how often students study because it really does differ depending on the student. There are kids that sleep in the library two to three nights a week and there are also kids who go out to bars two to three nights a week. It all depends on the student you are and how you like to study. Remember, it's all about the effort and time you choose to put into it. I can't speak for other colleges, but I can safely say that the education at this school is geared toward getting a job. Of course with much learning involved! My college has this awesome internship/job coordinator who sends out numerous emails daily about internships and job opportunities to students in the College of Media. I've entered numerous opportunities from her emails and I'm very grateful for that. Actually, I found out about Unigo through her!

I really do believe that the students here are the best of the best, the cream of the crop. Some of the brightest minds in the world attend the university. Not only do we have some of the smartest kids in the country, but bright students from China and India, for example, participate in the academic environment present here. A lot of incoming freshman's fears about attending such a large university are the 100-plus student lectures. A legitimate concern, but one that the U of I answers. Large lectures are made smaller by attending weekly discussion sessions taught by Teaching Assistants (TAs). This makes the academic experience more personal. The professors make themselves very available, too. They always stay after class and help students with the material. They also hold office hours several times a week to go over problems with the students. The type of academic experience one haves here is all dependent on the student. He or she makes the academic experience as personal as he or she sees fit. The university ensures that its students learn the skills necessary for their chosen career path, but they also stress that kids are well-rounded here. U of I requires its students to take several general education courses that allows students to explore what else is out there. The classes here help students succeed in their future jobs, but also to succeed as more complete human beings.