University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Top Questions

-

Overall, I am happy I attend U of I. It is a great school with a very strong reputation in the midwest as well as across the country and internationally. There are very strong programs in a variety of fields, and the large size allows for numerous opportunities that do not exist at many smaller schools. That being said, it does take some time to find your "group" where one will feel comfortable, at home, and enjoy attending classes each day. The key to doing this is being persistent- it definitely takes more work than it would at most high schools and smaller universities! It is definitely you're stereotypical college town, with Green Street having a variety of restaurants, bars, and stores that one would need on a daily basis. Overall, I'm proud to be an Illini!

Overall, I feel lucky to attend the University of Illinois and find that I continue to discover new things about it every day.

U of I is large, but that is one of its biggest strengths. Everyone finds their niche and has their own crew, but it is easy to diversify your friendships and get involved with anything you are interested in. I love U of I. Your college experience can be anything you want it to be by taking advantage of all the opportunities we offer.

University of Illinois is perfect for me, and can be perfect for anyone. Although it is a large school with 30,000 undergrads, there are so many different RSOs and clubs to get involved in it is easy to make it your own. I spend most of my time at Chabad, which is Jewish student organization. I am the student president this year and it keeps me very busy! Although the university's leadership has gone through lots of changes, there will be a new president next year who will be great and can hopefully give the school some stability.

First, most of the freshman dorms are in a great location on campus. If you're lucky enough to live in the 6-pack (the centrally located dorms I previously referred to), you will be right near the AMAZING activities and recreation center (the ARC), the Ikenberry dining hall (the largest student dining hall on campus), and a short walk or bus ride away from the quad. Additionally, almost every professor I have had has been completely approachable and flexible with meeting times and office hours. You will never get bored here, as there are hundreds of things to do. At night, there are dozens of frat houses to stop by or bars to go to, which are 19 and older (many students love the bar age here as it is an advantage over many other schools). I spend a lot of my time at the Marketplace Mall, which is only around an 8-minute drive from central campus or a 15-20 minute bus ride (which are all free for students!). Although there are many amazing things about UIUC, the administration has been flaky the last half of decade, as recently the president resigned due to issues of integrity. However, I do not at all feel affected by the flaky administration. The students here love Illini football and basketball, and there are plenty of other sports to watch and support in addition to the big two. If you live north of campus in Illinois, there are two main bus routes that will take you back to malls south of and north of the Chicagoland area for a small fee. Although Champaign and Urbana are not exciting towns on their own, this little college town on campus is incredible and definitely something worth visiting. I love UIUC!

I like all the opportunities UIUC has to offer. There are many ways to take leadership positions, get to know professors and work with them on research projects, and more. It is a big school, but it is also very easy to find your niche and make it your own. CU is a college town, but I love it. Everyone is a big supporter of the school and the energy around town is awesome.

This is the most amazing school ever. The atmosphere is so relaxed and welcoming. It has a great reputation for both its academics and its social life. Everyone who goes here loves it.

I love the University of Illinois! The academics at Illinois are challenging and prepare its students for a great career. The school is a very diverse community and the people are great. The school may seem large at the beginning, but the teachers try to make their classes into an individual experience including learning everyone's name. Campus pride is a huge part of Illinois. Everywhere I go I see orange and blue shirts and sweatshirts. I bleed orange and blue and am really glad I decided to come to Illinois.

The University of Illinois is a great school. The best thing about the university is the rewarding feeling you get from succeeding. Yes, this is a tough school, and yes you will struggle at times and feel like it is too difficult, however, when you do put the work in and succeed, that feeling is great. The university is full of opportunities that most people do not take full advantage of. There's always someone who can help you with your classes (professors, TAs, friends, tutors, etc.) and there is plenty of volunteering opportunities to gain leadership and put things on your resume. Some people complain about the school being too large. I would agree that it is very large, however, if you are ok with taking a bus daily or walking/biking at least 10-30 minutes a day I am sure you won't mind how big it is. Lectures are quite large, my biggest was around 800 students. However the discussion section of classes are only about 20-30 students. I spend most of my time at my apartment or out studying, usually at the Illini Union. There are plenty of good study spots around campus, you just have to find yours. You could definitely say this is a college town with a lot of school spirit. The football and basketball games are a great experience and you really get to see what it feels like to be part of a great school with a lot of pride.

The University of Illinois is a studious party school. The phrase "studios party school" is an oxymoron, but not when it comes to the students of this University. It appears if almost every student lives by the motto "work hard, play harder". Throughout the day, all of the main libraries are crowded with students working either together or independently on their studies. However, once it hits about 10 o'clock at night, one can see waves of students making their way to fraternity houses, apartments for parties or straight to the bars to get the party started. and this just isn't on the weekend nights of Friday and Saturday; this happens on any given night of the week, sometimes even Sunday. I am not exaggerating by any means. for as long as I've been here, I've had friends inviting me to go out Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night and Thursday night. I know if i want to participate, the responsible thing to do is finish my homework first. but in the same regard, if my homework is not done, I simply tell them I have to stay in and pull an all-nighter on a paper, and my friends understand because they've all been there before.

The U of I has the best of both worlds. We have the city-like parts, with all the shopping, foods (overload of ethnic foods), and bars. But, we also have the beautiful quad, Japan House, Botanical Gardens, and many other grassy green areas where one can have a picnic, lay out on the grass, and feed the squirrels. There are so many activities to be involved in both on and off campus. The Union offers bowling and an arcade, the Krannert Center holds daily performances and shows, and the ARC offers an outdoor pool for those who want to swim or tan; the shopping mall and main-chain restaurants are just a bus ride away. Coming to the U of I was the best decision I've ever made. I have met people from all over the world and made friends who became family.

Too big but amazing. Diverse student body but does not mingle too much amongst each other.

My opinion about U of I is it is phenomenal! The only aspect about U of I that I don't particularly like is that it is far away from my home. However, this can be to my advantage some times. I love my school because I feel there are so many opportunities and new experiences to be made. The campus is so active and lively that you will never be bored. One thing I would change is the cost. I would definitely lower the cost to make it more affordable for those students that have financial problems. I know several students that have been unable to return for a semester because of lack of financial aid. I know that a lot of people say that U of I is too big but I do not believe that is an issue at all. If you get involved in RSOs or with an intimate group of people it makes the immensity of the university more manageable. You don't realize that the campus is so large if you're focused on those close friendships and responsibilities you have for your organization.Whenever I tell people I go to U of I they automatically think that I am having the time of my life drinking and partying every night, which is definitely not the case. Sure there is plenty to do on campus but that doesn't mean I go out every single night. I definitely spend most of my time on campus in my friends' dorms and apartments. I love interacting with others and having fun. One of the biggest controversies that I have hard about is the Law school and its credibility, which was extremely recent. They had been intentionally increasing the LSAT average in order to make the school appear better on paper. I do believe that a lot of students are proud to come here to school. You can see this by the amount of people that go to the football games and how much spiritwear they wear.

I love that it is a college bubble. I love that the students live here, work here, play here, etc. Your friends are always going to be within a ten minute bus ride of you.

I'm not one for school spirit, because people bleed orange and blue. Our football team might not be great, but Illini basketball is a big deal. Greek life is booming, with a huge number of frats and sororities. The Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) is a state of the art workout facility including 12 basketball courts, swimming pools, a climbing wall and hundreds of other activities. It is constantly busy with students and facility. Bars are pretty big on campus as well with Kam's, Red Lion and Joe's being the most popular. The campus is big, but not overwhelming making buildings pretty easy to find. The bus system is efficient and safe. Champaign's a great college town.

I definitely love UIUC. I think the best thing about this school is the enthusiasm. Everyone is energetic and friendly, which makes this school an excellent place to learn and experience life - as we all know academics are not the only thing about college. Another good thing about UIUC is the diversity. The school is rather large, but I think this is a good size because only with this size do students get to experience living in a society, meeting people from different backgrounds, and broadening their horizons. Also, there is a lot of school pride. In town you will always see buildings in orange and blue, stores selling orange and blue products, and people dressing in orange and blue! Also on game days, students gather and watch the games in high spirits - it is fun!

The best things in our school is diversity. You can find many professors and students with different backgrounds and come from different countries. It is very interesting for me to meet people from different country and learning their culture. The school is really large, if you have class cross campus, it will take about 15 mintunes to walk from one building to another. However, out campus is really beautiful. I spend most of my time in library, because the environment is very nice and our library the the third largest library in the u.s.

The school is indeed very big. It has its benefits and drawbacks. On one hand we do have lots of restaurants, bars, apartments on campus. The bus system is reliable and very convenient if you happen to live somewhere off center or during bad weathers. On the other hand the huge campus might make you feel overwhelmed and not so welcoming at first, leaving your small but familiar home town for the first time. There's a campus town (along Green street), and there's a Champaign city for you to explore over the years. The Urbana side is quiet and classy, but many of us won't find it particularly exciting. For school pride we do have lots of academic achievements and famous graduates over the years, and our Fighting Illini football is one of the big ten. We kick off each year with a homecoming event... I am never a sports person, but the school pride definitely influenced everybody to some extent.

I have had a fantastic experience at the University of Illinois. The campus can be big and small at the same time, depending on the community you surround yourself with. The school is full of incredible diversity, great student talent and a wonderful faculty. I have found that it is very much true that "you can make a big campus small but you can't make a small campus big." With a great group of friends and organizations that I have been heavily involved in, I have found a niche community that has made the big campus feel much smaller than it really is. And I have been able to fully take advantage of the incredible opportunities, technology, resources and programs offered at the school, which wouldn't be possible at a smaller campus. The University of Illinois has above average school pride with a great social life on campus. I feel like the school has the right balance of work-hard play-hard, with motivated students who still have the opportunity to enjoy the typical college lifestyle if and when they want.