University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Reviews

  • 239 Reviews
  • Champaign (IL)
  • Annual Tuition: $33,686
88% of 239 students said this degree improved their career prospects
97% of 239 students said they would recommend this school to others
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Student & Graduate Reviews

Anabelle Taveras
  • Reviewed: 3/30/2015
  • Degree: Health Sciences
"Great school with very supportive faculty. All the teachers have an open door policy and so do the admin. Very diverse class, we have all come from very different background. The workload is pretty ridiculous but I guess thats expected in a medical school, lots of "busy" work."
SharathRam Ganesan
  • Reviewed: 3/17/2015
  • Degree: Industrial Engineering
"Manufacturing discipline should be given more importance to make the program more comprehensive."
Ankit Jain
  • Reviewed: 3/15/2015
  • Degree: Electrical Engineering
"Pros: I am always being challenged and motivated to push myself and learn things further. I truly have gone from an exposed undergrad to a specializing graduate student. Cons: I will definitely say that there can be difficulties with regards to social life. The opportunities are there, but the workload definitely makes it hard to be as social as one would want. However, that's one of the biggest things of pursuing a graduate degree."
Dwayne Baker
  • Reviewed: 2/25/2015
  • Degree: Civil Engineering
"The pros largely deal with access to faculty. The faculty have always been accessible to me and fellow students. They provide excellent feedback and assist in learning."
Crystal Thomas Rudds
  • Reviewed: 2/21/2015
  • Degree: English
"My first few years in the program, faculty and students were very diverse in their academic specializations but not so in terms of representation. Over the years in the program, I saw a concerted effort to address this. I gained a lot from working with professors who are top of their field and yet very nurturing to aspiring PhDs."
Homa Alemzadeh
  • Reviewed: 2/8/2015
  • Degree: Computer Science
"College of Engineering at UIUC provides a very diverse and competitive environment, enabling multi-disciplineary research and education."
Anthony Tsao
  • Reviewed: 1/12/2015
  • Degree: Communications
"My clinical interests include diagnostic testing and aural rehabilitation for adults, especially the geriatric population. I chose the program here at University of Illinois due to its strong integration of coursework and hands-on clinical experiences and because of how involved and supportive the faculty/supervisors are."
Cheyenne Turner
  • Reviewed: 1/10/2015
  • Degree: Human Resources
"This particular program has a phenomenal reputation and is truly competitive. The assistance that I have been provided by Career Services and the alumni network has been a tremendous benefit to my experience at UIUC. The professors are all extremely well versed and knowledgeable in their area of expertise and very accessible. I am very pleased thus far with my experience, and though the weather is not ideal, your educational experience is all worth it."
Mel Wang
  • Reviewed: 12/26/2014
  • Degree: Liberal Studies
"Pros: many programs like classics are fully funded. The graduate student union is strong and the students diverse. Transportation is quite good, and there are many restaurants of varying cultures, the area is not too vast and the cost of living is quite low. There is an abundance of housing options for grad students. Cons: it can be difficult to get to fresh food, especially from campus and without a car. The Meijers and Aldis are far from both Champaign and urbana city centers. Parking on campus is rather expensive and often overcrowded. The workload ranges from 25-67% (for tuition waived grads; any assignment lower than 25 receives no waiver). However, the way in which courses are assigned percentages seems flawed (the amount of work involved in teaching a 33% is far greater than grading at the same amount)."
Rose Schmillen
  • Reviewed: 12/26/2014
  • Degree: Landscape Design
"Pros: The faculty make themselves very available to students, and encourage independent thinking and the pursuit of new ideas. The program includes diverse types of classes, providing opportunities to learn many aspects of the field of landscape architecture. The college offers good suggestions for the job search, and gives avenues to network with firms. Cons: Sometimes the workload makes it difficult to pursue personal interests."
Kiefer Owens
  • Reviewed: 12/26/2014
  • Degree: Philosophy
"My department is too small. There are not enough faculty and hence not enough course options."
Qijun Liu
  • Reviewed: 12/22/2014
  • Degree: Aerospace Engineering
"Difficult for international students to find a job."
Lindsey Hammerslag
  • Reviewed: 12/21/2014
  • Degree: Neuropsychology
"This program does a great job of supporting our development as independent researchers. However, there are some problems with support that come from our unique position as not-a-department. For example, the program cannot control TA appointments or whether certain core classes are being taught. Fortunately, the associated departments, Psychology and Molecular and Cellular Biology, frequently pick up the slack, ensuring that we have classes to TA and that at least some classes are available for us to take. But the situation isn't perfect, it would be better if we had more security. The faculty are the highlight of the program. Many of the professors go above and beyond to ensure that we develop as critical thinkers and independent scientists. I feel that the graduate students get a lot of attention from the faculty and have ample opportunity to present their science in various meetings."
Matthew Spears
  • Reviewed: 12/21/2014
  • Degree: Political Science
"The pros: generally good people, cost of living is low The cons: nothing major"
Thomas Mahoney
  • Reviewed: 12/21/2014
  • Degree: Mathematics
"The University of Illinois has a great highly-ranked graduate program in mathematics. There is a lot to do in the town with an active night life away from the areas frequented by undergraduates."
Gregory Pastorek
  • Reviewed: 12/19/2014
  • Degree: Computer Science
"Extremely brilliant professors and excellent access to research. Nonetheless, it seems that most professors put research first and teaching second. This is understandable, but it must be kept in mind and this is responsible for professors that are hard to understand (thick accents) and are very busy. Social life is excellent. The school is huge, diverse, and incredibly fun. There is a place for nearly every personality at UIUC. The Computer Science program is extremely challenging and competitive, you will be expected to do your homework!"
Kyubong Cho
  • Reviewed: 12/9/2014
  • Degree: Economics
"Overall, quality of graduate program is so good, but I do not know how the future will be."
Natalie Beltz
  • Reviewed: 11/14/2014
  • Degree: Philosophy
"The faculty and other students in this Philosophy program are spectacular. They are incredibly open to different views and respectful of different types and ages of students. I'm a female and Christian and feel zero animosity or trouble on either of those factors. The bus system could be better, but the campus is large, so they have a lot of ground to cover--and they do get you out to shopping etc. as well. Plus as a student, the bus is free. I'm just getting started, but I feel very accepted and welcomed here. There is great camaraderie among students, and the faculty are always willing to give kind, constructive guidance. I wish the Leiter report took PhD student opinions under consideration because then UIUC would be #1. The area is nice & relaxed, people are friendly, and campus is beautiful."
Jason Ahlenius
  • Reviewed: 11/14/2014
  • Degree: English
"This is an excellent program for English Literature education. There are many professors who are very challenging and will work closely with you in your writing and intellectual development. This is also a large department, which allows for a significant degree of diversity in research interests and possibilities. This school also has the second largest university library in the country. The downside that many students mention is the heavy teaching load that teachers have to maintain for funding, although this is also positive in the teaching experience that most students leave with."
syam vangara
  • Reviewed: 11/13/2014
  • Degree: Aerospace Engineering
"Great university, but it would be awesome if it gets some funding in Aero"