Is UIS University of Illinois Springfield a good school? (Champaign: jobs, sick)

[Justcruisin']

My daughter was accepted at UIS for the Fall '08 term. Now we are trying to decide if she should go there.

Is small class size ( approximately 15 students per class) good or bad?
Is smal Campus size good or bad?
Does anyone know about the Capitol Scholars Honor progam?

Any information about UIS would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

[jessiegirl_98]

Originally Posted by Justcruisin'

My daughter was accepted at UIS for the Fall '08 term. Now we are trying to decide if she should go there.

Is small class size ( approximately 15 students per class) good or bad?
Is smal Campus size good or bad?
Does anyone know about the Capitol Scholars Honor progam?

Any information about UIS would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

A small class size is good, a small campus size is up to preference. I went to a smaller liberal arts college and didn't like the small campus size at all and transfered to UIUC, which I loved. Other people thrive on that. Where else was she accepted?

[aragx6]

I don't think I'd necessarily say that a smaller class size is always better. I it is really all based on personal preference. Big schools with big bucks can recruit the best professors, so though the class might be big, the information learned is top notch.

It's also important to note that I went to a big school (University of Missouri, Columbia) and although my freshman classes were huge (up to 450 kids) as a senior my "important" classes were less than 15. My boyfriend was in a smaller program and he had classes with as few as 7 kids.

[Justcruisin']

She has also been accepted at Winona State (MN), NIU, SIU, and Western Colorado so far. She hasn't applied at U of I in Champaign yet because she hasn't gotten around to writing the necessary essays (typical of a 17 year old I suppose). She will be coming from a very large high school (1000 in her graduating class). Also, probably because there is less competition, she has been accepted into UIS's honor's program. I suppose a small school is a good way to stand out from the crowd.

[jessiegirl_98]

Originally Posted by Justcruisin'

She has also been accepted at Winona State (MN), NIU, SIU, and Western Colorado so far. She hasn't applied at U of I in Champaign yet because she hasn't gotten around to writing the necessary essays (typical of a 17 year old I suppose). She will be coming from a very large high school (1000 in her graduating class). Also, probably because there is less competition, she has been accepted into UIS's honor's program. I suppose a small school is a good way to stand out from the crowd.

Not necessarily. I went to UIUC and I worked with top notch professors and was able to stand out from the crowd. A big way to stand out in job applications is graduating from a good university. I'm not sure how UIS ranks against the others for what she wants to do. I can tell you UIUC is much more competative than the others she applied to. Also, I don't think doing the honors program in college really makes a difference.

[Justcruisin']

Originally Posted by jessiegirl_98

Also, I don't think doing the honors program in college really makes a difference.

I am surprised to hear you say that. Why is it that you feel the honors program doesn't really make a difference?

[aragx6]

In my experience it doesn't matter either. The classes will probably be more time consuming and reading heavy, but when you are graduated and looking for jobs, no one will notice that one line on your resume. It'll be much more about experience and internships.

[asearchforreason]

The honors program can be very important. When I went to Ohio State, the honors program there had dorms set aside for honors students. Living in an honors dorm was a huge step up from the non-honors dorm. You associate with interesting and ambitious people like yourself, while the mix in the other dorms slants strongly towards the less motivated sort of people. That's all fine and good, but it's much better to surround yourself with people in the same courses and with high goals. That's a program I would push my child to join.

There were some other aspects to the honors program that were pretty good. They had occasional speakers, offered honors classes (not really any in engineering unfortunately), and helped you connect with faculty for research projects.

[jessiegirl_98]

Originally Posted by Justcruisin'

I am surprised to hear you say that. Why is it that you feel the honors program doesn't really make a difference?

Honestly, as someone just suggested, the honors classes can be a lot more time consuming, can often be restricting, and don't always have much of a benefit. I didn't do the UIUC honors program (and am glad I didn't), but I did do a psychology honors thesis, which was beneficial to my future. I would have your daughter go to a school that might not be as good because they offered her entrance into the honors program. I've also found that unless it is directly relevant to your line of work (such as a honors project in the field of marketing and you are doing marketing) it doesn't really help in the future.
I've also taught at two colleges and sat on grad school admissions committees and I still feel the same. Taking relevant classes, doing independent studies in your area of research, and graduating with excellent grades do make the difference

[aragx6]

When I went to Mizzou we had honors dorms as well, but it would be crazy to say that honors kids are always more ambitious and well-behaved. I fell into a group of kids that were very smart but never had to work very hard. We had no study skills, we drank and smoked pot pretty much every night and generally caused as much debauchery as some of the non-honors students. There were of course the studious sort in our dorm, but there were also plenty who weren't - just like you'd find in every other dorm. I also lived in the honors dorms the second year and many of the Freshman that year were some of the biggest druggies I have ever met. They did coke and acid on a regular basis.

That being said I met some awesome people there who'll I'll remember fondly for the rest of my life, and as the years went on and classes got more intense most of us settled down (at least a bit).