Amazon.com description: Product Description: Introduction from the Author

When you grow up in Illinois, you hear about the University of Illinois from about the time you can crawl. If you don’t have family there, your friends generally do, or maybe your grade school teacher graduated from there. U of I is a familiar place to most Illinois high school students, both in personal ties and in distance. Located in Central Illinois, the University is almost equidistant from Southern Illinois as Northern Illinois, meaning that whether you grew up near St. Louis or near Chicago, it is only a couple of hours away.

Not only is U of I close to home for Illinois natives, it also offers comfortable and welcoming surroundings. While some people imagine themselves as Felicity, off to tackle the dangers of New York City alone, the reality is that most of us U of I students come from rural neighborhoods. Most of the students grew up next to cornfields and barns, even if those fields were only an hour away from the Arch or the Sears Tower. U of I has all the people and the excitement that a big city would have, minus the pollution and crime. In fact, the only pollution in the air comes from the cow barns north of campus. Although students sometimes complain about living in the middle of cornfields, they are still very comfortable and relaxed in their surroundings. Even if they may choose to tackle big city living after graduation, few regret having spent their college years on a safe yet exciting campus.

Of course, academics are the main reason for the University’s success. It’s engineering and business schools rival colleges across the nation, and their agriculture department is understandably very popular. A degree from the University of Illinois holds both prestige and promise, which is something I realized from the pleased responses people make when they hear what college I attend. A respected degree at a public tuition cost is not easily found, but for those of us in the state, it is only a short drive away.

The University of Illinois is certainly not right for everyone, however. Maybe you want to go to a small school. Maybe you want to go to school in an urban metropolis. Maybe you are looking for an art school and not a state school. Whatever the case, this guidebook is intended to show you, as honestly as possible, the pros and cons of this university.

Bridget Sharkey, Author
University of Illinois