3 ms·
My mother was a professor of MIS there. Congrats on attending UIUC, I really loved the school and got a lot out of going there. Is Wolfram still on Neil St?
by dy 15y ago
My mother was a professor of MIS there.
Congrats on attending UIUC, I really loved the school and got a lot out of going there. Is Wolfram still on Neil St? I loved that amongst the car dealerships and Meijers was this mecca of mathematics and technology.
In terms of things to do:
- I highly recommend you join the Engineering Freshman Committee and the EOH group, I was the chair of that group and we were given $2000 to do whatever we want (we built a lightbulb unscrewing robot to compete at EOH). It was definitely one of the best experiences of my life ($2k in college seemed like an infinite pool of money).
- Start poking around Beckman Center, I did lots of interesting research there and it still puts out some really cool stuff that freshman can get involved with.
- If you can get a car and need to impress a date, Curtis Orchard is really pretty right now.
- I loved the 318/319 courses and wish I had taken it earlier, when I was there Garland and Hart were there and I wish I had a chance to take more classes in that track.
Best of luck!
- alecbenzer 15y agoThe building? Yeah, it's on Neil. I found it kind of funny too - it's just of tucked away in between a McDonald's and a Walmart (I also find it amusing how you can see a six story building from so far away - I'm from around New York) Honestly I have mixed feelings about the school. There's stuff to like but I feel out of place a lot of the time. I've been a combination of blue and busy lately, but I should probably check out Beckman and NCSA and some other stuff. No car and no dates as of late. :P 318 (I think it's 418 now, with Hart this semester) seems cool.
- dy 15y agoYeah if you're from Manhattan it's going to be an adjustment - I'm in Manhattan now and haven't been back since I graduated (my mom moved to NC). Here's a few things I wish I had done differently: 1. Don't skimp on where you live (live in a good place in a great location like right above Murphy's). The rent seems like a lot when you're a student, but in hindsight it's the best deal you'll ever get. Don't live far away from north campus to save money. 2. The ACM at UIUC is pretty amazing, they have a secret lab underneath DCL where they have every thing you could ever want to build a robot, hack on Arduino (I think I salvaged a HP oscilloscope). 3. If you're looking for some more money - there are a lot of companies out by Assembly Hall (motorola etc). Good jobs/pay, really painful to get to. College is definitely an adjustment but I found my groups I enjoyed hacking with, going to Brothers' with, going to Murphy's with and got a lot out of the experience.
- alecbenzer 15y agoI'm from right outside New York in New Jersey, so I'm used to suburban areas, I'm just also used to being near a big city. 1. Being OOS, money is slightly more of an issue to me, so saving money to live somewhat further way seems like exactly something I may need to end up doing, but I'll see if the difference really matters. 2. I should really start hanging out in the acm office more...might fix (mitigate) some of the problems I have with the school. 3. Well, like I mentioned, I'm at wolfram right now, with pretty decent pay, so I think I'm sticking with that for a while.
- bdr 15y agoBe sure to explore the steam tunnels...
- rosary 15y agoAlso great this time of year and in the same vein as Curtis Orchard is Robert Allerton park. It's about 45 minutes out of town just outside of Monticello. My grandparents took me as a kid, and it made an incredibly lasting impression.