I go to Northwestern. The CS department is a little smaller than it might be at some other schools, but if you're looking to get a good background in a school c

I go to Northwestern. The CS department is a little smaller than it might be at some other schools, but if you're looking to get a good background in a school close to Chicago, I'd recommend it. You'll meet a lot of different people with a lot of different interests. Also, having Chicago next door can't hurt. I have nothing bad to say about my degree/my professors (except one) at all. The classes are great and there are fewer students so it is very easy to talk to the professors. As a side note, I know of at least one group of econ/math/cs students who are building a startup now. I'm not sure how smart it is to start it in the school year because the class schedule can be extremely rigorous, but to each his/her own. P.S. I can't argue with the person pushing UIUC. They just won the ACM ICPC yesterday ;)