Illinois Institute of Technology — Attraction in Chicago

[EDIT] changed from 2/5 to 3/5

Over 40% of the courses under the undergraduate course catalog (for electrical engineering) have not been offered since 2008. 400 lvl courses still feel too "fundamental" or "introductory" to the profession unless they offer lab sections or term projects with practical applications (which aren't many). I can't speak for all IPRO classes, but the two I took were kind of a joke. For a tech school, there seems to be a lack of accessible power outlets in many of the buildings, but they do have these huge beanbags which are great for powernaps.

Most of the professors I had were amazing and very helpful. With that said, two were of little help and condescending. There's a very good amount of student resources. I especially liked the prototyping space in the IIT tower and the shop training sessions. The current grad students said they're having a good time but a working professional (not at IIT) advised me not to go there for graduate studies.

[Edit 10.4.18] I'm nearing my graduation date and my overall impression of the school has not changed much. It's headed in the right direction but I feel is still lacking. For ECE majors, there is not a single PCB design class due to it being a liability apparently. circuit board design is probably one of a the most basic and valuable skills one can a aquire and hardware design doesn't seem to be stressed as much.

Advising sessions were not that helpful in my opinion and we were only allowed a few minutes with our advisors. I got more help from my professors and former students than from my advisor. The only reason we need to see them is for our class registration pin. I think they should give more of their time towards freshmen, transfer and foreign students who are new to the profession and need more guidance.

Career fairs are good, but strangely scheduled a few days before midterms or exams. There are other opportunities to gain experience on campus such as robotics club and a couple other organizations, so that's cool too. School can only do so much, students should also show initiative by taking on independent projects or ask to work on a project (expect no payment).

Professors should consider taking students under their wing if they show diligence. What professors and grad students should NOT do is ask undergrads for help on a project and not offer some form of compensation. Higher education is expensive enough, asking an aspiring electrical engineer to work for free or offer to 'pay in experience' is...

There are a lot of friendly employees of the Illinois Institute of Technology, and a lot of people who care. However in my opinion, these people are outweighed considerably by those who do not care, and are here simply for a paycheck. I had my $350 Trek mountain bike stolen here, and nobody from Public Safety, Parking Services, OTS, or Facilities would look into getting the footage of the incident for me. Not only this, but it took months to receive an answer concerning the footage. Another example is the quality of food. The food here, served by Sodexo, is god-awful. Much of the food is re-heated for reuse every day, and the meat is typically dry / old. The student body had filed several complaints, and though a few changes were noted, the re-use of low quality food over and over still occurred. Additionally, they are forcing all on-campus students, even those living in apartment kitchenette units, to have meal plans. A great example of a monopoly! Students registered concerns for this as well, but nothing was changed. This school is also not the place to make many friends, especially female (at least for an American). MOST of the student body consists of Asian international students who do not socialize with anyone but themselves-- and most of them have expensive cars they drive around campus. I have made a few good friends here, but not like I would have expected at college. I understand it is an engineering university, but... seriously? On the positive side, parking posts were installed for me to lock my old moped to! Only after months of emailing, a parking ticket, and talking to three different offices. There is somewhat of an infrastructure here for positive change, such as with the Student Government Association, but they really have not done anything notable in the time that I have been here. If you're coming here for 'technology' out of high school, as I did with my Information Technology (ITM) degree,...

From the perspective of a 4th year undergrad, here are some key points for those considering going to school here:

Costs me about $2,500 a semester as an average Illinois resident and an average student with average scholarships. IIT offers co-terminal programs (shared credit requirements) that will allow you to quickly get a masters degree in 4 or 5 years for most programs. Most classes do not use large lecture halls. Compared to Joliet Junior College, IIT has been significantly more difficult - but also rewarding. Dorms are terrible and overpriced, but make for great bonding experiences. There is a recycling bin on nearly every corner. That made my day! Most professors are terrible teachers, but good people that will do their best to help you when you put forth the effort. If not, there is "free" on-campus peer tutoring via the ARK. The student body is very diverse - you meet many interesting individuals. The campus feels safe late at night. Both Metra (rock island) and the CTA (red+green line) have on-campus stops. If you put in the effort, IIT's career help services are helpful. Graduation requirements are straightforward and most of the academic councilors are very too-the-point, helpful, and kind.

Personally, college was a mistake for me because I could have studied the exact same things on my own without dropping $20,000, but IIT made finishing the...