neurodegenerate1

I am more familiar with the undergrad program, but I was in a class where I was one of three undergrads in a graduate-level class for the masters SLP program. The other two undergrads and I asked for a lot of graduate school application advice and from what the other 15-20 masters students. I studied and got coffee with a lot of them, and what I wrote earlier is the picture of the graduate that I got. It's a great school for research funding! and if you are into more behavioral/neural programs or wanting to eventually get your PhD (UIUC is well known for being a research campus). From what I gathered, there was only 3 people who had funding and it was research/merit based. Maybe a person or two didn't want to come forward and say "I am here on funding" however, a lot of the girls were pretty adamant about funding. I just know when I applied, I wanted an in state school and I visited ISU and western, the focus was WAY more on the student and client. I didn't even understand that there could be so much of a teacher-student relationship from my undergrad. Thats when I realized how right my older peers were. I personally decided not to apply because I was more into client based studying, and less research. I will say, the campus is very welcoming, and I did enjoy my undergrad, UIUC has a really diverse campus, good food, pretty safe campus if you stay on campus and the nightlife was always fun if you ever want to go out on the weekends!

I did my undergrad at University of Illinois for SLP. Though I loved the campus, I was not a fan of the faculty and the environment of their SLP program. As someone who went through the program, I believe it is fair to say that UIUC is not very student focused. Instead, the University of Illinois is much more research focused. I was meeting with a TA when she told me she wished she didn't attend University of Illinois. As a Junior in the program, I was confused as to why since it was the only SLP program I had ever known and I was a transfer. Soon enough, about 3 other TA's came in talking about how they regret their decision because of lack of support from teachers and funding. It was really sad to hear.I am by no means against University of Illinois, I loved the campus and the people I met, but as I was going to Open Houses for other schools, I began to understand what the Tis in the SLP program were talking about. There are many other programs that are more client centered, and less intense on research. Also, as for funding at UIUC, good luck. Funding at UIUC is nearly impossible to get. During my 4 years in undergrad, I only met 3 people with funding from UIUC. Again, I know I'm sounding negative but the out of state price is crazy. I have been in two graduate classes during my undergrad and I got to know many graduate students who weren't very fond of the program. This could have to go with hiring on a bunch of new professors, so it was (and will be) a rebidding year or two. My advice, all your masters is in 2 years, I wouldn't spend any extra money if you don't have to. Be where your familiar, close to your family and boyfriend. And I promise you the competitive nature is everywhere, I applied for grad schools where they had a more hands on approach to students and their clients. From reading your post, I feel like you already know what the right answer is, I just thought I would give you a point of view from someone who has experienced the program. Hope this helps!