u/Adventurous_Cake_878

Hi I recently got off the waiting list for UIUC CS + education. I'm deciding between UIUC and UMich (CS at engineering). Cost is not really a factor. I'm interested in edtech, ml/software architecture research and start up culture. Even though I'm in a cs+x I think I will have access to similar opportunities to students in cs @ granger but I'll have to take alot of education courses as part of my degree. I'm pretty interested in edtech and having people interested in the same things as me at UIUC is one reason I want to go there but I'm also aware I'll have more freedom to explore at UM. Where do you think I should go?

Hi I recently got off the waiting list for UIUC CS + education. I'm deciding between UIUC and UMich (CS at engineering). Cost is not really a factor. I've done alot of research on UMich but I haven't had the time to do it for UIUC and I need to make my decision soon. So I'd really love to hear from current CS students about a few things.

1. What do people generally do freshman year in terms of research? Do professors take on freshman for research? Is there a strong research culture at UIUC? I'm interested in cognitive science, robotics, chips and HCI for now (I know very broad) and since the student body is so big I dont know if I'll get lost in the crowd.
2. Do people in CS + X majors actually get to take CS classes? Are they given the same resources?
3. What is the school culture like? Is it cutthroat?
4. For edtech would you choose UIUC or UM?

Thank you so much for your time!!! I really appreciate it.