University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign vs. University of Michigan

Michigan runs harder by the headline rate, admitting about 15.6% of applicants against 36.6% at Illinois. Both schools play tougher than those figures suggest for non-residents, since Michigan draws roughly 45% of its undergraduates from out of state while Illinois enrolls only about 16% from outside the state. Illinois also admits directly by major, so the program you target (not just the campus-wide 36.6%) shapes your odds.

On cost for non-residents, Illinois charges far less: out-of-state tuition and required fees run about $38,398 a year at Illinois versus roughly $63,962 at Michigan. The two sit close for residents, about $18,046 at Illinois and $18,346 at Michigan. Michigan meets a higher share of demonstrated need, around 91% with an average need-based package near $35,086, while Illinois meets about 82% with a roughly $26,429 average, so a high-need student should weigh actual offers over sticker price.

Your priorities decide this one. Computer science ranks as the single largest field at Michigan, about 25% of degrees, with engineering close behind at 23%. Illinois flips the order: engineering leads at about 19% and computing accounts for roughly 9% of degrees, a smaller share, though Illinois admits students straight into the major rather than into the college at large. Both rank as public-flagship CS powerhouses, so cost and whether you want direct admission into the major separate them.

Illinois enrolls more undergraduates, about 38,572 to Michigan's roughly 34,454. Both campuses sprawl as large public research universities, but Illinois sits in the twin cities of Urbana and Champaign in central Illinois, while Michigan occupies Ann Arbor, a larger city in the southeast of the state. Illinois also houses nearly all of its first-years on campus, about 99% in university housing against around 96% at Michigan.

Testing requirements split them: Michigan requires standardized tests while Illinois does not. All Michigan applicants submit SAT or ACT scores, and admits land in a middle-50% SAT range of 1360–1530 and ACT of 31–34. Illinois stays test-optional, considering scores when submitted but never requiring them, and its enrolled first-years posted a 1390–1520 SAT and 31–34 ACT. A student with uneven testing can apply to Illinois without scores but cannot do the same at Michigan.

With a published average admitted GPA near 3.90, Michigan gives a clearer benchmark than Illinois, which reports none. Illinois instead notes that about 62% of enrolled first-years who submitted a class rank stood in the top tenth of their high school class and 89% in the top quarter. Both schools count the rigor of your coursework as a very important factor, so demanding classes carry as much weight as the grade itself, all the more for Illinois's competitive direct-admit majors.