I am studying in UIUC now majoring in CS. It is a very good chance for you to transfer to CS major as long as you are doing good in all the science and math subjects when you are in college. Here, you will have the chance to study in the best building in the campus across NCSA - http://www.cs.uiuc.edu/about/siebelcenter.php ( I have 5 classes here every week even I am freshmen now)
Pros:
Startups? We have entrepreneurs like Jawed Karim(Youtube), Steve Chen(Youtube), Marc Andreessen(Netscape), Thomas Siebel, Max Levchin(Paypal), etc. (Geni, Yammer, Yelp, etc)
I am doing a startup right now with few of my friends. I am going to California this summer and I am putting my school on hold for next few semesters. One of my partner got into MIT before he came here. He decided to come to UIUC because the tuition fees in MIT was really too high (50K vs 13K). He thought that he made the correct decision after he worked on one of the project from MIT.
Cons:
The weather here sucks. It is really cold during the winter.
And, I am sure that Berkerley will have better "startup" environment. But, you will still see some startups around you in UIUC (My startup :X ).
(Anyway, I know Jessica Mah too. And, I can hook you up with people you want to meet too if you are coming to California this summer. But, do you think that networking really helps you to start your next big idea? Your skills are actually more important.)
> We have entrepreneurs like Jawed Karim(Youtube), Steve Chen(Youtube), Marc Andreessen(Netscape), Thomas Siebel, Max Levchin(Paypal), etc. (Geni, Yammer, Yelp, etc)
You _had_ them. All of them came out to the bay area to actually do their startups. That might tell you something :)
You are right. Bay Area is a good place to start a startup. But, he is going to study. Not starting a startup. What I wanted to say is: you don't necessarily have to graduate from a bay area university to start your startup.
but thanks for the insight, exactly what my dad told me. ;_;