Academics
Minutes from downtown Chicago, Illinois Institute of Technology is a "beautiful green oasis in a bustling city." This career oriented school prepares students to "[make] the jump from student to professional" with a curriculum "strongly based on applied learning" and access "to student research at all levels." But IIT "caters to those individuals that want to pursue careers in areas of STEM," the curriculum "puts an equal emphasis on the life sciences and doesn't discount humanities." And while most come for the school's "historic reputation," particularly in engineering and architecture, students don't dismiss the value of the school's diversity. "The size and diversity of Illinois Tech is perfect," one student argues, "small enough for individual attention, but large enough for various resources to be available. Working with students from around the world gives you a unique perspective that is useful after college as well." Many students offer hot and cold reviews of the faculty. "I have had some really fantastic professors who are engaging and make the material genuinely interesting," one student explains. "However, I've had the exact opposite too." Others say that their "professors are very willing to help... but [they]want you to think for yourself." Most agree that IIT "is a very academic based institution with mostly excellent professors, especially in upper level classes. Academics here are challenging but rewarding." "Like any school we have our good teachers and our bad teachers. For the most part, they try to be engaging and interesting." Others are quick to point out that many of IIT professors "also work in the field" and, therefore, they "apply topics studied in the lectures to the real world" and "their lectures are very current with the solutions and technologies that are actually being used."
