Heya,
The thing I didn't like about Western was that it moved too slowly for me (personally), cost too much (but every flight program does) and I already had my private when I showed up here. I took 4 aviation classes here, never went to class and still got A's in all of them. That happened because the stuff we were learning, I learned when I was like 16 when I started my flight lessons. It was just not the right program for me personally. You don't fly until your junior year, and you don't fly until your junior year. It washes out something like 75% of the applicants within the first year or so, but for me it was because it didn't happen quick enough.
Don't believe that crap about you not being able to get a job because you go to a smaller school. There are more networking possibilites at larger schools to be sure, but a large schools name won't get you anything. For that matter, just because the school is big does not mean that the flight program is the best in the world. I.E. U of I and Purdue pale in comparision to UND's program, though I think I hear more people talk about going to U of I or Purdue because of other accolades that the school has recieved. To me if you are going to go study aviation and are serious about it you either go to UND, Western Michigan or somewhere else. But I digress.
Go to a school that fits who you are, and if U of I is not doing it for you then get out. It's a fine school, and like I said I wish I had gone there; but if it's not working, get out. We have some good university's in Michigan and there is nothing wrong with em. Furthermore, you might want to look into getting your ratings on your own and getting a backup degree in college. That's what I'm doing right now, and I think it's the way to go.
Cheers
John Herreshoff