Litlhurry

Hiya guys and gals! (Yes, that sounds really cheesey)

I'm looking forward to applying to Urbana..but I have a few worries. I'm an out of stater, and although I was in Chicago earlier this month, I wasn't able to make it out the campus. I have a few Qs if anyone is willing to answer em for me :]

The first thing I'm a little worried about is being out of state. I think only 7% of the students are oos, which makes me wonder if it's really hard to get in out of state, or if just a small number of people are applying out of state. I'm hoping its the latter..because I'd really like to go to Urbana.

Also..since it is a public institution and since I'm not living in Illinois..am I going to get slammed by the financial aid? We're (my family) not in the best way right now..and money is probably going to be the deciding factor.

Also..It seems like we'd have to take two plans to get to the campus, one to chicago and then another to Willard(?) airport. Is there any sort of compensation or is that figured into travel expenses or can someone give me an estimate as to how much it would cost?

Thank you very much for the time and help

yosup

I think I can answer your first question. From what I learned on this site, OOS students get treated the same as in-state students in regards to your app. So yep, the OOS number is small because very few students apply from OOS.

boneh3ad

It also depends on what department you are looking to get into. The In-state numbers get skewed by the fact that in LAS there are tons of in-staters, while if you look at engineering, its probably barely more than half in-staters.

As for financial aid, you won't get slammed because of being OOS. You will get slammed because you are applying to UIUC. The school is notoriously stingy with aid, so it isn't easy to get. You will most likely have to hope FAFSA comes through (it actually did for me for grad school).

drusba

As noted admission rate of OOS is close to that for in-state. Financial aid is perennially one of its downsides, leaving many disappointed, and that is true for in-state and OOS. It does not guarantee to meet 100% of need calculated based on FAFSA and for many it is more like 65%. To fly in means going first to Chicago or Indianapolis and then into a small airport at Champaign. The cost of doing so is not reimbursed. A travel expense is generally factored into any need based aid but what is factored certainly will not cover airfare. How much it actually costs depends on where you are coming from, airline, time of year, time of week and day you fly, when you order tickets and it can vary enormously depending on those factors. Flight to Champaign can often cost more than flight you may have to Chicago.

Illini_Fan

Try a general travel site like Yahoo or Kayak and just play around with different dates to get an idea of airfare. As drusba indicated, airfare is ever changing.

Also, with regards to two planes -- there is a direct flight each evening from Dallas (DFW) into Willard (CMI) on American, so if you are from the north Texas area it would be only one flight. Roundtrip airfare is in the $320 range right now for Dad's Day Weekend flights.

Litlhurry

Ahh..Thanks for all the help guys!

That's kinda lame that they're stingy

boneh3ad

I have never heard of a school that pays for travel. Never.