I don’t understand this statement, not sure Hkim said this…and he was accepted at UIC and UIUC but with an EFC of 0 has no means to pay for those.
On what data are you basing this statement?
Hkim attends a nationally renowned, rigorous high school. Graduating in the top 10% of the class gives him competitive stats anywhere. Adding in an ACT in the 99% percentile and significant research experience at a top 20 university strengthens his profile even more.
Even if hkim doesn’t attain PR prior to the next application cycle, it makes complete sense for him to go through the process again. As he wants to ultimately attend medical school, the community college route (not free for him, but relatively low cost), online, and slow burn routes would likely take the med school goal off the table for good. No reason he has to do that now.