GA Tech and UIUC are both under 60k total cost OOS, which is within budget.
Even with 2x published research and one being with a college professor and Iām primary author, winning nationals in a very competitive finance event, 1500 SAT with a 790 math, and competitive state level internships? Also, yes, I do agree my GPA and foreign language are on the lower end, but my GPA has increased every year as my course rigor increases, with a total of 11 APs and 10 Honors classes by graduation. Iām not saying that Iām for sure getting into UIUC, but Iām trying to say that besides my numeric stats, I believe I would have have a somewhat decent chance, not enough to put it as a comfortable target, especially for Gies, but maybe a high target/low reach.
GA Tech is, but for UIUC it varies by major. OOS COA is listed as $57,622-$65,722 for the 2025-26 year (see Tuition, Undergraduate Admissions, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) and for more detail you can use the tool to estimate cost by major. When I checked Finance it appeared to be over 60k.
This makes the most sense to me in a clear way. Thank you.
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Thank you for this. Iāll make sure to check the price calculator again.
Ga tech is. Gies is $63k. A bit less for just tuition, room and board.
Thatās this Fall. Not next. Look closely. UIUC like others has premium pricing for certain majors. On top of tuition, there is $5054 in mandatory fees - this year. Health insurance is $846 so you may be able to waive that portion.
So if youāre at $60k - how about books, transport, pizza, fun ??
This makes more sense to me why you would classify it as out of budget. I did not check the additional $5k in fees. Thank you for this.
In the end, the chance doesnāt matter. If you want to apply, then apply. Just make sure to have an affordable safety.
Us telling you yes or no isnāt relevant. Only the adcom is.
You asked for an opinion and have heard similarly. We may be wrong. You want to call it a safety or target - go ahead.
No matter, itās not an assured bet ā¦nor affordableā¦so ensure you have the affordable safety.
No reason to push back. If you get in - then great and we were wrong. If not, itās ok too because you focused on the more important - the OOS backup.
UIUC reports stats. Has no common data set. So we donāt know how extras are weighted, if at all.
Yes that makes more sense. Worst case, I think I would stay in state at Rutgers and pay the in state cost if schools like UIUC or UWM are out of budget, if I get accepted to those.
UIUC does not accept letters of recommendation and per their CDS, they have course rigor and GPA as the only two marked as āvery importantā. The other things you have wonāt help you much. Of course, itās just my opinion, but I think itās a reach for you.
Yes, I have heard that public colleges are not as holistic in their admissions vs private colleges, so your opinion is definitely one with value. Thank you.
Yet weāve offered a ton of great OOS schools as you said you want to go OOS. They are subs. Not worse.
Why no interest ?
If you want it Rutgers or bust, then great.
But if not, thereās 10 or 20 subs. U havenāt even been there yet. If itās the same as it wasā¦.subjective of course but Iām not the only one to say it on this website - not very nice. One said run down.
So your excitement may get spoiled on a visit. Group of one - my kid loved Purdue - great for stats and business, saw UIUC as - we donāt need to stay. Will just say that. They are 1.5 hrs apart if I remember. Y donāt u go see both. And Mich State too - will make budget. Never been.
Donāt get too up (or down) on any school b4 visiting. Thereās no perfect one.
Beautiful aesthetically (subjective of course) out of state school, well under budget!! Strong b school - JMU. These are the types of schools you need to investigate if wanting to be OOS.
This is true at most public schools - but the top publics that are nationally popular, including many on your list such as UIUC and GT, do use holistic admissions. See here and here.
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GPA and rigor are typically the most important/primary factors in admissions. Can you pull them up?
and did I miss somewhere - how many years of a foreign language do you have? Only 2 years of spanish? Several schools will want to see 3 years of a foreign language. Double check that for the schools you are targeting.
Yes, my senior year GPA will be the highest of them all. Also, I did take 2 years of Spanish and throughout high school I was part of our schools engineering program where itās a dual enrollment engineering class we have to take every year. My counselor said that colleges understand this and thatās why 2 years is fine.
Thats great. Would be helpful if your counselor notes this in their report as a gentle reminder.
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This issue is, numeric stats, and specifically GPA, are the most heavily weighted factor for getting into college. In most cases, you canāt rely on extracurriculars, even great ones, to help gain admittance to a school or program where your GPA is below the average. Gies in particular has gotten to be a pretty tough admit. I know in-state kids with very high unweighted GPAs (3.8+) and very good test scores who were rejected from Gies. That doesnāt mean you canāt get in! Just means that itās definitely a reach.
Agree with others that if you really want to be out of state you should apply to some of the many out of state programs that have been recommended. You can still go to Rutgers in the end, but having those applications out there to some affordable out of state schools may give you some nice choices, which can make for a much more exciting and happy time in the spring when admissions decisions are released.
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