<p>what do you guys know about U of Illinois- Urbana Champaign?? (academics, location, admissions…etc)</p>
<p>is it tough out of state??</p>
<p>Illinois’ flagship public university. About 40,000 students, of which 28,000 are undergrad. Huge (1400 acres), very nice campus located on the border of both Champaign and Urbana (about 100,000 residents combined) in the eastern middle part of the state. Surrounding area is mostly farmland and forest and everything is flat (Illinois is not known for its hills); about 140 miles south of Chicago. Weather is warm to hot in summer and cold and snowy in winter. Fraternities and sororities are big, many houses and about 1/3 of the students. Sports teams, particularly football and basketball (currently No. 1 in the nation) are also a big focus for many. However, at least half the students are not into sports or greek and thus you can find a social life without them including a huge number of clubs. Dorms are typical public university dorms – mostly small double rooms, community baths. </p>
<p>Most students are from Illinois and about 60% are from Chicago area. However, it does not really favor Illinois residents in admission process and the chances for an out-of-state applicant are about the same as in-state. There are several colleges within the university, including the Colleges of Engineering, Business, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Health, Education, Aviation, and Liberal Arts & Sciences. When you apply you designate major and college; you can choose “undecided” which automatically means you are applying to the LAS college. Its engineering and business programs are always highly ranked. Each college determines who gets admitted to it. Takes either ACT or SAT (no preference) and most submit ACT because Illinois students all take that exam. SAT II’s are neither desired nor relied on for admission. 2006 applicants must submit either new SAT or new ACT; old SAT will not be accepted for any purpose. Legacy is not a considered factor, URM is (and women are considered URM for engineering); recommendations get little to no weight. Most important factors are class rank and test score; considers difficulty of high school course load and, if high school does not rank, reviews on that basis and grades. Essays and EC’s are considered but are important mostly for persons who are borderline. What is typically needed for admission vares among the colleges with Engineering having the highest middle 50% range (typically 29 to 33 ACT and top 12% to top 3% class rank). LAS is usually 26 to 31 and top 18% to top 6%. It publishes its middle 50% ranges for all its colleges and includes it in the application form and informs applicants that if they are below the 50% range they should consider their chances of admission to be difficult. They so publish to discourage lower level applicants. As a result, they end up admitting about 65% because many lower level applicants do not apply (the university considers keeping its costs of reviewing applications down more important than trying to lower its admission rate just to get a raise in the US News rankings). Academics are considered difficult particularly for engineering.</p>
<p>Financial aid is based strictly on FAFSA and it does not guarantee to meet 100% of need (and seldom does; likely more of 60% to 80% of need). There are some merit scholarships avaialble but few full rides; most scholarships are typically in the $1,000 to $3,000 range and doled out by the particular colleges and departments to their own high performing students. Room & Board for the dorms is about $6500 per year; tuition and fees is about $8,000 per year but add about $2,400 for engineering and some other lab programs. Freshmen get a 4 year no hike in tuition guarantee; it stays the same for 4 years for the particular freshman class (but other costs can rise). </p>
<p>The college uses rolling admissions and its current application period is September 15 to December 15, but there is a November 1 priority date – if you apply by then you have somewhat of an advantage over those who apply later. Also note that UIUC’s deadline date is a date by which all things needed to be considered for admission must be in its hands, not just mailed. Its stated preference is for on-line applications. All admission decisions are based on grades through junior year in high school.</p>
<p>I was thinking of joining a sorority at your school. Which are the best ones at your university. Which one has the cutest girls and is considered a classy sorority.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Don’t bump up two year old threads…</p>
<p>why not? (10 characters).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I find it amazing how superficial the greek scene is at many colleges</p>
<p>Because bumping ancient threads is annoying- especially given the reason you did so.</p>