<p>K so I’m coming to UIUC this fall and I’m going into DGS not because I got rejected by another college within UIUC because I just wasn’t sure what path I wanted take right when I got to college. Anyways the programs that U of I are strongly noted for don’t really catch my interests at all more so Engineering, I’m kinda neutral about Business. I was thinking about doing Psychology or Journalism, but I’m not sure yet. </p>
<p>So lets say if I were to declare my major in one of those two fields will that lead to a half-way decent education at UIUC? I have no choice but to come here because I was rejected at my other option and I can’t afford to go to these other two schools, and then there were the back up ones but U of I was the best choice out of them. Plus I get in state tuition.</p>
<p>Basically will I end up with a good education even if I don’t go into one of UIUC’s more reputable programs?</p>
<p>“…students who did not get into their first choice major”</p>
<p>Please fill in the blanks for a naive person to the college admission process to a big Uni. When one applies to UIUC, does one apply to a particular college?</p>
<p>You can apply at UIUC to a particular college and program, or you can apply undecided, but it varies by university. At UIUC, you can be denied entry to you first choice program for a variety of reasons. UIUC can then offer you admittance to an alternate program in the same college, a different college or DGS. If they make you an offer at all, that’s a good thing. If they don’t, its a deferral, a rejection, or a waitlist depending on the time of year.</p>
<p>Thanks, balthezar: good explanation. By program, do yo also mean college, such as Engineering, LAS, Veterinary, or a major line of study , say, physics?</p>
<p>[Top</a> 10 Psychology Colleges in the USA](<a href=“GoDaddy Corporate Domains - Protected”>GoDaddy Corporate Domains - Protected)
U of I is #5 for psychology in the nation! plus it would be the most value since you get instate tuition. (i’m doing the same thing)
I’m not so sure about journalism though.</p>
<p>“At UIUC, you can be denied entry to you first choice program for a variety of reasons. UIUC can then offer you admittance to an alternate program in the same college, a different college or DGS. If they make you an offer at all, that’s a good thing”</p>
<p>Is there an element of strategy involved in applying to UIUC? For example, the mid 50 for the college of ENG is in the low 30s , if I recall. LAS is hi 20s, I think. Let’s say you have (a wtd GPA of 4.7 with 10 AP’s) and a 29 and you apply to ENG. Is it possible in this case that UIUC will reject your ENG application and reject you wholly from the UIUC? WHereas, if you wd have applied to LAS, you’d probably have been ‘in’.</p>
<p>First, the number of APs is, at most, only minimally involved in the admissions process. They look at the rigor of the courses offered at the high school and whether the GPA you have is based on your taking (as opposed to avoiding) the most rigorous courses offered. If the most rigorous courses offered happen to be AP courses, then whether you’ve taken them and what grade you got in them would be considered, but taking AP tests on your own will not have much affect on the admissions process other than to show personal initiative, and then only if you were able to take them, do well, and still maintain your GPA in school. 10 APs by the way, if all offered at the high school, and all taken by the applicant, would be an unusually high amount of AP level courses to take.</p>
<p>There is no optimal strategy for applying to UIUC. Apply for what you think you want to major in. The most sought after programs are more competitive to get into, but if your grades are high enough, and your standardized test scores good enough, you’ll be offered admission to either the program of your choice, another program, or DGS.</p>
<p>Honestly, Roderick, you shouldn’t try to overthink it. The bottom line is they look at how the applicant did in the courses taken in relation to the most rigorous course load offered. And they look at the standardized test scores. The applicant essays are important, and are more important, to those applicants who are borderline qualified. You can’t blow them off if you’ve got an ACT of 36 and a 4.0 unweighted GPA derived from the most difficult courseload offered at your HS, but they’re more important to someone who has an ACT at the lower end of the applicants accepted into a particular program, and a GPA near the lower end of the GPA range of the applicant pool.</p>
<p>Drusba can confirm, or clarify, but that’s, at least, how I think it works. They get a huge amount of applications, so its got to be a numbers game for the most part with more attention only given to the borderline apps.</p>
<p>possibly off topic, but I’ll elaborate anyway: by saying 10 APs, I meant that the applicant took the most rigorous courseload at the HS. Actually at time of application , it’ll be 6 APs, 10 at hs graduation. Got fives, too, along with the straight A avg. light ECs, moderate to strong suburban IL HS, top 1 or 2 pct rank. </p>
<p>So would the 29 be an app killer for ENG? What about a 26 for LAS? THe Act is a variable now since son is in the process of taking it now; the other data I mentioned is fixed.</p>
<p>Overthinking it? maybe. however, this candidate’s sibling was rejected from UIUC a couple yrs ago (before the chicago tribune’s exposure of UIUC’s unfair, inscrutable, and inequitable admissions decisions, btw), so this father is just a little… thoughtful about it.</p>
<p>I’m assuming you’re using those numbers because they’re just below the ranges for the mid-50% of applicants to the two colleges you mention, but those ACT scores are certainly not an app killer. There is a slight bit of a disconnect between an ACT score of 29, and a straight A average with a high school percentage rank of 98+%. Was this your child’s first time sitting for the ACT? If so, I’d take it one or more times and consider taking a prep course, or getting a Barron’s or Kaplan ACT review book. Taking the SAT is an option too, and some applicants find the SAT is the easier of the two tests to take for them. Also, taking the test earlier in the Junior year is not recommended for most students, since you actually learn material presented in the test during your junior year. That’s why most HS Counselors recommend taking the test near the end of the junior year in April.</p>
<p>But assuming the applicant can’t improve the ACT score, the other two criteria for admission to either college are at, or above the high end of the mid-50% stats that you quote, so there’s a very good chance of obtaining an offer of admission to either. I know that Engineering looks at the Math subscore very closely too. No one is going to be able to say with certainty that statistics of x+y+z=admittance. It unfortunately doesn’t work that way. When they say it’s a holistic process, they mean that a certain level of non-quantifiable subjective review goes into the final decision. I’ve heard of applicants with perfect ACTs, or perfect GPAs being rejected, but that scenario is quite rare.</p>
<p>So, as I said before, have your child apply to the college that he/she wants, and then go through the excruciating process of waiting for the decision release date like I had to do before my son was luckily offered admission.</p>
<p>P.S Pepto-Bismol and religion may aid you during the wait.</p>
<p>“I’m assuming you’re using those numbers because they’re just below the ranges for the mid-50% of applicants to the two colleges you mention,”</p>
<p>He just took the ACT in april, and he did get a 30 in math. The apparent ‘disconnect’ between the GPA/rank/APs/good hS that sends bunches to UIUC cd be that this is the first time doing the ACT, and yes, he’ll take it again. maybe he can get a few extra pts w/ more prep for a tad less than the low end of the mid 50 for eng. which prep book or pgm do you or anyone else recommend?</p>
<p>It cd also be that he is a careful sort , you know: the ‘measure twice, cut once’ kindof person. I wd think that is a good trait for an engineer+ or a computer person. Since when does one get that building, bridge, or plane designed and implemented in an hour? And you know the saying about computers, ‘never let a computer know that you are in a hurry’. But the ACT and admissions people know better than I (just ask the chicago tribune).</p>
<p>“my son was luckily offered admission”</p>
<p>what were you son’s stats? I suspect it was not luck but good hard earned numbers. Even if a star point guard, that point guard is not going to be enrolled in ENG just because he can dribble.</p>
<p>+I saw this mentioned in a thread in CC - about some guy who got into MIT with less than fantabulous ACT scores and this is what was said about this guy. They continued to say that he is now a successful engineer after graduating.</p>
<p>My son used Barrons to study for subsequent ACT tests (3 in all) and scored (28-Oct Junior Yr., 30 Apr Senior Yr., 32 Oct Senior Yr.) composites with a consistant math subscore of 35. He’s got a 3.9 UW GPA and is taking the most rigorous courseload offered at his HS. It’s a small school that does not rank, but he’s in the handful of top students. He applied priority admission to Illinois and was admitted to the Aerospace Engineering program. He spent a lot of time on his essays, and I spent a lot of time praying.</p>
<p>Timing is very important when prepping for the ACT. My son consistantly said that the Science portion was the most trouble for him, since it relies so heavily on graphs and your ability to quickly scan them and answer the related questions. It doesn’t rely much at all on direct regurgitation of science knowledge, so he needed the prep to hone those graph-reading and timing skills. It worked for him, and he didn’t take the SAT, against my better judgement because he was more interested in staying in the Midwest. He applied and was accepted to Notre Dame, Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, and Wisconsin with a safety of UIC.</p>
<p>So, good luck with your son, and I’m sorry to hear that your daughter was not accepted.</p>
<p>No, UIUC was able to receive his October ACT Scores in time for the Priority Admissions Deadline, although it was a close call. Illinois, and most large schools, get their scores downloaded twice a week and programmatically uploaded to Banner (the University’s enterprise business application).</p>
<p>ok on the october scores - good to know since I bet that’s the bunch that will the dealbreaker for UIUC - but when you said </p>
<p>“30 Apr Senior Yr”</p>
<p>you probably meant</p>
<p>30 Apr Junior Yr</p>
<p>Since Apr senior yr is now and I think I heard you say your son has chosen UIUC, right? Was it engineering, btw?</p>
<p>If so, why did he pick this? I ask this since my son says things to me like, ‘how do I know if I want to choose engineering school before I know anything about it?’.</p>
<p>It seems that UIUC does lots of things well and that there is plenty of opportunity to whet your intellectual whistle.</p>
<p>I have heard good things about the english program. I know someone who could have gone to a good college on the east coast who studied english at UIUC. </p>
<p>the following ranking, for grad, shows uiuc in top 20 in english and history to name a couple.</p>
<p>I also saw in some ranking that it was good in physics. Hey tom hanks’ brother is a prof in the entomolgy dept. I know this is probably not your bag, but I also heard that its agriculture and vet schools are stellar. </p>
<p>so there’s psych, english, physics, vet, ag, in addition to engineering and biz.</p>
<p>Even studying abroad - I recall seeing a stat that said UIUC was among the top schools for facilitating studying abroad. Anecdotally (again) , I know a complete diehard illini girl who went to france and it really changed her life.</p>
<p>it also has a nice balanced 47/53 female male ratio- which is nice :)</p>