I’m currently a junior, about to come to an end. My GPA right now is around a 3.5 and my act is a 26. I am an Asian male living in state. I was thinking about majoring somewhere in the business area and have a letter of rec coming from one of my business teachers. My grades my freshmen year were absolutely terrible but regrouped myself sophomore and junior year…(will also be trying very hard senior year) My GPA was at like a 2.7 freshmen year and got it pushed all the way up. My second semester of sophomore year I moved and took all Honors classes at my new school (moved back to Illinois after a semester) and did well and those are only classes that I have taken honors in. I am taking an AP envio class next year. I’ve been on the football team since freshmen year and will continue thought out my senior year. I’m apart of 3 different clubs. And am trying to get my volunteer hours up… What honestly do you think my chances are? And if not UIUC how is ISU looking for me. Thank you so very much for your time.
This is what Illinois State says:
Fall 2015 Freshmen: ◦Half of admitted freshmen earned ACT composite scores of 21 to 26. A quarter scored 27 or above, and another quarter scored between 18 and 20.
◦The middle 50 percent of admitted students had a high school grade point average between 3.08 and 3.80 on a 4.0 scale.
UIUC College of Business (from the admissions sections) the Fall 2015 Freshman profile for the middle 50% of admitted students says:
ACT Score: 28-32
High School Class Rank: 88-97%
UIUC will look up your high school, since you’re in-state, and see if your HS offers AP and/or honors classes. Then they will look to see if you took any of them. That is what our Guidance Office was told when they took a workshop at UIUC. UIUC admissions wants to know how rigorous of a schedule you had. If your HS doesn’t offer AP and/or honors that is different story.
ISU used to offer an academic scholarship for ACT scores 28+. It was $2500/yr for 4 years. I don’t know if that still exists. UIUC is notorious for not giving out much academic financial aid. Students with single digit class ranks might be offered a $2-3K.
UIUC does NOT accept letters of rec for undergraduate admissions. If you try and send one, it will look like you can’t follow directions. I think ISU takes them and may even require them as part of admissions.
Based on websites you have a good chance at ISU. If you can retake ACT in Sept, review, and get composite over a 26 you might get academic $ from ISU because that would put you in upper 25%. Talk with your family on what they can afford. before you apply. Think about what else you want from a school. (like do you want to go watch football games? then the school needs to have a football team.) There are other schools where you might get more academic fin aid with your scores. Just look up schools and if your stats are higher than the admitted freshman middle 50%, you have increased your chances of getting $.
I would like to add that you might still have a chance at UIUC. They do a holistic review. Here is the link:
http://www.admissions.illinois.edu/Apply/Freshman/review
Forgot to add - Good Luck!
Hey Merry, thanks a lot for the insight and response. I would like getting financial aid since I do come from a low income family. I am mainly focusing on state schools so it would be a cheaper since I would be getting in state tuition. Could you give me some insight on any out of state colleges that could help me financially. To be honest, I don’t really want to go to any in state school besides UIUC but my chances seem slim there:-(. Thanks for listening.
Do you have any knowledge about Ball State University?
@jlee50 . Sometimes you can get a “better deal” at private colleges/universities. Same logic as looking at Illinois State Univ. If your stats are better than middle 50%, you have increased your odds of academic aid. Need based aid is different. There is a federal loan (you pay back), grants (you don’t pay back), local/community/college scholarships that you don’t pay back but there might be “strings attached”. Like taking certain classes or major. A friend’s daughter got a scholarship from her college because nobody in her family had graduated from college. She had to attend some workshops her freshman year but it was worth it.
Some colleges/universities offer a NPC (net price calculator) to get an idea of what the family contribution would be.
You might want to think about what you want from a college/university experience. Like… since you play HS football, are you wanting to go to school that has a football team so you can go watch the games? Or watching any school sports be ok? Size of university? Look at your hs size. Do you want smaller, bigger, roughly same size student body. Be careful when looking at student #'s. Somebody taking 1 class is a student. Also on-line classes can add to that number. Physical size of campus. How far away from home? Lots of things to consider.
There are lots of college search websites to get info. College Confidential, College navigator (US gov), your guidance office, plus individual university websites.
Illinois State Univ NPC link http://financialaid.illinoisstate.edu/paying/calculator/
I couldn’t find a NPC for UIUC but here is a list of types of aid http://www.osfa.illinois.edu/types-of-aid
If you apply to UIUC, your application will ask for two majors. First, you will be considered for major #1. If you are accepted, Great!, if not, then admissions looks at your fit for major #2. If accepted Great!, if not, admissions will consider you for DGS (Division of General Studies). I think the max for staying in DGS is 4 semesters. You have to transfer into something. Some students are able to transfer into major #1 or major #2 or student decided to go into something totally different.
It is hard to transfer into UIUC College of Business. Not impossible, but they don’t take many transfers even from DGS.
I think Illinois State has rolling admission notification (can’t remember) UIUC has fixed cut-off dates. What this means is you could apply to ISU and get notified about a month or so later. If possible go on a visit day at schools you are considering. UIUC visit day link https://business.illinois.edu/undergraduate-affairs/admissions/visit-us/ ) If you need to stay overnight, I suggest the Illini Student Union Hotel on Green St either before or after visit. It is right next to Alma Mater statue and north end of main quad. You can park in lot until maybe 6PM. Wear walking shoes or take a bus route that circles and goes thru campus if you want to see the outer parts of campus. Lots of food choices on Green street and union has some fast food in basement along with bowling alley.
Speaking of the iconic Alma Mater Statue. Did you know there is a live webcam? Link http://illinois.edu/about/almacam.html There used to be a live quad cam but I think it got disconnected.
With need based aid how does that work? How can I know how much I would be granted? Could I apply for FAFSA or whatever right and check with schools and what not? Thank you again.
Here is the link for FAFSA https://fafsa.ed.gov/index.htm
You can read up on it. They have a fafsa4caster if you want to get an idea without having an account and still be private. You will need to ask your parents tax info. For the real, detailed fafsa you will need a lot more info from your parents like the value of their assets, property, savings accounts etc.
I am definitely NOT an expert. But using these on-line tools like FAFSA & net price calculator can give you an idea. Your financial aid package would be sent to you after you are accepted to a college/university. Your financial aid package will include academic and need based aid. Academic aid will be based on things like your GPA and ACT scores. Need based aid may include grants, loans and work-study. Each college/university will be different on what they offer you. Some college/university have private scholarships for students majoring in xyz or even from a particular county. If you have a talent or experience or background that adds to the student body, you might get a local grant or scholarship. For example a friend’s daughter played a unique instrument so her college offered $ to be in concert band. Another friend’s child, the school offered placement in an honors dorm and $ because of leadership positions in scouting, Work-study is where certain jobs on campus are available for payment-in kind. You don’t directly get the money but it goes towards your tuition/dorm etc costs. Work study could be federal $ or local campus $. One school I saw had local work-study jobs working at the campus parking garage ticket booth.
College tours usually include a general presentation by the financial aid office. If you want a individual one-on-one, you might need to make an appointment.
I wanted to add that when you are submitting college applications there is usually a fee and you don’t get it back even if you are not accepted there. Some colleges offer a fee waiver but you might need to submit documentation from you guidance office.