Totally have heard of it. NIU gets jobs. Don’t over pay for CS. If you get into UIUC then great but don’t fret it either or take out loans if you don’t need to.
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Just looked some things up, a lot of people are paying around 800 a month, some cheaper, some more expensive. So my half of rent would be around $5,000 a year. Also, I’m not for sure but I found something on UIUC’s page about a program called “Income Commitment” that pays full tuition for in state students whose family makes $67,100 or less. My mom makes around $62,000. I’m not sure if my money would go into that equation or not because I’d have to quit my job when I apply.
I turn 24 in June 21st in the summer of 2024.
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I am not sure that counts for transfer students, we have to double check that.
This means you will be considered an independent student for the 2024-25 school
Year (you are intending to be at the transfer school in Fall 2024, correct?), and you won’t have to include your parents income and assets on the financial aid forms.
(@kelsmom can you confirm that, but looks to me as OP was born in 2000, they would be considered independent for 2024-25 school year, correct?)
https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/dependency
In that case I would suggest you apply to some meet full need schools, like Northwestern, as well…assuming you do really well this Fall semester too.
I am not sure what type of financial aid that UIUC gives independent students, another thing to research.
I’ll think about more schools too. But stay on this thread, as you can see many posters are here to help you.
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Sorry, I mistyped, I turn 24 in the summer of 2025. Born in 2001. Also the qualifying page on there says you must be a freshman or a transfer student.
Ok. Then you won’t be an independent until senior year.
Yes, I see the Illinois Commitment includes transfers. I do think they might add your income onto your mom’s for the ‘family income’, another thing to double check.
ETA: even though you aren’t an independent student as a junior, I still encourage you to apply to some meet full need schools like NU.
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Unfortunately, I think you might be disqualified by age if you wait until the 2024-25 academic year. Please contact the financial aid office to verify your eligibility.
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If you repeated those courses and earned higher grades, then look at your transfer target schools to see if they have any GPA recalculation policies regarding that (the most favorable would be if they do grade replacement when recalculating your GPA). Earning a passing grade on the repeat would also gain subject credit for the course taken.
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I meant Northwestern, a university near Chicago that’s considered “Ivy+”, with a 
topnotch CS dept, AND they meet financial need.
Both Northwestern and Uiuc are elite for CS.
UI Chicago, NIU, and SIU Carbondale would be safeties if you keep getting As, especially in your core courses, but UIChicago is pretty good for CS and well located, so better than the other 2, and I think SIU is better than NIU but not certain so check.
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Well I already fixed them at my cc by just retaking the class. I retook English 1, and my Calculus 1 teacher thought it was laughable that they were making me retake an algebra course to replace the old grade after easily getting an A in Calculus, so she set me up an independent study to get the grade replaced.
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Okay, thank you!
Is there anything else you’d recommend outside of Illinois? Obviously, I’d prefer in state for equal opportunities, but maybe there’s some good out of state options that I might have a good chance that I should consider?
Case Western is a school in Ohio that provides need based aid to transfer students. It is a school with a nearly even number of graduate and undergraduate students and nearly all live on/near campus, too. Craig Newmark learned enough there to get by. 
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It’s hard to see what could be better than Uiuc or Northwestern unless we’re talking Stanford etc, which is probably a bridge too far. You’re lucky to be living in a State that is so well-known for its CS and CS-adjacent programs!
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