<p>I really want to attend Univ. of IL- Urbana-Champaign but i'm worried i may not get in! Based on this information which college should i apply to and what are my chances on getting in!? THANKS!</p>
<p>Location: Illinois
Race/Gender: Caucasian Female
Prospective Major: EVENTUALLY transfer to business or communications.. I DONT HAVE TO APPLY TO THESE SCHOOLS
GPA: 3.65
Class Rank: unsure, should be top 20% at a competitive school (Neuqua)
Act: 24</p>
<p>Classes: will finish all required courses
Freshman: Honors english
Sophomore: honors geometry & honors english
Junior: AP english
Senior (planning to take): almost full load w/ AP english, AP Macro, AP Environmental
I took Spanish, Orchestra, and a few business classes all 3 years too!</p>
<p>Extracurricular Info:</p>
<p>Student Council: representative all 3 years
Business professionals of America: 2 years member & santas breakfast chair.. planning on running for an officer
Orchestra: 3 years in high level orchestra
Water Polo: JV all 3 years<br>
Star Raiders: 1 year </p>
<p>Top 20% at a competitive school but only a 24 ACT? ACES is the easiest college at UIUC, but even it's bottom 25% is a 25 ACT and top 25% class rank.</p>
<p>ooohhh Neuqua. (I went to WV). anywho, you want business so my suggestion is to apply to Economics and then transfer to business at the end fo Sophomore year. Retake the ACT in Sept. there's probably no way you could do worse.</p>
<p>i've taken the ACT 3 times and i can't seem to improve no matter how many books/classes/practice tests i take!! Should i apply to Agriculture even though i'm definetly not interested in that & i would have to lie in my essay!?</p>
<p>errr...uh.....well you could say you want to own a farm or something if you really want to go for a business route. ACES actually does specialize in some fields of business so it would be a benefit to you.</p>
<p>i applied to ACES (which is the easiest) when i was a HS senior with a 24 ACT and top 25%. I got rejected. You'd be looking better than me because you are at a more difficult high school, but it would still be tough to get in. I did end up getting into UW-Madison, which many believe to be a better all around university, via a waiting list...so you should always give it a shot, same goes for writing a well thought-out appeal letter if you are rejected. people always say "ohh you'll never get in on a waiting list" or "the appeals process is a joke, they dont even read them", but the waiting list is why i went to UW and the appeals process is why i get to transfer to UIUC next semester.</p>
<p>Your stats put you in a rough position. You are probably a very bright person, but would fall on the lower end of the accepted student pool respective to your GPA and ACT. Maybe, like me, you felt you were capable of getting into a school better than Illinois State, but would be a slight reach at UIUC (drove me insane). My advice is to consider (and apply to) other big ten schools that are sometimes easier to get into, but are still excellent universities (iowa or purdue for example). The last thing you want to have when it's time to choose between schools that accepted you is a lack of options. You probably dont want to be stuck at an Eastern, Western, Northern, or Southern (you're probably out of their league). Transferring-in isnt the end of the world if worse comes to worse...and it isn't all that difficult if you keep your grades above 3.5 ish from day one of college.</p>
<p>So apply early to UIUC for the best shot, but give yourself other options at other great schools as well.</p>
<p>tennis, i was planning on applying to ACES then switching to LAS.. so i would just take the 1st year of gen. ed's there</p>
<p>thank you so much for the advice! how did u feel about your essays? did you take a difficult schedule during high school? i'm planning on writing some great essays which is more up my alley. Oh and yes, i'm planning at applying at Iowa & Indiana as well.</p>
<p>^I dont know who that was directed at, but my personal thoughts: </p>
<p>I felt fine about my essays both when i applied for freshman admission and transfer admission. Buuuut it was my essays that got me rejected the second time around...</p>
<p>Anyone who says the essays are not important is foolish. I called and asked why i had been rejected as a transfer student and they told me my grades and coursework were fine, but it was my essays that did not show significant interest in advertising (my chosen major). It helps to be good at writing and sentence structure, but the material in the essay is what seems most important to them. Show them something new. DO NOT make it a list of your accomplishments or awards. Instead, show them something about you that they can't see from the rest of your application. They go through hundreds of essays each day, if yours doesn't stand out from the rest of the very talented and accomplished students in the applicant pool, you may not make it into the accept pile. Whatever it is you decide to write about, make sure you clearly express how it connects to your major and academic pursuits. I personally chose to write about radio and my time spent conducting a one-man radio show at my previous university. The problem was that I did a poor job connecting radio with an advanced understanding of the media and the interests of the consumer. I appealed, trying harder to connect the two and used words like "passion", "desire", and "unparalleled resolve" to show them i really wanted to do this with my life and that i had the necessary experience to do so. It worked.</p>
<p>Everyone feels good about their essay, that's because it's THEIR essay. It's almost impossible to see the deep flaws in your own work. Get as many people to read it as you can. My mom destroyed the first draft of my appeal letter. Even though i'm a much better writer than she is, she suggested using more powerful words...gushing about my love for advertising, so to speak. As hard as it was to accept it, she was right, the situation called for desperate measures. If you don't completely change or alter your essay at least once, i'd say you still have work to be done. Dont just ask for grammar help, urge somone to completely change your essay. I re-did my appeal essay 5 times. Somone may have the special ingredient to YOUR killer essay and you wouldn't even know it if you kept it to yourself.</p>
<p>Oh, and my highschool schedule was probably pretty similar to yours. Tons of honors classes, an AP here and there, zero blow off classes. Most people who even think of applying to U of I are exceptional students. I think my stats were almost identical to yours (minus BPA and orchestra), you just come from a better school than me. (I went to McHenry, an hour and a half west of the city). Don't hesitate to ask more.</p>
<p>Based on your stats, the admissions office will definitely review your entire application so make sure your essays are really good. If you have a past or upcoming English teacher who's willing to read over your essays, definitely seek out his or her help. And if U of I is your top choice out of all of the schools you're applying to, try to make it apparent in your application that you genuinely and absolutely want to attend U of I. And of course, apply as early as possible.</p>
<p>It is a misconception to believe ACES is the easiest to get into. Though it has the lowest middle 50% range of class rank/test score, it reviews applicants with an eye to determining which ones it believes really want to be in ACES rather than just applying there with low scores so they can transfer elsewhere later. Essays that show candidate is serious about the ACES program are important. In other words, if you are not committed to an ACES program, your chances of admission are probably less than if you applied to LAS with stats lower than that college usually takes.</p>
<p>I had a 26 ACT and 3.7 GPA and I was faced with a similar problem. I am also someone who wanted to get into the business college, but didn't have the ACT and not enough credentials to do so. The college consultor lady at my school told me that ACES was probably my only chance cause I wasn't really an extra-curricular guy either and didn't do much community service. </p>
<p>But I still got in, I applied under Consumer Econ/Finance major, which is really business related, so that helps me. I might've been able to make LAS, but didn't want to take the chance of being rejected. </p>
<p>I say go for ACES b/c that could be your only shot. Write a good essay too, I believe that helped me out a ton. My essay was defintely a strong point due to me being a pretty good writer.</p>
<p>also, a guy who reviewed my essay about why i wanted to go into the ACES college said I should talk about how I liked farming and agriculture(blahhh). </p>
<p>I could've done that, but then again, it might've looked like a huge lie b/c maybe that's what they're expecting applicants into ACES to talk about. I just discussed my interest in my major and not necessarily my interest in ACES/agriculture.</p>
<p>krbarrett, i will keep in mind all of your advice that helped SOO much. I know a few english teachers and a college/career advisor at my school who i will defiently seek help out with.</p>
<p>jenrik, i'm not looking to transfer if at all possible so at this point i'm just looking for advice on applying to UIUC and increasing my chances on getting in, but thank you for the advice & i will consider it if i am denied!</p>
<p>this is open ended to everyone: i really am interested in advertising which is in LAS which i can use my experiences in BPA in my essay, although i can find some way to apply myself to ACES too.... which do u reccomend me to apply to?</p>
<p>"New in 2006! The College has begun taking applications from freshmen who wish to enter the College of Communications beginning in the fall semester. Interested freshmen should follow the UI students and Undergraduate programs links, below." </p>
<p>-from the college of communications page. it sounds like advertising might not be LAS for fresh/soph anymore, but rather Communications College.</p>
<p>i believe the college of communications is only about 700 students, and i don't know how many freshman they will be taking, could be risky to go this route.</p>
<p>Most likely I would ahve probably applied to ACES b/c its the closest thing to business if I knew I was going to be denied from business because I absolutely hate economics and wish I was not majoring in it. Majoring in econ. makes me sound like a nerd.</p>