Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
1

<p>White Male
In State
GPA UW: 3.2, W: 3.6
I came from a less than stellar grade school and I was placed in all regulars classes in both 9th and 10th grade, where I got 2 Cs in PE and 1 in English. From Sophomore year to Junior year I went from all regulars classes to all Honors and 1 AP(Microecon-got a 5) and got all As/Bs. I don't know if any of this matters, so forgive my wall of text, especially if it's all useless. My currently high school is VERY competitive, it's a college prep. I likely only got in it because of my location and where I was coming from.(For statistics purposes)</p>

<p>ACT: 29(33E, 26M, 29R, 28S) It's a little low, especially math, I'm retaking 10/10.
Class rank: Top 30% (My class size is over 1000 kids. Magnet school, 32nd in state(I think we're a lot better than that, just the test that they base the ranking off of, nobody tries on.) Public. Largely due to my Freshman/Sophomore year)</p>

<p>Senior Courses:
AP Psychology
AP Human Geography
AP Environmental Science
Honors Pre-Calc
Honors English
Honors Forensic Science
Percussion Band</p>

<p>ECs(weak, I was ignorant, too late now)
Band - only Senior year, section leader
Like 60 hours of volunteer
Tutoring at ethnic heritage centers
LOTS of stuff done at my old elementary school(I elaborated on the whole "giving back" thing in my essay. Also, I'm 3rd generation there)</p>

<p>My essays are awesome, I hired a professional to help.
Hook: I've done registered tours and I know an admissions counselor fairly well, she likes me. My cousin just graduated a few years ago if that matters? He was an Engineer also. Also, my really high upward trend from Sophomore->Junior year->Senior year might be considered.</p>

<p>I am applying for (Aerospace)Engineering, although I don't expect to make it, unless my ACT goes way up. I am just hoping for DGS. </p>

<p>Also, since Purdue and UIUC are often compared, if anyone knows my chances there, please feel free to share. And if anyone can recommend some good safetys for me, preferably in the Midwest, that'd be great.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>Engineering would be a definite reach for you given the lower math score. Your October ACT scores won’t make it by the priority deadline of 11/1. The middle 50% of engineering admits had and ACT in the range of 30-33, and were ranked in the top 8% of their classes. Your upward GPA trend will be taken into consideration. I believe you’d be a match for DGS in any case, and since you can take the same classes as applicants admitted directly to engineering, you’ll have the chance to prove them wrong if they don’t accept you outright.</p>

<p>Bottom line is you won’t know, unless you apply to your program of choice. Then, if not accepted, you’ll automatically be considered for DGS. Good luck.</p>

3

<p>I’d say you’re definitely in for DGS, but you have little to no chance at aerospace.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the input. You pretty much said what I had assumed except for variable believing I can definitely(at least have a shot) get in DGS. I thought my scores would make it a bigger reach. I know if I can at least get in the door I can do well and transfer to the Engineering college.</p>