<p>^ Did UIUC admit you into an Honors Program?</p>
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<p>My son got $18,000 in merit scholarships with a 36 ACT and 1/400 class rank. However, that’s not nearly enough, even though UIUC is finally starting to make the effort to keep its best students in-state. By contrast, my son was also accepted at Williams as an early write (among others) and has been offered all but $3000 out of their $55k a year in financial aid. The large endowment private colleges seem to be offering the best deals for families who make under $60k/year.</p>
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Yes. James Scholars.</p>
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<p>My stats are just about the same as yours, including EFC, yet I got nothing but a couple loans. Are any scholarships announced in the coming weeks?</p>
<p>Nope, I was notified awhile ago. It might also depend on what department you’re going into. Mine are specific to engineering and mechanical engineering and sciences.</p>
<p>Congratulations!</p>
<p>S was offered two scholarships… One was for $48K and the other $60K for a total of $108 over 4 years. We are OOS and this might not be enough as he has been offered full ride at Auburn. He would LOVE to be at UIUC and study engineering but paying $20K a year when education is free somewhere else is difficult.</p>
<p>I got $21,000 in non-loan aid for 2011-2012 but the other 12k are loans.</p>
<p>Going to our state flagship university, UIUC, by paying instate tuition is more expensive than going to out of state universities at nearby states. A big disappointment with IL. Glad we didn’t put anything into 529 plan for our kids, and sad that we paid too much taxes to IL.</p>
<p>sun168, same here.</p>
<p>UIUC probably has the most expensive in-state tuition and fees; few in-staters get any university grants, and even so, the university keeps reducing faculty recruitment and professors’ working hours and salary. In addition, it locks an irreasonably high 4-year tuition rate to the benefit of the university only. Many things must be wrong with the university.</p>
<p>I have to agree that the UIUC financial aid package is dismal. My DD who’s currently a freshman at UIUC - bioe major and a Chancellor’s scholar got nothing besides loans and $1000 FSM freshman excellence award. So this year, I didn’t even bother doing a FAFSA. However, I’ve decided that UIUC is best for my DD because I’ve seen how much a UIUC diploma is valued. My DS who was a comp sci major from UIUC had a job offer even before he graduated from a top 10 Silicon Valley based IT company. His beginning pay with only BS was $80,000+ per year. All his friends with engineering degrees from UIUC had job offers from top firms ranging from Microsoft, Google, Goldman Sachs, etc. etc. Also, my DS worked internships every summer which paid him more than $12000+ that helped defray tuition costs. Meanwhile, his high school friends with degrees from schools like Duke, UCLA, etc. have not been equally fortunate. So although it’s true that the financial aid from UIUC is “crappy,” that shouldn’t be the only deciding factor in choosing what college to go to.</p>
<p>I love to hear good employment stories to justify the $100,000 my in-state DS’s degree will cost. He is a junior in at UIUC in EE and hopes the payoff will a choice of jobs at the end of next year. He spent spring break in the basement working on a computer program. He could have used your son’s help!</p>
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How do you pay for it without fafsa loans? I was fortunate enough to have my tuition paid for, but my friend that was planning on going got $27,000 in PLUS loans. Do you make a lot of money, or how do people pay for this?</p>
<p>I was also lucky enough to receive full-tuition and an additional $4000 each year that I attend the University of Illinois (I’m in-state). However, I was talking to my guidance counselor and apparently there are only two students ever to receive the Provost Scholarship. I believe our EFC was something around $40,000, so I don’t know if that factored into the scholarship decision (my ACT was a 34 and GPA a 5.0/5.0). I’m an Accounting undergrad next year btw. As a future member of the Business Honors Program, I am thrilled with not only my financial aid package but also with the university…it’s been my dream since I was really young and it’s great that it is also an economically viable option.</p>
<p>Just turned down UIUC. A great school for business. But too expensive…</p>
<p>D1 also turned down UIUC, now it’s down to 2 OOS schools (when we laid the FA packages on the table, in-state with UIUC was more expensive). School definitely has a lot to offer but that’s the way the dice rolls… </p>
<p>Good luck to those who plan on attending. Should know in a few days which neighboring state it’s going to be…</p>