Does anyone know out-of-state acceptance rates? For specific schools?

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

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>Does anyone know out-of-state acceptance rates for UIUC? Specifically, I'd like to know the out-of-state acceptance rate for Computer Science at UIUC, but really an overall rate would be helpful as well. I'm under the impression that the CS rate is much lower than UIUC's overall acceptance rate, and I'd like to know what the CS rate is for OOS, being from Iowa.</p>

<p>Furthermore, if any of you want to chance me that'd be great. I've been sifting through top CS schools for quite awhile now and I think UIUC is the best fit for me in terms of money (especially), and student life (somewhat). I am very passionate about CS and want to go to the best CS school I can afford (keeping in mind how much I "fit" the school as well, of course).</p>

<p>Here are my stats:</p>

<p>11th Grade
SAT: -- (I've gotten 2300s on released exams in timed conditions, but who knows how I'll end up)
ACT: -- (I got a 32 predictor score from some practice thing that all freshmen had to take at my school. Again though, who knows how I'll actually do)
GPA: 3.8-3.9 UW (don't know what it will end up at); 4.333 W
APs: 9 APs by the end of this year; Pretty much all the basic ones including stats, calc bc; (5 on AP CompSci)
LoRs: One will be great; I'm fairly certain the other will be pretty good</p>

<p>Computer Science Experience:
Computer Science I & II (freshman year)
AP Computer Science (sophomore year)
Internship at ~5 billion dollar company (will go unnamed for compliance with company policy) (junior year)
Data Structures and Algorithms (plan to take senior year at local college)
Calc III & Linear Algebra (plan to take senior year at local college; I don't know if this necessarily helps with CS admissions)
Computer Science Club Founder (Junior Year onward)
3rd Place at ACM's Iowa Computer Science Competition (at University of Iowa) (Junior Year)
Math Team Member (freshman year onward) and State competitor (junior year)
not sure if this helps either but Academic Decathlon member (state competitor junior year) (2nd place interviewee at regionals)</p>

<p>unrelated ECs:
bowling four years, golf one year</p>

<p>I'm sure I'll have at least an average essay.</p>

<p>I know the CS department at UIUC is very good and very competitive due to its national and international recognition as one of the best CS departments in the world. There is still very little information on the acceptance rate of this specific department, etc, and I'm worried that although my stats almost guarantee my admissions to the LAC, if this CS department's selectivity is anything like Stanford's, MIT's, Princeton's, CMU's, etc, I might be just around "average" if not below par in comparison to other applicants.</p>

<p>Also, I'm from Iowa if you haven't already gathered that from my post, so if that means anything in terms of admissions please let me know. I'm also planning on apply in the "Priority Filing Period." I really love CS and I think I'll love UIUC if I go there.</p>

<p>I'm not sure how much this affects admissions but I'm a white male that will not qualify for financial aid.</p>

2

<p>Have you not taken an actual ACT or SAT yet? </p>

<p>Test scores are more important at UIUC in relation to subjective factors than at the other schools you mention. They don’t even read recommendation letters.</p>

3

<p>YZamyatin,</p>

<p>I took an actual ACT my sophomore year and received a 32. I don’t think that reflects my ability now though. Conservatively, I think I’ll get between 32 and 35 on the ACT and 2100 and 2400 on the SAT. Of course, I may score below 32 (or 2100), but I’m fairly certain I’ll score at least 1 or 2 (100 or 150) points above them.</p>

<p>Also, do you think the admissions officers will even look at things other than GPA and SAT/ACT scores, given such a large applicant pool? Do they just “sort by GPA” or by SAT/ACT score, and then make sure you’ve done some ECs etc? I’m kind of worried about this because I’m very very passionate about CS, and this cannot be expressed simply by GPA or SAT/ACT score, regardless of what I end up with.</p>

4

<p>Course rigor is very important; it seems you are in great shape there. I too am a little surprised that UIUC does not delve a little deeper into the applications for the most sought after majors. They don’t even look at SAT subject test scores, which would take far less manpower than assessing recommendations.</p>

<p>Computer Science admit rate is volatile from year to year, as is the yield rate. Supposedly all applicants are looked at the same, in or out of state. Many people don’t believe that but apparently that is what they claim.</p>

<p>Not big on the whole chancing thing, but I’m pretty sure acceptance has a very strong correlation to grades and test scores (assuming rigor), with emphasis on math and science grades and sub-scores . More so than the other top programs at private schools anyhow.</p>

5

<p>The admissions officers do not look at references/ recommendations, but they look carefully at the essays. Be sure to write top quality essays and have them proofread. Your essay has to show what is unique about you to make you stand out from the other thousands of applicants with excellent grades and test scores. If you want to see what a great essay looks like, go to the bookstore and look at a book with college essays that got students into some of the top schools.</p>

6

<p>I got into CS @ Illinois, just last application season, with a 32 ACT and 3.8 GPA and EC’s a bit less stellar than yours (depends though, I did completely stuff so it depends how they see it). So if you get at least a 32 and write a good essay, then you should be fine. Hope to see you here soon!</p>