ENG admissions news - Fall 2014 freshmen class

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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<p>From <a href="http://engineering.illinois.edu/news/article/7450"&gt;http://engineering.illinois.edu/news/article/7450&lt;/a> :</p>

<p>Record number of applications received
1/23/2014</p>

<p>The College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign received a record 10,686 applications for the fall 2014 freshmen class—a 19 percent increase from last year’s applicant pool of 8,954 students. The number of applicants has doubled since 2010, when 5,330 students applied.</p>

<p>At the same time, the quality of the applicant pool has never been higher. The average composite ACT score for entering classes rose from 31.2 in 2010 to 32.1 in 2013. The average composite ACT score for applicants has risen from 30.4 in 2010 to 30.9 for this year’s applicants.</p>

<p>Illinois’ engineering program is consistently ranked in the Top 5 nationally and internationally, and it is among the country’s Top 3 schools in terms of the number of undergraduate degrees awarded each year.
“This major expansion in the number of applicants is a great vote of confidence,” said Andreas Cangellaris, dean of the College of Engineering. “It tells us that people recognize the value of an engineering degree from Illinois. And it tells us that students appreciate that Illinois’ comprehensive range of majors and innovative ways of teaching allow them to specialize while developing into a well-rounded engineer.”</p>

<h2>To keep pace with this growing demand, the College of Engineering at Illinois has expanded its faculty, with a net increase of 23 new faculty members since 2010, with plans to add another 40 to 50 faculty over the next five years.</h2>

<p>Do you agree with the quote from Dean Cangellaris concerning why admissions applications have doubled since 2010 for UIUC engineering school? UIUC has a great reputation, but were any applicants interviewed concerning why they applied?</p>

<p>Could there be other reasons? Could freshman applicants just be applying to a lot more schools than in previous years? Are there any statistics nationwide on total applications sent out vs the number of freshman applicants? Are other top engineering schools also seeing similar increases in total applications and an increase average standardized test scores of the applicant pool?</p>

<p>We have now been told UIUC will increase its faculty, but will the number of admitted freshmen also increase?</p>

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<p>I’m always a bit skeptical of new members and their motivations for posting, especially when looking at their first post. Care to explain why you feel that today’s students would be applying to more schools than in say 2010? Care to explain why a University would hire more faculty, if not to meet increased admissions? Are you a high school student who is currently, or will be applying in the near future? Are you in-state, out-of-state, international? Why not take the article at face value? That being that the University of Illinois College of Engineering is one of the top Engineering schools in the world, and people are noticing, as Dean Cangellaris states. They have increased faculty to meet this increased demand. They don’t hire faculty without having students that require instruction. What a strange question. And frankly, if you’d like answers to your questions, a phone call, or email to engineering or admissions would easily provide the answers. Also, a little of your own research through the reams of documentation produced by the university would also provide more than adequate statistics/documentation for your queries. Knowing a little bit more about your background would help in responding to your questions too, since you have no other history on these boards.</p>

<p>If you’re considering the University of Illinois for the purpose of pursuing a degree in engineering, you’re making a wise decision. If you’re just some sort of gadfly out to inject uncorroborated doubt into what is a fairly straight-forward article, please don’t clutter up these boards, as it makes it harder to help other posters who have more appropriate questions to be answered.</p>

<p>Finally, I apologize if I’ve mistaken your intent. But I’m usually a pretty good judge of character. Also, a heads up: Introducing yourself is a common thing to do when posting for the first time, and especially when asking such leading questions about the “real”, “unstated” reasons behind a news article. It makes it sound like you’re walking around with a tin-foil hat on to ward off the microwaves from space aliens. :wink: </p>

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<p>Balthezar,</p>

<p>Sorry you took the post the wrong way, but you sound rather defensive. I am a UIUC engineering grad and I do not take anything at face value. I have also been involved in technical sales for a number of years and maybe I am just more attune to not making any statements unless they can be “corroborated”. My only beef with the press release is drawing a direct correlation between increased applications and some higher education marketing statements.</p>

<p>If you can point me to detailed published information about the the 2014 UIUC engineering applicant pool, I would find it interesting to review. I know a number of high school seniors from the Chicago suburbs that are applying to UIUC engineering. I also know that high school counselors in the Chicago area saw a record number of deferrals of highly qualified students applying to UIUC. Did UIUC engineering publish any statistics on how many students were granted acceptance during EA and also IS/OOS/International breakdowns? </p>

<p>UIUC engineering is world renowned. There is no doubt in that statement, but this has been true for many more years than the time frame that saw a dramatic rise in applications. An engineering degree from Illinois is hard earned and very valuable. I am sure students appreciate that Illinois’ comprehensive range of majors and innovative ways of teaching allow them to specialize while developing into a well-rounded engineer.</p>

<p>But also in regards to that statement, UIUC also makes applicants declare, as incoming freshman, a specific engineering discipline they want to study and their applications are then compared to others students declaring the same major choice. At some other top public engineering schools, such as Purdue and Georgia Tech, all freshman apps are considered without regard to major or all freshmen are undeclared.</p>

<p>Georgia Tech’s early decision applications were up by 37% for 2014 freshmen. Why? GT switched to the common app this year.
<a href=“5,000 Students Offered Early Action Admission to Tech | News Center”>http://www.news.gatech.edu/2014/01/06/5000-students-offered-early-action-admission-tech&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>IL2014, as I previously stated, a call to admissions and/or engineering could easily provide an answer to all your questions. Illinois Engineering’s direct acceptance into a specific program is a plus, not the negative that you seem to imply. At Purdue and GT you need to apply to a specific program after your first year. The uncertainty associated with committing to an institution for freshman year without the certainty that you’ll be admitted to the specific program you desire for your sophomore year is not a concern at Illinois, where, if you’re admitted, you’re in to the program of your choice, as long as you maintain the grades. And, if, at some point, you’d like to transfer, either intra-college or inter-college, you’re free to do so.</p>

<p>As for your anecdote regarding record numbers of applicants being deferred, that would seem to corroborate the statements regarding increased applications in the press release. The more impacted (by the total applications) a particular engineering program is, the more likely the department is to defer the applicant pool to allow them the luxury of reviewing the entire applicant pool before making any offers.</p>

<p>You’re of course, free to question anything you’d like, but a press release is not a footnoted research paper, and I see no reason to assume that it isn’t supported by facts. After all, the university would not look favorably on one of its employees making false claims about any aspect of its admissions or academics, and that employee likely wouldn’t be an employee for very long if he/she did. I try to be open-minded and defend the university when I think it is being unfairly demeaned. Your questions implied the press release was being less than truthful. Just as you don’t take anything at face value, and you look for supporting documentation, so do I, and I saw none (and still don’t save for your unsupported anecdote) that would support the implications that you made in your initial post.</p>

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<p>My son pays OOS tuition. It is a good deal for him. If he went to our state school, he would have to take two years of the prerequisites and then apply to Engineering. He would run the risk of maybe getting in or maybe not getting in. At UIUC, he is in and that is one less thing to worry about. He applied only to UIUC (early application). Once he was accepted, he was finished with the application process. </p>

<p>The same situation happens in business. I know a top notch student who took the prereqs for business at our state school and was sure she would get into business. She was not accepted and was shocked. What a way to derail a career path.</p>

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<p>Exactly Momgrad76. I think U of I’s direct admission to the program of choice is very much under-appreciated. The college application process is filled with enough uncertainty as it is. U of I’s admissions process is rigorous, and many are denied, deferred, or offered alternate programs, but the key is that after early November (for Priority Admissions), and even after the Regular Admissions period a UIUC Admit KNOWS what program they’re in, and that is a big deal. Students have enough to worry about with their classes and grades without worrying whether they’ve outdone their classmates enough to grab one of the limited spots in a program in a year or two. The process, therefore promotes collegiality, and peer assistance, as opposed to implementing a “Hunger Games”-like atmosphere as other university’s do. It’s incidious, really. The universities are saying, “Hey, we THINK you have a chance to succeed in (for example) Engineering, but we’d like to see what you do in our commonly-refered-to ‘weed-out’ classes first. And if you don’t make the grade, well, we’ve got your money for two years, and you’ve got a tough decision to make…stay and take something that you really didn’t have your heart set on, or … we’ll cya! Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!”.</p>

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<p>“The process, therefore promotes collegiality, and peer assistance, as opposed to implementing a “Hunger Games”-like atmosphere as other university’s do.”</p>

<p>@Balthezar - you can tell that to the son of my co-worker who dropeed out of UIUC Engineering during his freshman year. To believe in any “collegiality, and peer assistance” 1000+ miles away from home is a recipe for disaster. I am telling my S to rely on himself and himself only.</p>

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<p>I have no idea why your co-worker’s son dropped out of UIUC Engineering, but many students find that either they are not cut out for the program, or just change their minds about what they want to study, and subsequently leave. That however has nothing to do with UIUC’s admittance of applicants directly into a specific program, as opposed to other universities where that is not the case. I never said any student should ultimately rely on anyone other than themselves, but whether your son is 1 mile or 1000+ miles away from home, he, if needed (and if he chooses), can participate in a peer group as one of a variety of ways to solidify his understanding of the material presented and/or study for an upcoming exam.</p>

<p>As for a student relying only on themselves, that won’t cut it in engineering in general where teamwork is a critical and necessary component of the job. More specifically, his senior year at UIUC in Engineering is group participation in a Capstone class whereby the group members necessarily must rely on each other to individually research various areas of a project in pursuit of a final, graded group result. My son is a senior in Aerospace Engineering. He has participated in a group to build a drone his junior year, and as a Senior Capstone project, he’s focusing on providing the propulsion portion while the group designs a business jet.</p>

<p>If your son has been accepted already, congratulations. If not then good luck to him.</p>

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<p>How is UIUC being demeaned by asking questions to better understand the situation? I only asked questions in my initial post and did not make any statements. Those questions were posted in a forum that is frequented by students that might provide some insight.</p>

<p>I did not make any accusations of untruthfulness, I just wish I had more specific background information than just being told applications are up 19% this year, and 100% over five years because UIUC is great place to get an engineering degree and more students than ever are realizing that fact. Unequivocally, there is nothing untruthful about the statements in the press release, but its an overly simplistic view of the increase in applications over the last five years.</p>

<p>There are more specific questions that come to mind that I doubt a call to admissions or engineering would have answered forthright.</p>

<p>In terms of trends, what was the breakdown of applications each year IS/OOS/Intl over the last five years? What was the avg ACT (being the metric of choice from the press release) for each of those groups? Has one group grown faster in proportion to the others in terms of number of applications?</p>

<p>How many early admissions/deferrals/declined admissions went out this year? What was the breakdown by IS/OOS/Intl?</p>

<p>It seems unlikely that application growth is just due to the pool of potential first year freshmen itself growing 19% (or 37% at GT) in one year with a constant ratio of applications per student. There is really no way to determine this info unless all the application pools to the top engineering programs are compared year over year to determine how many unique individuals are increasing the number of schools to which they apply.</p>

<p>I have seen data for last years UIUC freshman class (all colleges combined), but does this same breakdown get published for just the college of engineering (and then just for the ENG application pool)?:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.dmi.illinois.edu/stuenr/abstracts/fa13Freshman_ten.htm”>http://www.dmi.illinois.edu/stuenr/abstracts/fa13Freshman_ten.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>My S has been deferred in the EA round. We will have the final decision in a week. It just so happens that the news of a co-worker S dropping out came right after my S deferral, and we are now having second thoughts about UIUC. In any event, it’s not all “collegiality and peer assistance”.</p>

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<p>Balthezar,</p>

<p>Your melodramatic “Hunger Games” analogy is again a bit simplistic view. I am sure there are pros and cons to selecting students nfor certain programs as high school seniors or as college freshman taking first year classes.</p>

<p>The bottom line is that there are students that the UIUC admissions team deemed to be the best applicants and felt would succeed in their chosen engineering major also end up flunking out. At least the student themselves have a little more control over the process in an environment where the playing field is equal during freshman year at the same university taking the same classes and being graded the same way.</p>

<p>One of my problems with the UIUC application is they look at AP classes taken and the grades received during HS, but do not seem to care about the ACTUAL TEST SCORES ON THE AP EXAMS. Grading at different HS’s can vary. I get the impression that given similar ACT scores UIUC looks more favorable on a student that may have received A’s for two semester of say AP CALC BC, and then got a 3 on the exam, as compared to a student that got two B’s (possibly 89% each semester) and then a 5 on the exam.</p>

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<p>The other quirk about the UIUC ENG admissions process is that there only appears to be readily available admission stats for the ENG college as a whole when each engineering major appears to have their own selection criteria. So, what is the hardest to major to gain admission and what is the easiest?</p>

<p>Can anyone explain to me, ala Schoolhouse Rock “I’m just a Bill” form, exactly what happens to an application to the UIUC ENG school?</p>

<p>Are applications only reviewed by admissions specialists? At what point in the process are applicants only compared to other applicants choosing the same major? What is the involvement of the engineering administration or specific staff within an engineering discipline in the process?</p>

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<p>Balthezar,</p>

<p>Concerning your question, “Care to explain why you feel that today’s students would be applying to more schools than in say 2010?”</p>

<p>Are you questioning that the ease of an online admission has been constant for the last five years so other factors would be at play? There is general information that students are applying to more schools than “previous” years.</p>

<p>–
<a href=“http://articles.latimes.com/2013/nov/25/local/la-me-college-applications-20131126”>http://articles.latimes.com/2013/nov/25/local/la-me-college-applications-20131126&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>“The numbers of high school graduates across the country rose from 2.6 million in 1996-97 to a peak of 3.4 million in 2010-11, as the children of later baby boomers matured into 12th-graders. Then a decline began and the low point will be this year’s 3.2 million nationally, according to a report by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.”
…
“The population decline is partly offset at some schools by a trend among students to apply to more colleges than previous generations, made easier by the online common application form. Additionally, many schools want to enroll more international students, particularly those who can afford to pay full tuition, experts said.”</p>

<p><a href=“College Decision Day: More Applications, More Problems | TIME.com”>http://nation.time.com/2013/05/01/as-college-applications-rise-so-does-indecision/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/10/20/study-more-students-apply-to-more-colleges”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/10/20/study-more-students-apply-to-more-colleges&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>What about the SAT scores? Whats the average SAT score?</p>

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<p>As a parent of an incoming freshman to UIUC Computer Engineering and a head of HR for a tech company in Silicon Valley that recruits at all the big engineering campuses, I can offer a few perspectives. In the internet/digital services industry, we’ve been dealing with escalating demand and not enough supply of software developers. Pay continues to climb every year with CS grads receiving multiple offers and sign-on bonuses from big companies like Google, Facebook to fast growing start-ups/small companies like AdRoll, Eventbrite, Box etc. As an employer, we’ve been frustrated with the demand and supply problem. I’m really pleased that across the country (not just UIUC) applications for CS programs are up and even better, schools like UIUC are expanding their programs & adding faculty. </p>

<p>Mountain View high school, which is in the heart of Google-land (my son’s a senior here), saw significantly more kids apply to UIUC engineering this year. It’s part of a larger trend in California. Since the UCs increased the # of out of state/international students (they need the money), an increasing # of talented California students are going out of state. Class valedictorians are NOT guaranteed a spot at the UCs. Admissions into engineering programs at the top UCs (Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD) which among the most selective within the university, have acceptance rates dropping below 10% this year for CA residents. The sorry fact is that California’s state schools’ capacity has not kept pace with fast growing college age population in state. </p>

<p>The UIUC website indicates that California sends the most kids to UIUC of states outside Illinois. It’d be interesting to get data on 2014 UIUC engineering applicant demographics to see how much the CA trend contributes to % of out-of-state applications. UIUC engineering has a great reputation on the West Coast. Several UIUC alumni are internet entrepreneurs like Marc Andreeson who are Silicon Valley insiders.</p>

<p>As an employer and parent of a kid excited about entering Computer Engineering at UIUC this fall, I must say it’s an exciting time be in technology!</p>