<p>I'm entering senior year and am very seriously considering the University if Illinois UC for electrical engineering, out of state. Attending would be unrealistic for me without significant (merit) aid.</p>
<p>I understand the College of Engineering offers very competitive scholarships, all of which require high ACT scores and grades (the higher scholarships also emphasize leadership, service, etc.).</p>
<p>I had a fairly specific question- all else being equal, is there a strong distinction between a 35 and a 36 on the ACT?</p>
<p>I took the ACT in February (without having a lot of prep time) and scored well in all areas, excepting the science section in which I scored a 32 (I spent too long reading experimental set-ups and ran out of time, I've since realized it's not that important to thoroughly understand them). With August to practice, I'm fairly certain I could score a 35 or 36 in science, bringing my overall score up to a 36. However, the September test date conflicts with a commitment which is very important to me.</p>
<p>I wouldn't be as concerned about this if it wasn't a 32 in <strong><em>science</em></strong> which seems like a very important section for engineering.</p>
<p>Do any past recipients or others know how the ACT component of an application is judged and/or how much the individual section scores are considered versus the composite score? It would also be interesting to know the overall stats of the out of state recipients and the recipients in general.</p>
<p>Sorry if there is a stats thread elsewhere- I couldn't find it.</p>
<p>You shouldn’t worry too much about any individual subject scores you received, unless you’re working on a strategy to bring up your cumulative score. The only score that UIUC cares about is your best one-time test score. They don’t superscore, so you’ll have to receive either a 35 or 36 in one go for that to count.</p>
<p>Are you a URM, are you female, and/or is your family’s income on the low side? For some perspective I was valedictorian and had a 35 ACT, but still didn’t receive a single scholarship other than a small automatic NMF one. I’m a white middle-class male in engineering. They do give out a few OOS scholarships that bring your tuition to the in-state level, so some aid might be there, but even with high stats it’ll be the luck of the draw.</p>
<p>Thanks. The only thing I really have going for me is being a female in EE; I know it helps with admissions, but I don’t know whether it would help at all with UI scholarships.</p>
<p>Re-reading my post, I realize I never explicitly stated my current ACT as a 35.</p>
<p>“They do give out a few OOS scholarships that bring your tuition to the in-state level”</p>
<p>Could you link to this/these, I haven’t been able to find any scholarships like this on the website. The closest thing I’ve come across is the ‘University Achievement Scholarship’ which would bring tuition a little over 2K of in-state.</p>
<p>We’re in-state. My oldest son had a 35 overall ACT score and 36 on 3 of 4 sections. U of I offered zilch. This was 6 years ago and I’ve been keeping my ear to the ground ever since because I have younger children. I don’t know anybody in-state who got any $$$ to go to U of I. The state is broke. And they have tons of highly-qualified Chicago students feeding in and the school is 2 hours away and a bargain for a high income in-state Chicago family. (this is my opinion: simply put, the U of I doesn’t need to offer anyone $$ to go there) At our admissions session a week or so ago, the presenter said there is very, very little money offered to out-of-state students. Maybe being a female in engineering would help, but I don’t know.</p>
<p>Thanks TOSOUofI. Though I’m a little confused, I ALREADY have a 35/36 ACT (from one test date) and high gpa (3.99, UW). Do you think bumping a 35 up to a 36 is THAT important?</p>
<p>Also, just curious, does UI look at SAT at all?</p>
<p>Hi, for anyone’s future reference, through collegeweeklive.com I spoke online with a Representative from UIUC.</p>
<p>Here is an excerpt in which I asked the same question I posted on this forum. Collegeweek uses your real name, I replaced all names except the one of the rep.</p>
<p>"
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Hapax: Also: I took the ACT without having a lot of time to prepare and did well in all sections except for the science section, in which I scored a 32 (I ran out of time). My current cumulative score is a 35. I feel fairly confident that I could bring my science section up to a 35 or 36 if I prepped in August (bringing my cumulative to a 36), but the September test date conflicts with an important event for me. Would raising my ACT score from a 35 to a 36 (and raising the science subscore) make a considerable difference in my chances at receiving an engineering scholarship?
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REP - Erika Olivarez : Hapax- a student who scored a 35 and another student who may have scored a 36 would be reviewed equally.
Hapax : thank you
"</p>
<p>I’d imagine that the college of engineering might look at ACT when they’re very uncertain or a a tiebreaker. Also this rep might not be very involved in the CoE’s specific scholarship selection process and might be citing general policy of the university, when the CoE may take this score difference more seriously. But I’ll take this at face value and consider retaking the ACT as fairly (or completely) unimportant. So, especially in light of my other commitment, I won’t be retaking the ACT.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who answered. Any replies from others who have had experience with Engineering Scholarships or other insights are still welcome!</p>
<p>momoffive:
I think you’re absolutely correct. Illinois doesn’t have the money, has a large pipeline of highly qualified students from Chicagoland and no need to offer much in the way of scholarship funds.</p>
<p>I have kid who is applying to UofI, but will also be applying to Minnesota, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin and Iowa. I think thousands of quality Chicago area students will get benefits from great schools that compete with U of Illinois for applicants. Wouldn’t surprise me to see our fine, broke state experience a brain drain.</p>
<p>My son was offered a $15,000/year scholarship last year by UIUC. He was ranked first in a class of 400 and had a 36 ACT. This was a fairly new scholarship. UIUC is trying to hold on to its best applicants who often get massive financial aid offers from top-20 colleges.</p>
<p>I seem to recall there was a thread here about the scholarship and others who received it had 35’s and 36’s. So it may not matter if you’re at the top of the class, but the extra point might make a difference if, for example, you’re only in the top 10%.</p>
<p>BTW, awards are stackable – my son received two other awards totaling $11,000 over 4 years. There are also additional awards specifically granted to out-of-state applicants.</p>
<p>Being a female in the College of Engineering should be as good as being a URM and give you a priority shot over others with similar stats.</p>
<p>In the end, my son decided to go to Brown which was smaller and many thousands of dollars cheaper after financial aid.</p>