My academic stats: 33 on my ACT. 36 in math and 35 in science which should help me as I plan on going in for an engineering major. Around a 3.9 unweighted GPA with being in the top 2 percent my class of 350 kids. As rigorous as a schedule as my school provides, and success in all my AP and honors classes as I’ve gotten all A’s in them. Of my four AP tests I’ve gotten a satisfactory 3 on all of them.
My extracurriculars aren’t that impressive. I am a four year participant of my school’s soccer team, two of those years on the varsity level. I am in my school’s anti-bullying group. I am in my schools NHS and have been moderately active in it. I have worked since my Junior year, around 10 hours a week during the school year. I am in my school’s recycling teams.
I plan on writing a solid essay and I don’t believe that the essay portion will be a weak spot of my application.
I plan on applying to the engineering program which is ranked highly yet they still admit a high number of students. Would U of I be considered a safety school for myself, and if not, what school would be a good example of a safety school?
I would say it is a match, not a safety. Whatever safety you end up with has to be affordable, so suggestions will depend on your financial situation.
Are you instate for UIUC?
Will your custodial parent pay ALL costs to go there?
Sorry, I thought the OP said they were from IL. That makes a difference.
I don’t think UIUC is really a ‘safety’ school for most people. This is especially true if you’re an out of state student, and even more true if you plan to go into an engineering field. The College of Engineering tends to be much more selective than UIUC as a whole. We have one of the top engineering programs in the country, so there are a lot of very qualified applicants. I believe something like 65% of the class of 2019 is in state, and there’s a big push to keep things that way. About 19% of the class of 2019 consists of international students, leaving another 16% being out of state US citizens. I’d agree with the other posters and say that UIUC is a match for you, but likely not a safety.
More like a match, need more specifics. IF I recall correctly for the 2015 admitted freshman class the middle 50% scored a composite 31-34 in the school of engineering. If you are applying to the more competitive specific engineering schools of Materials Science or Computer Science you are probably well on the low side of the average. Hopefully you are in-state as that may help. Based on my older son’s experience, don’t assume anything. Schools we thought he would get into to, he didn’t , conversely one or two we didn’t think he would, he in fact did. Cast a wide net and make sure you have a definite safe school, it is a smart move in case you need it. Good luck.