Illinois Universities- NIU, UIC

College Search & Selection
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Hi- I’m a senior coming from southern Wisconsin. I got a 29 on my ACT (planning on retaking) I have around a 3.8 GPA. I was originally Valedictorian but missed quite a bit of my sophomore and junior year due to health reasons. I was interested in schools in Illinois. I will be graduating with around 20 credits from UW- Parkside. Originally I was looking at Psychology, some college advisors have told me to just do Pre Med as I do plan on going into a Physician Assistant program.

I visited NIU and loved it. From what they’ve told me they would give quite a bit of money in merit based scholarships. The big issue is the location. I’ve seen this on many other forums so I’m not the first to say it- but it is literally in the middle of nowhere. (with all do respect). Driving there I was amazed by the amount of corn fields. At first it was humorous to me, then it really set in- could I actually live here? I come from what I thought was a small town- always wanted to go to a bigger city- and the idea of going to a smaller town kinda scares me. I’ve heard everyone goes home on the weekends because there is nothing to do. I understand college is what you make it, and if I try I can enjoy it anywhere. Yet a tiny town is not my ideal situation. Just looking for insight if this really does affect the college experience there.

After becoming worried about NIU I began to look at UIC. Living in a bigger city really appealed to me. I am worried about the money- I would apply for the honors college yet I’ve also seen they don’t offer very many merit based scholarships these days. Does anyone have insight on scholarships/aid at UIC?
Especially since these schools are Out of State- I worry about the costs.
I guess my dilemma is Location vs. Money
Any insight would be greatly appreciated

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How much did NIU claim that they would give you in merit each year?

How much will your family pay each year? Ask them.

NIU’s COA for an OOS student is $37k per year.

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@mom2collegekids NIU was going to give me 7k a year as a merit based scholarship for my ACT/GPA but I was retaking my ACT to possibly get a 33. NIU offers a Presidential scholarship for at least a 33/3.75 with a full ride- tuition, room & board, books, etc. (That is if I do get a 33).
My parents are willing to make it work. I have a sibling going to Minnesota-Twin Cities. They want me to not worry about the money part of it and focus on what school I actually would like to go to. I personally don’t want to give them a huge financial burden.

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NIU is known in the Chicago area as being a big commuter/suitcase school - but, so is UIC. Yes, Chicago is more exciting than DeKalb, :), which is basically part farm town/part college town, I think. NIU has added more dorms recently, though, and so has UIC.

NIU is actually about an hour from Chicago, and only 20 minutes away from the far Western suburbs…

Have you considered Illinois State or SIU-Carbondale or SIU-Edwardsville?

ISU starts to give out merit at 3.4 and 27 ACT, if I remember correctly (double-check, don’t take my word for it).

It’s a very nice campus, and the town is small but has a lot of shops and restaurants, a big mall area… the town honestly reminds me of another Chicago suburb. Downtown Normal is adjacent to the campus. The Amtrak train station is walking distance from the campus, and will take you to downtown Chicago in two hours, or downtown St. Louis in 3.

SIU-Carbondale is a college town, but I don’t know what it’s like, and it’s in a more rural area (also in the middle of nowhere, but in a beautiful part of southern IL). Also, of course, farther away than the others, but they are starting to give decent merit aid to students with good grades and test scores. Amtrak also serves Carbondale, but don’t know if it’s walking distance from campus or not…

SIU-Edwardsville is also a commuter/suitcase school that gives merit aid. Edwardsville is a nice suburb of St. Louis and there is plenty to do - although, imo, DeKalb is ten times more charming and interesting than E’ville. It’s just bland, imo, lots of chain restaurants and really need a car to get anywhere…

If you thought DeKalb was boring, I hesitate to even suggest Eastern IL or Western IL, both in very small towns surrounded by farmland…

Is WI in the Midwest Student Exchange Program? If so, have you looked at schools in other states on the MSEP list?

Does WI have tuition reciprocity with Minnesota? I’ve heard good things about UMN-Duluth. My D was considering it at one point. Duluth is a great town, my friend lives there.

Also - why not UW schools? I hear good things about Eau Claire and La Crosse.

edited to add: It is my understanding that UIC is not generous with merit, but you can go to their website to check - go to Financial Aid and look for “Scholarships”.

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OP, if you are serious about a sizable merit scholarship, look into SIU-Carbondale and SIU-Edwardsville - just in case you don’t get the 33.

But I’m rooting for you to get the 33! Get a guide from the library or bookstore, and study, it will help!

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I feel like you should try and apply to other schoola! You shouldn’t limit yourself. I don’t know your financial situation, but Iowa State University in Ames is pretty good about scholarships and has a pretty strong science focus and they have a partnership I think going on with University of Iowa? I forget exactly, but I do remember hearing about it. I feel like UIC would be the better option for you. It has its own medical school on campus!

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@julia161 The NIU Presidential scholarship for at least a 33/3.75 with a full ride- tuition, room & board, books. is limited in the number they distribute each year. They have many more qualified applicants for the scholarship than is given. So do not bank on the full ride if you do manage to get your ACT score up.

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“My parents are willing to make it work. I have a sibling going to Minnesota-Twin Cities.”

Yeah, but you have tuition exchange between WI & MN, and UM-TC is one of the most affordable flagships in the country for OOS students. If you don’t want to give your parents a huge financial burden, then you need to explicitly talk numbers with them. A huge burden to one family is nothing much to another.

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What I was saying is my parents refuse to set numbers for me. They want me to decide based upon what school I like best. My whole statement about money was saying I am the one worried about the money not my parents. FAFSA also increases when you have more than one child in college, which is why I mentioned having a sibling going to a university.

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Your parents need to give you a number; otherwise there’s no way to do a proper search.

Midwest Tuition Exchange would give you discounts at a bunch of schools in a number of midwestern states, but not Illinois. You may need to consider other states.

http://msep.mhec.org/institutions?field_state_term_tid=9&field_program_type_term_tid=12&field_sector_term_tid=10

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Here’s an Illinois possibility - ISU. Bloomington/Normal is a nice small city, and also has Illinois Wesleyan and maybe another college or two.

According to this page, in-state tuition+r&b is $23.5k, and Wisconsin residents are eligible for instate tuition.

http://admissions.illinoisstate.edu/freshman/cost/expenses.php

If you can get your ACT to 30, you can apply for a Presidential Scholarship, but it’s not clear how many are given out:

http://admissions.illinoisstate.edu/freshman/cost/scholarships/ps.php

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NIU definitely is surrounded by cornfields. The high school teams are called the Barbs, named after barb wire that was first mass produced there. However, DeKalb has a number of really good restaurants and a real downtown. Some people do stay there for the weekends - you would find your people. The psych faculty are quite active. True that UIC has a totally different vibe.

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<<<
FAFSA also increases when you have more than one child in college, which is why I mentioned having a sibling going to a university.
<<<

No, it doesn’t.

Your EFC will split, but that does NOT mean that you would get a dime of “free money”. Since your parents are willing to let you go wherever you want, and you have a sibling in college, that suggests that their income is high enough that you won’t qualify for a Pell Grant.

What is your sibling’s FAFSA EFC?

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why niu and uic? you have scores that are way better than their averages. why not uiuc if u wanna be in illinois?

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^ He is from out of state and is unlikely to get merit aid at UIUC with his scores.

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UIUC offers little merit even for in-state, and the in-state COA is as high as $35k.

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Then why not Uw-madison. Or better yet, 2 years at cc—> where she/he wants to go by saving money .

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If you want to stay in the general area consider Grinnell and Illinois Wesleyan. Sorry about the cornfields but if you want to stay in the Midwest, it kind of comes with the territory

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Again, UW-Madison doesn’t offer merit and the OP has already accumulated 20 credits at UW Parkside. Perhaps OP could stay at Parkside for year.

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yea but taking debt (what like 50-60 ish?) and going to uw-madison would prob be much better than going to uic or niu. Well, i guess it depends on the major too tho and whether op is considering grad.