I'm trying REALLY hard to get into this school, but I'm failing EPICALLY at it.

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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<p>This is not a “chance me” thread by any means, but more of a “I screwed myself over to the very last minute and need last minute advice” thread.</p>

<p>I’m currently a junior in HS, and UIUC is my number one choice school by a LONGGG shot.
However, I havent taken high school quite as seriously as I should have. I’ll clearly admit that I was lazy and careless. </p>

<p>I am not very qualified to get into UIUC, but I know that once I get there (If I get accepted,) I’ll work to my fullest potential and strive to do my best.</p>

<p>Here’s my situation: (stats, if you will)</p>

<li><p>White Guy, from Minnesota</p></li>
<li><p>ALL Honors and AP Classes available, I’m taking.</p></li>
<li><p>ACT: Expecting around a 27-30, hopefully towards the higher end of that range.</p></li>
<li><p>EXCELLENT EC’s (leadership, PT job, athletics, theater, tutoring, community volunteering, etc.)</p></li>
</ol>

<p>HERE’s THE PROBLEM:</p>

<li>GPA: 2.993, and Class rank, 55th %ile.
^^^ My school runs on a trimester system. I started 9th grade off well (This was still “junior high” for us), but during the third trimester, I got some D’s and an F. (The F was replaced with an A when I retook the class.) Sophomore year was excellent. I started taking honors classes, and got my GPA up from a 2.7 to a 3.1. Junior Year came along, and I was stupid and decided to go all out on AP’s. 1st trimester I got 2 A’s, 2 B’s, and 2 D’s. Yes, I said D’s. (Honors Alg. 3 & Anatomy were the D’s.) I learned to stay OUT of honors math for life. Too bad I’m stuck in it for the year…
So far in the second trimester, I’m doing quite well. (A,A,A,A,B,B-)
I’ve just had a few tough times that I’ve failed to fight through.</li>
</ol>

<p>I need some advice on what I need to do from this point on if I want to have even the SMALLEST fighting chance of getting into this school. I sort of feel like the door was slammed in my face already, but there’s a small bit of hope that lingers within me that I can do it if I turn everything around and apply myself.</p>

<p>Could you give me some advice? Please? It’d really be appreciated. This is like a massive weight on my shoulders.</p>

<p>Thank you. =]</p>

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<p>PS: Be Harsh. If you think It's too late, tell me.</p>

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<p>are you trying to get into any specific college?</p>

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<p>Yup, I am. I have no idea what I want to go into, so DGS. (which I believe is the least competitive)</p>

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<p>Let me tell you, UIUC is a great school, I know, I live in Illinois and a lot of my friends go there. I also know that you have got it better in Minnesota. UIUC will charge in the $25,000 range for being an out of stater (I know, it's unfortunate, but we don't do reciprocity). I forgot to mention the $8,000 you will pay for room and board. At U of MN-TC, you will pay far less and all of the programs up there are good, especially if you want to go into the medical, technological, or business fields. BTW, your stats are kind of lacking, but I've know some idiots who had a 3.0 GPA get into UIUC, they applied for the liberal arts college. Good Luck!</p>

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<p>This year everyone at my school who applied to UIUC by the priority deadline to DGS with about a 3.4 weighted (they don't tell us our unweighted GPAs lol) or below were denied. I wouldn't have even bothered with UIUC if I realized it was going to be this competitive - and I'm at a college prep in-state. Our school doesn't rank though...</p>

<p>I think you should apply EA to a program like LAS. It's unlikely that you'll be accepted at first, but it's definitely possible that you'll get deferred and maybe accepted during the final review, especially if you get straight A's last semester of junior year.</p>

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<p>hey invader, you don't happen to go to a Jesuit school do you, many students at my school were rejected to.</p>

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<p>Well, I'm not sure how the trimester system works, but I'm assuming that its still relatively early for you, so i think colleges like to see improvement, which it looks like your doing. Maybe you could put something in your essay emphasizing your ec's and try to push that that was the reason for the low grades? Maybe adapting to high school. For me (senior in high school) each semester there was always a class that I had a C or below in, Normally I could push it up to a low B, but sophmore year I got 2 c's in Honors Alg. 2, and I expect to get a C in Spanish this semester.</p>

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<p>UIUC cares a lot about class rank - only 8% of the students were not in the top 25%. A few years ago, I believe the school even auto-admitted based on just ACT and class rank. I suggest you dominate the ACT - aim much higher than 27-30 (like a 33). That'll at least put a doubt in their mind. Also write the best essays of your life and get your teachers to review them.</p>

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<p>I didn't think the essay were too important, in fact, I think it was one of the worst essay I wrote since high school. And I still got accepted</p>

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<p>If you're borderline, they'll pay a lot more attention to the essays than if your numbers are solid. This is especially true for non-engineering majors. I wrote two crappy essays as well (I thought they were good at the time but in retrospect they were mediocre) but I was applying with a 4.0 and 35 for engineering so I doubt they paid much attention to them.</p>

<p>With the OP's class rank being rather low, he needs to bolster every other part of the application as much as possible. Best of luck to him.</p>