So on the official website, UIUC asserts that they do not want letters of rec. However, when I am on the decision threads for past years, virtually everyone submits a letter of rec. So does anyone know what the whole situation regarding letter of rec is?
UIUC does not want letters of recommendation; if submitted they are not provided to those persons who actually make admisison decisions. The same applies to SAT subject test scores. Applicants listing their stats on a website are very often just providing the total of information they submitted to all the colleges to which they applied, and are using provided formats that allow for submission of all such information regardless of whether something is actually used by any particular college.