I don’t doubt that you are very knowledgeable about a great many things, but this is an anonymous forum and evidence, links to actual University sources, and logic will always be the most persuasive way to make a point.
I’m just trying to help the kid understand what is going on and you are making assertions about how U of I doesn’t care about Illinois students and how he would have been accepted if he didn’t live in Illinois. You provide no direct train of thought of how you reach such a conclusion, you just assume it is true because state finances are in disarray. This is nothing but non sequitur.
It simply isn’t true and I stand by my support of that assertion in previous posts. I am very open to examining alternative evidence but you haven’t provided any. I am very skeptical that you have any kind of inside knowledge on this matter, as anyone who thinks IL residents are being rejected in place of less qualified non-residents is not an insider in admissions at UIUC.
I have provided factual evidence that they targeted lower stat in-state applicants and increased financial aid to them with the expressed intent to increase resident enrollment in last years admissions cycle. Surely they would rather have higher stats and more money from non-residents. Why engage in this activity if they are not sensitive to criticism from residents? Why avoid the Common App, which outside consultants have repeatedly recommended? Why commit so little in marketing dollars outside the state of Illinois?
You keep making comments like this about what you know and what I don’t know. I’m pretty sure you have no idea who I am. I have never disagreed that Illinois is a financial mess and that high non-resident tuition is very welcome. But they have enough applications to fill the entire school with non-residents if they wanted to (they could double those apps with the CA but choose not to). They don’t want to. IL residents make up over 70% of undergrads. If admission policy to UIUC is so tightly linked to finances, why not dramatically increase non-resident enrollment? Why work to lower it as they have actively done to the detriment of their average ACT score in the last year? Why freeze tuition the past two years only for resident students? Money is tight, but they still cater to in state applicants. Perhaps this will change in the years to come. In fact, I expect it to change (U Mich is 50% non-resident and they don’t even need the money). But as of right now, non-residents get admitted only when they are eminently qualified. The OP was not rejected because he lives in Illinois.