<p>With the whole clout scandal, some people (my mom lol) thinks it'll be a tad easier to gain admission for next year. Her theory is that come application time, more people will be keeping a close eye on the U of I and their admissions decisions, prompting them to be more generous in admitting prospective students. </p>
<p>But then again, the economic crisis will increase the amount of people applying to public schools, which could cancel out any benefit from the clout scandal.</p>
<p>/crackpot theories</p>
<p>“the economic crisis will increase the amount of people applying to public schools, which could cancel out any benefit from the clout scandal.”</p>
<p>Look at it this way, if such a thing will happen at U of I, it will happen everywhere. So, in general, every public school will be harder to get into. You need to accept this fact in that case. </p>
<p>However, I don’t think this will be a problem. Consider the fact that U of I is one of the top public colleges in the country. And consider the fact that it is the best public in Illinois. Even though the acceptance rate is relatively high (I think around 60%), the quality of accepted students is always great. What I am trying to imply here is that U of I is a very selective college. Why does this matter? Because it is the reason why the economic crisis will not drastically raise the number of applicants. </p>
<p>Look, the main group of people that your aformentioned fact will coincide with is the 18-40 workforce. Most of these people will not be going for undergraduate work. And if they do, almost all of them will be taking classes online, or at a lower tier university. The young adults who are contemplating this idea will be too underqualified to apply to a university as good as U of I. Chances are that if they were good enough to attend a decent college after HS, they would have immediately, or would have after a gap year.</p>
<p>Take it easy brah, you have nothing to worry about.</p>
<p>I have a feeling that all of the out of state kids who apply to the U of I this fall are going to get completely hosed.</p>
<p>Supposedly U of I is accepting more out of state students, and the reason it should be getting easier, is the baby boomers’ boomers are now out colleged (they’re too old) and there’s going to be a decrease in population over the next few years. There’s like a statistic that in like (I’m making up the numbers but it’s close) 10 years 80% of the workforce is going to retire…</p>
<p>“Look, the main group of people that your aformentioned fact will coincide with is the 18-40 workforce. Most of these people will not be going for undergraduate work. And if they do, almost all of them will be taking classes online, or at a lower tier university. The young adults who are contemplating this idea will be too underqualified to apply to a university as good as U of I.”</p>
<p>I knew lots of kids who had to turn down U of I for less expensive schools (that they could commute to). U of I, being a public institution, is still pricy. Most of my college friends and I will be borrowing far more than the average debt load for undergraduates, which is about 22k. And if you don’t think the crisis will raise applications, take a look around in the news. SUNY’s applications have increased up by 50%, and other flagship institutions have had increases (though less severe). However, you’re probably right in that a lot more underqualified students will apply, so the admitted profile shouldn’t change too much… I think the bar will still be raised higher.</p>
<p>If the scandal changes anything, admissions officers will be forced to take a more numbers-based approach that eliminates bias. They won’t be more generous.</p>
<p>I thought this was an interesting article, comparing standards from the 80s and today, although it doesn’t predict the future state of admissions.</p>
<p>[U</a>. of I. more difficult to get into – chicagotribune.com](<a href=“http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-college-clout-admissions-jun01,0,2936871.story]U”>http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-college-clout-admissions-jun01,0,2936871.story)</p>