Just asking about merit scholarships, not need-based… I’m in state and Know they don’t give a lot, but how are my chances for an admissions scholarship or an engineering scholarship?
Planning on mechanical engineering
Stats: 4.55/4 GPA
34 ACT
9 APs
Pretty good EC’s
tbh i think you have a decent chance
I’ve been told that if you are not a URM, then even a perfect GPA, ACT and a solid app is no guarantee even for a small merit award if you live in Illinois. With many state schools, you are at a disadvantage for merit aid living in-state, because the school makes more money if they attract top students from OOS, even if they offer them $5K or $10K merit. Given the lack of a state budget in Illinois, I can only guess this is even more prevalent at UIUC. I hope this is not the case, as it would be nice to see my son qualify for one as well.
@illinoisx3 yeah for that reason I pretty much hate Illinois and want to get out as soon as possible, but it’s such a good engineering program that I need to at least have them on my list…
For the Fall 2016 the middle 50% ACT range for the College of Engineering is 31-34. Specific engineering majors may be higher.
So unfortunately the odds of you getting a merit scholarship are very slim.
I basically had identical stats - 4.5/4 GPA, 33 ACT, 10 APs, good ECs. I’m also in-state. I’m in Industrial Engineering and the only scholarship I got was from my department for like $5000 total. So yeah, not great, but my department is probably the worst in the College of Engineering, so MechE might have better departmental scholarships.
@booapush thx for the info
@booapush $5K merit at UIUC is actually great in my opinion, especially if you are not URM. I’d be pleased if my son received that much. He has also excellent stats so maybe there is hope. May I ask when you received your merit aid notification please? With your acceptance letter or later?
My son just was accepted with $8,000 award (total so only $2,000 per year)
I was just accepted. Where does it list your scholarships? @perch1024
I was accepted into CS
34 ACT
3.65/4.0 GPA
President’s Award Honor’s Program $40,000 ($10,000 for four years)
Pretty pointed ECs toward computer science
Also,what’s the difference between President’s Award Honor’s and James Scholar/Honor?
URM-African American