<p>I will be a high school senior this fall and UIUC is my absolute number one university. I am aware that Chem E is in the college of LAS, but the ACT average is still like a 30-33. My ACT highest composite is a 28 with E:32 M:28 R:29 S:24. However, my highest subscores are E:32 M:28 R:29 and S:28 (also, Writing:8). I am planning to take one last ACT in september in hopes of getting a 30. My unweighted GPA is 3.85 and my weighted is 4.54. Throughout my high school career my grades and classes were always on a constant rise; I would get all As, with the exception of like one B+. Senior year my classes are AP BC Calculus, AP Chemistry, AP Computer Science, AP English, Honor Spanish 4, and a spanish tutor. I am in the NHS and SNHS. I am in the top 10% of my class. I did wrestling for 2 years, track for 2 years, gymnastics for 2 years, cross country for 3 years, and now I am a male cheerleader (which I plan to do in college). I also practice brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo. So what do you think guys? Should I apply for Chemical Engineering, or should I apply for DGS and then go into Chem E?</p>
<p>Where is your home state? If you are in state, then getting an ACT score of 30-31 may be okay. If you are not accepted into ChBE, they will put you in DGS anyway if you do qualify for admission. If you applied DGS, it may be very competitive to get into the ChBE program in sophomore. If you are from oos, it would be reach for you. </p>
<p>I live in Illinois. Would it be a disadvantage if I applied for Chem e and got denied? Because, if I get denied for Chem e, would they take that into consideration for when they are considering me for DGS?</p>
<p>@billcsho
lol I didn’t know how to respond to you until now. My response to you is the response above</p>
<p>Hey man. Thanks for your comment on my post.
In-State gives up a lot more rep towards U of Illinois and will hopefully give you a greater chance.
How much have you studied for your ACT? If this is the only thing holding you back, then start grinding.
Math and English are the ones that will raise your score the easiest. If U of Illinois super scores, then give math and english your best. You need to improve on science though because that appears to be detrimental to your score.</p>
<p>Let me know through a reply if you need help studying for ACT or if you have it all down.
I’ve basically maxed out all books from Princeton to Kaplan and from Barron’s to McGraw Hill.</p>
<p>Do you have any in-school ECs? Leadership positions in clubs?
This will give you much more leeway. </p>
<p>@Kokko2k15
thank you very much for your response.
yeah I study a lot for the ACT. I have the real ACT prep guide and the McGraw hill book. I usually do fine when I practice, usually getting a composite of 30-31, with subscores in english at around 29-33, math 29-33, reading 28-31, and science 28-30. Usually when it comes to test day I stress out and not do the best I can. UIUC doesn’t super score, but they look at the highest subscores from all of the submitted tests.</p>
<p>also for in school ECs I do NHS, SNHS, cross country, wrestling, track, gymnastics, cheerleading (first male cheerleader at my school in a long time), pep club, WYSE (worldwide youth science engineering).</p>
<p>out of school i do BJJ and Judo.</p>
<p>In AP English during my junior year, I would usually get in the 6-8 range out of 9 for essays, and my two essays for my application would be stellar essays. (I am going to write about the struggles of having a close family member who is battling cancer and how it affected me and her.)</p>
<p>thanks again for chancing me!</p>
<p>@bjjvja27, Hey no probelm.
I think you have a great shot at UIUC since you’re instate with some ECs.
Are you varsity in any of your sports? That’s another huge boost as colleges will see that you’ve been a prime student-athlete. Strive for a varsity position your senior year in a fall sport if you can and get it on your resume!</p>
<p>In addition, you need to get that ACT score way up. You can even bank on that essay (out of 12) to get you more claim. I had been getting Low to High 8s on my essay when I took AP Lang last year as a Junior. Shouldn’t you be getting a high score for the ACT essay? I actually got a 12 on my essay this second time around and an 11 the first time. The AP Lang Argumentative essay goes hand in hand with ACT’s! </p>
<p>To study, I want you to pick up a few more books.
You should be scoring 33-35s on math although you might not be too proficient in it. PRACTICE!
Boost up that science though too.
*Pick up a copy of Princeton’s 1296 book and practice those through out the week. There are three practice tests for each subject and I think 2/3 full practice tests in the book. Practice a section a week. English week 1, math week 2, etc. Since you have about 2-3 months leading up until the next test date, I advise you to pick up a review book. One with CONTENT rather than PRACTICE to review ALL GRAMMAR rules, math concepts, etc.
*You might have stressed out the Red Book so next pick up the Barron’s 6 Practice tests or at least a Kaplan Premier book (that has 4 practice tests inside for the 2013 version). You need to take a practice test a week, preferably one every saturday leading up to the test, then checking them on Sunday.
*If you need science help, Barron’s 36 ACT book is flawless. It has a great strategy.
*Reading, in my opinion, is the most difficult to increase unless you have stellar reading abilities in comprehension. You need to push yourself to read a New York Times or TIME magazine at least once a day (an article a day) leading up to the test. Trust me. I, truthfully, wish someone had really pushed me to do this. I personally am too lazy too hence my constant 25-28 on the reading section.
*Take all your practice tests in a REAL test taking environment. No headphones, no people. no distractions - All timed from your phone or watch. This is critical. I see so many of my friends just practice in the loudest place of the library… Useless. This will seriously destroy your nerves.
*Essay: Those practice essays in your Red Book? Do them. 30 mins. 5 mins to plan. 20-25 mins to write depending if you want to recheck after. I can seriously help you get a high score on your essay if you would like me to. A ten will look so great instead of an 8.<br>
*Note: For my first ACT test in April, I felt extremely confident, but the nerves ended up killing me, esp in the science section. On the June test, rather than confidence, I felt calm. I came in the test room feeling relaxed. Walked out? Confident.
*Note: Amazon have these books for a pretty low price. Make sure you buy clean copies because erasing from old ones is annoying. Personally, I checked out all my books from the library. I almost had 10 different ACT books at a time. Saved me lots of money. </p>
<p>**I know this is a lot and you’ve probably read this so many times, said in different ways elsewhere, but trust me. Although my ACT score is only a 31, I promise, it’s just my laziness that keeping me from getting any higher. You need passion. You’ll then receive pride. I genuinely want to help you out dude. Engineering? Bust out that ACT req. You’ll be golden. </p>
<p>Let me know if I missed anything.
Let me know if you need anything.
I’ll be happy to help. </p>
<p>If you are not accepted into ChBE, they will likely put you as general study. For in state students, the admission rate is very high as long as you are within the admission range.</p>
<p>@Kokko2k15
Thank you very much for your response!
yeah, i have been in multiple varsity sports so I think i’m covered for that.</p>
<p>For the ACT essay I got a solid 11, but I hope I don’t have to take another one. (sorry about the confusion about the essays, I was talking about the AP english essays I scored on)</p>
<p>But thank you very much on the recommendations on ACT practice books. For sure, I will be picking up Barron’s, the Princeton review, and the Kaplan book. Also when I’m studying, I have to do it in complete silence, or else I would go crazy. Also, thanks for the recommendation on reading an article each day; that probably would enhance and supplement my reading a whole lot. </p>
<p>Seriously, thanks a lot for all of these tips. I will let you know if I need any help. I really hope you get into the college you want. You’ve got a great future ahead of you!</p>
<p>@bjjvja27, oh haha. Great score on the essay.
Thanks a lot for the positive encouragement.
Please do let me know if you need any more help.
I really do hope I get into my dream school; however, all I can do is hope :)</p>
<p>Side note: Stretch your opportunities too though. Both the ACT is holding us back into great schools. I really hope you have other colleges on your list! Don’t settle for matches! Reach! If you discover more powerful and fit engineering programs at other schools, apply. You’ll never know. My good friend told me that college admissions are very random these days. May the odds ever be ion your favor. 
</p>
<p>Funny enough a kid from my school who graduated two years back goes to your dream school and he studies Computer Science. He was a genius, National Merit Finalist, scored around a 2300 on the SAT, this guy was…well he was Einstein but Asian. He went there because they offered him the best financial aid package. Now let’s get onto you. I think the ACT score needs to go up, not because you’re out of reach, but because I think that you have the potential to do a whole lot better. I would pick up some extra books like Kokko2k15 talks about, however I tended to not like Princeton Review because it frustrated me too much. Make sure that when you’re practicing that you look up and understand why you got some of your answers wrong, then answer the question again with the right method, and then answer a similar question. I only studied with one book for the SAT and the ACT, used that method and i was able to do just fine. Sincerely you have a very good chance considering you are an instate applicant but I think just tweeking things here or there can only help and not hurt! Also if you play varsity within any of the sports you mentioned colleges will be biting you up with your stats! I wish you luck, I know you’ll do amazing!! :)</p>