<p>i got rejected before they even got my senior grades. i'm guessing they don't care about them at all>?</p>
<p>no, i got deferred and they sent a letter specifically saying do not send in senior year grades or recs. luckily i got in, but i wished that they wanted senior year grades also because mine upped my gpa and class rank..goodlukc on your college search</p>
<p>Student I think in your case they may have looked at your senior schedule and calculated the maximum increase in your overall GPA you could achieve from mid term grades and it unfortantly didn't meet their thresholds.</p>
<p>In the deferal case I think they just didn't accept you on the first go around and were waiting for additonal applications to show up to see what level of academics and the number of applications that were coming in. They may already have given you credit for what you could have acheived based on your previous record. Congrads either way you got in.</p>
<p>The whole admissions process seems to be an inexact science and a big mystery.</p>
<p>you sure about that calculating the maximum increase statement? that's a bit too subjective and inaccurate don't you think?</p>
<p>There is no real mystery to it. All admissions decisons are made based on grades through junior year; senior year grades are not use for admission; recs are not used for admission. Those who applied by Nov 15 and were deferred in the initial Dec 15 decisions were deferred so the college could wait to see the entire pool of applicants and make the decision based on the quality of the entire pool. Each college varies on their deferral practices -- business defers vast majority until it sees entire pool, LAS tends to admit half of those early applicants on Dec 15.</p>
<p>drusba, respectfully I disagree about the senior grades not being of any use. In the case of borderline applicants the fact that a number of senior courses finish at midterms can add valuable points to the overall GPA. Also they are a barometer of the performance of the student, are they continuing that upward trend in grades that may have been seen during the Junior year and are they still working hard or are they suffering from Senioritis and grades are going in the downward direction. Colleges do look at this closely when admissions aren't a done deal.</p>
<p>To any prospective students don't think that in most case that your senior grades don't matter. Also Recommendations in certain situations can help the cause.</p>
<p>A college knows that perhaps the most you can add to your overall core GPA is a couple of courses since Science and Math almost always run for the full year. Therefore your overall GPA could only go up by the net effect of say 2 A's (in English and History) if they were half year courses. I would think for most kids based on the overall number of courses taken that an increase of .1 to .15 is the most than can be achieved after midterms.</p>
<p>um...they explicitly said that they dont care about senior grades and recs on the website</p>
<p>bearcats,</p>
<p><a href="http://www.oar.uiuc.edu/future/freshmen/requirements.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.oar.uiuc.edu/future/freshmen/requirements.html</a>
Is this the website you were referring to?</p>
<p>Are letters of recommendation required?
Letters of recommendation are not required and are not used in the evaluation process. </p>
<p>Evaluation Factors for Admission
High school coursework requirements (see below)
ACT Composite score or SAT I (critical reading & math)
Please note: We do not use the SAT II for any admission purposes.
Cumulative High School Percentile Ranking (HSPR) at the end of the junior year (an estimated rank is calculated for students attending a high school that doesn't rank) </p>
<p>NOTE "AT THE END OF JUNIOR YEAR"</p>
<p>Also note that UIUC's using grades (class rank) only through junior year and not using rec letters is not unusual. Large numbers of colleges, particularly public universities (e.g., all UCs), base admission decisons on grades through junior year only and do not consider rec letters. Senior year grades, if poor, can be grounds for revoking admission at UIUC (if UIUC does what it has done in the past, those admitted will be sent within the next month a letter that says, essentially, if you blow off your senior year, it may revoke your admission).</p>