<p>I wanted to inquire about UIUC's OOS financial aid. I definitely need financial aid for college, and I'm considering whether or not to apply depending on if UIUC is able to offer good aid for me.</p>
<p>As long as you are a US citizen or permenant resident, you can qualify for need-based financial aid. However, UIUC does not guarantee to meet 100% of need (as determined by use of FAFSA) and usually does not, and often it is more in the 70% range and can have far more loans built in rather than grants. If you are a high stat applicant (GPA/rank and test score) then you have a chance for some merit aid, although even for most high stat applicants the amount will not be more than the out-of-state portion of tution and usually far less than that.</p>
<p>If you were in my position, would you apply to UIUC? I’m an OOS non-resident and I definitely need financial aid to pay for the majority of my tuition. I don’t want a giant loan either, ending up with a huge debt by graduation. I do have the perfect rank, GPA, AP, and SAT scores though.</p>
<p>UIUC is not known at all for giving out aid to its students. I’m in-state and did not get a single penny in scholarships or grants, only loans.</p>
<p>^^“perfect” just rank or gpa, sat, act also. if latter you’ll surely get great scholarship $</p>
<p>Of course you can apply; if admitted you can wait to learn financial aid given before accepting admission, so there is no downside to applying other than the application fee. If grades and test scores are perfect, then you have chance for some merit aid. Just be sure to apply to other universities and don’t assume that UIUC will definitely provide what you need.</p>
<p>@itsme123
I literally mean rank 1, 4.0 UW (straight A’s with honors/APs), 800 on all my subjects. Okay, but while not perfect for my reasoning, it is in the 2300s.</p>
<p>@drusba
Thanks. It’s just that all the application fees, along with SAT and AP submissions, stack up and cost a considerable amount, and I don’t want to cause any hardships on my parents.</p>
<p>^You do not need to order and pay for any official AP scores to be sent to any college for purposes of determining admission; if you want them to know AP scores just report them or app, in essay, or send a letter with copies of the scores to the college’s admissions office asking they be included in your admissions file. You do not need to send official AP scores until after you are admitted and you want to get credit for them.</p>
<p>@drusba
Wow, thanks for telling me! I had no idea. Are you sure this applies to all colleges? I always thought colleges wanted an official transcript along with official reports of SAT and AP scores.</p>
<p>They do want official SAT scores but, as to APs, official scores are not required by any college for admission, just self-report or send copies of the report you received. There is an exception at a few colleges that can result from a choice you can make – for example NYU accepts for admission either the SAT or the ACT or three SAT IIs or three APs. Those four are mutually exclusive. Thus, if you want you can send three official AP scores and nothing else to NYU.</p>
<p>Also be aware that some don’t even want offical transcripts until after you are admitted. Starting this year UIUC joins that group. Instead of official transcript you need to fill out a form on-line showing all your grades (for which you may personally need a copy of your official transcript to be able to do it absent an excellent memory)</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the info. It was very helpful. Do you know any info about how high the chances are to getting UIUC’s merit scholarships and grants for OOS students based on the info I’ve provided?</p>
<p>Merit awards vary year to year and via major. You will find that engineering followed by business college has more merit awards to dole out than other colleges although even for those for OOS it is usually not more than the OOS portion of tuition although some have been known to get more and closer to all tuition.</p>
<p>Hmm, I’ll keep UIUC under consideration for now then. Thanks!</p>
<p>larry, you are a good candidate for merit consideration (University Achievement Scholarship, $12k/yr). subject 800s are no use. more $ possible if engineering/business as drusba states.</p>
<p>Even with $12k/yr, it doesn’t come close to covering even half the cost of OOS tuition. Quoting their site stats:
</p>
<p>For me to afford it, the tuition has to be pretty low after financial aid packages.</p>
<p>sure. it depends on your alternatives. for example, you may get a full-ride at U of Alabama, for example.</p>
<p>It can never hurt to apply. The worst thing that could happen is you lose a nominal application fee.</p>
<p>Is UIUC worth considering for an OOS student, or should I stick to other schools?</p>
<p>for engineering, yes.</p>
<p>What are you looking at going into?</p>