Do you think I can get accepted to Univeristy of Illinois-Urbana Champaign?

Question

My gpa and act score is low, but I have some hightlights that make me stand out and unique.

GPA 2.85
took act twice and got an 18

essays are great!
Its how i overcame a failure!big failure!
Topic: Independent women...no need for a man

Mexican-American

Superb recommendation letter!
its really good, it talks about my qualities of a worker.

Resume:
I have worked in three corporate offices
Right now i am workin at mayer brown, law firm in downtown chicago!!!
It is one of the biggest lawfirms in CHicago!
What kind of 17 year old can say that!

So what do you think are my chances?

Answer 1

It's possible you could get in, but what I would recommend is spending a year or two (no more than that) at a junior or community college to get the grades up. GPA is *going* to matter if the ACT scores aren't high.

The reason I say this is because while UIUC does have remedial classes, they rather suck. I've been there and done that. The classes tend to be taught by the most *inarticulate* Teacher Assistants possible, meaning you won't understand half of what they're saying unless you speak Chinese or Sanskrit....and the grades are *curved* very severely against you, the classes are designed to have a *failure rate* of at least 50%.

So the remedial classes UIUC have are more about screening people *out* than they are about getting people *in*. Sorry.

But yeah....get at least a year of junior or community college under your belt, in courses that will transfer. You'll have another chance to get the GPA up in a more forgiving environment....and *some* colleges at the U of I at Urbana-Champaign do have less strict GPA standards for *transfer* students than they do for *new freshmen*.

I know, it's rough, but much of the time the Deans can't be bothered to *interview* incoming freshmen and find out what their talents are outside of GPA and test scores.

I hope this helps. ^_^

Answer 2

Overall chances are fairly low for UIUC. Only 6% of admitted students have an ACT below 22, and almost all students are in the top half of class. Even for UIC, you are questionable because your GPA is below the 25th percentile and your ACT is way below the average of 24. At UIC, the bottom 25th percentile has the highest dropout rate. The graduation rate at UIC has just made it up to 50%, the highest rate ever.
For both Universities of Illinois, the most important factor for admission are grades and ACT scores. They don't look at recommendations. If you send one, it'll just end up in the garbage can. They just don't look at them. They do accept personal statements.
You might want to think about EIU, WIU, or CSU.
http://www.oar.uiuc.edu/future/apply/requirements_freshman.html
http://www.uic.edu/depts/oar/undergrad/freshman.html

Answer 3

Well not to say you don't have a chance, but U of I Champaign is a very good school, therefore very competitive. With a low gpa and test score, they may overlook you. Just make sure you highlight your strengths, make them stand out from your weaknesses.

Answer 4

Emphasize your experience with your application. US News & World Report's Best Colleges feature says UIUC is a more selective university, so you need to use that real world work as the focal point of your application.

You also need to be more careful with your spelling. You've got a lot of typos in your question.

Answer 5

Make sure you check the ethnicity box on the application. Good luck. Illinois has a beautiful campus!!

Answer 6

add a few extra curricular activities like club presidents or volunteer community service.

my gf used to go there, 3.72 gpa

good luck ~!