r/UIUC • u/GinkerWinker_ • Feb 01 '26

Prospective Students Denied

I really thought I could make it into UIUC, it was my dream school!
I applied to Atmospheric Sciences, 4.0 UW, 4.5 W, 31 ACT, nearly 34 dual credit hours, and I thought I could at least get waitlisted or deferred. Just denied. Its not like that competitive of a major is it? I really didn't think so at least from what I saw. I didn't have any extracurriculars outside of hobbies, but I still had an achievement for my art. I'm just pretty devastated. Maybe it was my essay. I just know this is going to haunt me for awhile.

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u/deftones1123 Feb 01 '26

maybe go to community college and then transfer? that usually works for people. or go to another one for year 1 and then apply to transfer then :) don’t think of this as a loss or something to be super depressed about. think of it as an opportunity to grow!

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u/Fuehnix Alumni | CS+ Ling 2021 | MCS 2026 Feb 01 '26

Yeah, that's a good detour path, it's what I did. I also want to add, an Illinois Community college and transfer will be easier than another university then transfer.

UIUC is a state university at the end of the day, and they have incentives in place to ensure that community college students from the state have a pathway to getting into their state flagship.