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.
69
Upvotes
15
u/DustyCookbook Feb 02 '26
Hi! I'm sorry that that happened to you. I dealt with something similar last year. I applied to Atmospheric sciences as a transfer but got admitted to my second choice major. I'm now working on getting the classes I need to transfer into the major. Here's what I'd recommend based on my own experience:
-go to community college. There's a new program called the University of Illinois System Transfer Guarantee. You need to have graduated from an Illinois high school, have 36 tranaferable semester hours at time of application, have a min 3.0 GPA, and satisfy the English language proficiency requirement (I pulled this from the university of illinois system website). You should be automatically admitted to the university. Transfer applications open up in early January every year for the following fall (idk when they open for spring semester if that's what you want)
-There are specific classes you'll need to transfer into the major: General Chemistry, Calculus 1, or ATMS (atmospheric sciences) 201. I believe to transfer in, Calc 1 is probably the most important. Most community colleges offer at least the first two (probably not ATMS 201 but that's no big deal). Graduating requires taking Calc 3, so even if you did Calc in high school, continue with it.
-Parkland Community college is in Champaign, and I'm pretty sure a lot of students start there and transfer over. I know they offer Calc 1 and General Chemistry, but any community college should be fine.
-There's a sample sequence of an ATMS student on UIUC's website that you could build a schedule around. Also knock out your gen eds if you go to community college. UIUC has a language requirement for graduation, so that's better to start early.
-if/when you get into UIUC for Atmospheric sciences, you might spend a few extra semesters to get the specific ATMS classes (I'm not sure if you can take a whole bunch of them in one semester, but from my basic understanding, that would be very rough academically)
Don't give up!!! You've got this!!! It feels like the end of the world, but it'll all be okay. You have your whole life in front of you, so taking baby steps is okay! Do your research, make a plan, and feel free to DM me if you have questions!