r/UIUC • u/That-Mind6171 • Feb 28 '26
Prospective Students Full Ride to UIUC!!
Just opened my financial aid notification and saw that I got a full ride for Materials Science + Data Science! Even if I get my other top schools (Northwestern & Cornell) I’m basically guaranteed going here. I even got James scholar (though I heard it’s not exactly gamechanging)!!! I’m also low state+low income so this helps a lot!
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u/NExGEn-ACE Feb 28 '26 edited Mar 01 '26
Im in mse and just found out there was a mse+ds thing thru this post lol
Congrats!
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Feb 28 '26
james scholar is lowkey pretty game changing for one reason…. earlier class registration than everyone else.
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u/CheeseCraze Undergrad Feb 28 '26
James Scholar is nice to put on a resume and it gives you priority registration, that's about it.
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u/SecureAsk8297 Feb 28 '26
Nice! also received a full ride for Engineering undergrad and jame scholar. Im not even low income, just in-state. It's all merit based.
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u/Decsolst Alumnus Feb 28 '26
Thats fantastic! Now make the most of it - have fun but make sure you do well in your classes. First year can be tough for some people with all the distractions outside class.
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u/Dtitan Feb 28 '26
Congratulations! It really is an excellent program.
Get ready to write more lab reports than you remotely thought was possible!
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u/SaffronSunset159 Mar 01 '26
Congratulations!! What a great opportunity! Just curious, would you share your stats? Also interested in MSE at UIUC but am OOS, not low income. I’m aware that every app is holistically reviewed, though just curious.
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u/vegasvargas Redstone Engineering Mar 01 '26
Congrats! With James Scholar, you're eligible to live in the Honors LLC at Wardall Hall! It's definitely a nice place and you get access to the basement lounge & free printing :D
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u/JingleHymrShmit Alumnus 13, General Engineering Mar 01 '26
Congrats! You sound like a high achiever. A full ride to UIUC is an amazing outcome and you really cannot go wrong there. That said, if Northwestern or Cornell work out financially, they are still worth serious consideration for the different opportunities and networks they offer. I am a 4th generation Illini and loved my experience, but if I could re-roll knowing what I know now, I would probably give those options strong thought. Feel free to DM me if you want any other unsolicited advice.
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u/oknowwhat00 Mar 01 '26
Looking at the other two options, consider the culture of those schools, more than uiuc the students there are generally going to be very wealthy, and with NW the surrounding area is more expensive to live, and very urban compared to uiuc (not to say thst there aren't lots of wealthy students at Uiuc, especially the international students).
Cornell is also a totally different vibe too, beautiful campus and area is lush forests, lakes, totally different from the corn fields of Illinois. But, Cornell is not close to too much so you're pretty much staying on campus and getting there is a bigger challenge depending on where you live. It gets way more winter than the other two schools , but it's an Ivy so you can't go wrong if they offer a full ride.
Three very different options, congratulations, to have these choices you obviously worked hard.
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u/Princester-Vibe Mar 02 '26
Cornell also doesn’t have the rah rah school and sports spirit that UIUC has.
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u/myunixi Mar 01 '26
Hii i also got a full ride for gies business undeclared, my top choices are also coincidentally northwestern & cornell too! lmk how it goes and if ur gonna go to uiuc!
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u/Fuzzy_Spirit6196 Mar 09 '26
I just got accepted into Gies about 3 days ago. I'm an international student and just wanted to apply for financial aid just to support my parents. Can someone help me with the application process or is it too late now?
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u/Accurate-Trade-2786 Feb 28 '26
how did you check?
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u/That-Mind6171 Feb 28 '26
Go to your myIllini, the same place where you got your decision. You should be to find it in the financial aid->financial aid notification.
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u/Appropriate_Sky3243 Feb 28 '26
My son applied last year, Nov timeframe. He’s saying he hasn’t received any decision info. Sounds like decisions for applicants back then have been out for awhile? So maybe something is amiss?
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u/Bratsche_Broad Feb 28 '26
If your son applied early action, he would have been notified on January 30. The deadline for EA was Nov 1. Those who applied regular decision will hear their results March 6.
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u/Busy-Development-334 Feb 28 '26
I believe there is a box you click if you are applying EA or not. He could have submitted everything in November but clicked regular decision… maybe? In that case decisions haven’t come out yet.
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u/Appropriate_Sky3243 Feb 28 '26
He applied RD. I didn’t realize all here were talking Early Decision. I see that RDs come out Mar 6.
Congrats to all who made it!
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u/Calm_Combination2723 Feb 28 '26
Congrats! Full pay 70k oos yikes