I'm a UIUC College of Engineering graduate and attended from 77-81. The overall enrollment and make-up at UIUC hasn't changed a significant lick since I attended. However, the demand and interest to go there has increased substantially. Yes, there are going to be many academically worthy people rejected from IL and all over the place from various backgrounds, groups or categories. And there will be a few academically not-so-worthy people or "underdogs" accepted into the UIUC College of Engineering. I'm living proof of the later.
And there is no question that the UIUC enrollment is heavily.....very heavily.....made up of students from Chicagoland, especially from the burbs. When I was there it was rare to meet or cross paths with another student that wasn't from the burbs. Seemed like at least 75-85% were from there and it was extremely rare to meet someone from rural, downstate or outside of Chicagoland IL as well as from out of state. A few, but certainly not many. My sources there today say that is all still true today and has not changed. And it is also true that there is a heavy contingent of Asians within the College of Engineering. But one would be dead wrong to conclude or assume this Asian student population is heavily from China or foreign. Sure there are some engineering students there that are foreign or from China....and from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, India, etc. However, the majority of the "Asian" student population there is in fact from IL....the burbs.....or from elsewhere in the US and are US citizens with most being born and raised in the US. And they may have Asian names or they may have American names. Yes, Asian people from all over the world are pretty darn good and better than other ethnic groups in the math and sciences, and for engineering studies.
I think the UIUC and their college of engineering trys to be as diverse, fair and give a wide range of people from various backgrounds, groups or categories of people an opportunity at an engineering degree there for various reasons. And I think it is quite cool that there will be a very few limited lottery picks for the underdogs that meet some strange and mysterious set of combination criteria from country-bumpkinville that may not meet or exceed their brilliant academic requirements and had all the fortune coming from a high school or area that had all the resources providing all the AP classes that allowed them to achieve an ACT score of 35. Sometimes in some specific cases, a student with an ACT score of only 24 with no AP classes in high school deserves the opportunity over the gifted brilliant super nerd and makes damn good on that lottery pick opportunity. Sometimes the underdogs succeed against all odds and what's just on paper and academic records. Work ethic, commitment, dedication, character, motivation, self-discipline, effort, relentlessness, maturity, street smarts, survival skills, and a never give up mentality and heart are all wild cards and aren't necessarily reflected in applications or brilliant academic records.
Yes, the UIUC College of Engineering sometimes works in some strange and mysterious ways.....and I'm damn fortunate and glad they do. And I'm one of those few UIUC College of Engineering graduates who was blessed with an underdog lottery pick or opportunity for whatever reason(s) that I will never know where I may tell one to stick one's brilliant super nerd ACT score, AP classes, GPA and class ranking where the sun don't shine.
