university of illinois urbana champaign application essay

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Undergraduate Admissions

Deadline Update: We want to ensure anyone applying for federal financial aid has enough time to make an informed decision regarding their college choice! For this reason, we're extending our enrollment decision deadline to May 15.

Help With Applying

What do you need help with, applying through common app, self-reporting your courses & grades, how to write your application essays, application fee waivers, application checklist.

Planning to apply through Common App? Watch their video to walk through the process from start to finish. You can also apply through myIllini .

Step-by-Step Companion

This tool provides guidance on each section of Common App, moving through these sections in a linear manner.

Use Companion

Common App Guide

If you still have questions after watching Common App's walkthrough, you can also check out their super-thorough guide.

If you apply through myIllini, you'll self-report your courses and grades in your application. If you apply through Common App, we'll email you instructions on how to do this after we receive your application. Either way, we encourage you to check out our video walkthrough playlist and FAQ as you work!

Language & School Info

Courses/Grades 9-11

Courses Year 12

When you apply, you'll be asked to answer two to three major-specific prompts and an essay question . View example answers below!

1. Tell us why you're interested in your chosen major.

Questions you'll answer depend on whether you're applying to a major or to our undeclared program , and if you've selected a second-choice major . Each answer should be around 150 words.

Example Answers

two friends study together at a communal table in the ECE building

2. Write a personal essay.

Answer the prompt of your choice from Common App's full list . Your essay response can be anywhere from 250 to 650 words total.

Example Answer

If the cost to apply to college is weighing you down, fee waivers can help! Fee waivers must be submitted by a high school counselor or other school official. If you think you qualify, ask your counselor to submit our fee waiver form .

You'll be asked to choose a major within our application. Not sure what you want to major in yet? That's okay! We're here to help you discover the perfect path for you.

student posing in front of a College of Fine and Applied Arts backdrop

Explore Major Options

You can explore all of our majors–including descriptions, career options, post-grad stats, and more–on our website.

Explore More

student unraveling a banner with their chosen major

Need Help Deciding?

If you're unsure of where to start, take a quiz to discover our majors that relate to your personality type.

Get Started

first-year students gather in State Farm Center for New Student Convocation

Go Undeclared

You can also apply to our undeclared program in the Division of Exploratory Studies and choose a major later!

Learn More about Undeclared

Not sure where to start, or just want to be certain you've done everything needed to apply? Here's a quick checklist to help!

Submit your application.

You can apply through myIllini or Common App . We don't give preference based on your application choice, so do what's easiest for you!

Pay your application fee or have your counselor submit a fee waiver.

When you submit your application, you'll pay a nonrefundable fee by credit card. If you qualify for a fee waiver, make sure your counselor submits our fee waiver form .

Submit your courses and grades.

If you apply through Common App, we'll email you a link to report this information after you submit the application. (If you apply through myIllini, this is part of the application.)

See if you have additional requirements .

For example, if you're applying into a talent-based major like art, dance, music, or theatre, you'll need to complete an audition or submit a portfolio.

Check your status.

You can view your status page and confirm all is good to go by clicking on your application in myIllini . If you apply through the Common App, we'll create a myIllini account for you after you submit your application.