At first glance, going to school during the summer may seem completely backwards. After a year spent studying and scrambling over homework, why repeat the process when you could finally be sleeping in instead? But...
Category - College Prep
10 Ways to Prepare for UIUC: A Parent’s Guide
Is your child considering the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in their college search? If so, this post was written especially for you! Read on for 10 ways you can learn more about our university and help...
50 Questions to Ask on a College Visit
College visits can be overwhelming. You may step foot on your first-ever tour but have no idea what to do to get the most out of it, what questions to ask, or what you should pay attention to. We don’t want you to feel...
College Road Map: An Infographic Guide to Planning for College
Wondering what steps you’ll need to take as you’re planning for college? Look no further than our college road map! This infographic guide will help you along your way. Talk to your high school...
How to Make the Most of Your UIUC Campus Visit
You’ve signed up for your UIUC campus visit! Well done. If you and your Aunt Sue are heading all the way over to Champaign-Urbana, you’re going to want to make the most of your time there. Here’s how. How to Dress...
How to Prepare for College in the U.S. as an International Student
Making the decision to attend college in another country can be daunting. If you’re left wondering what you need to do to get ready, you’ve come to the right place! We’re here to help you learn about how to prepare for...
High School Tips: How to Get the Most Out of Your High School Experience
You probably had some vision of what “high school” looked like when you were little, but actually being a high school student is a whole different story. It can be weird, and even a little scary, to be at a point in...
How to Choose a College Major
Knowing how to choose a college major can be a huge source of anxiety. Maybe you have a gut feeling about what you want to study in college. Maybe your gut is telling you to start heading toward the ice cream because a...
Standardized Test-Taking Strategies: How to Triumph!
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will continue its test-optional policy next year. This means that if you’re a high school student applying for fall 2023 admission, we won’t require you to submit SAT or ACT...
The application is in … now what?
Applying to college and deciding where to spend the next four years of your education is important, just like how the application process is important. Getting caught up in the stress of it is easy, but recognizing that...
Search Not-Quite-Party: How to Navigate the COVID-19 Pandemic as a Future College Student
Life as we know it is fundamentally different from how it was last year. What’s happening right now is. not. normal. No matter what we say, all of you know that’s true, and to brush past what’s going on does a...
The College Application Process: 7 Ways to Organize Your College Apps
Our word of the day is higgledy-piggledy. Definition: what the college application process will be like if you’re not organized. We know you’ve got a ton going on already, and there are probably a lot of things you’d...
Things to Look For On a College Visit
Walking into my first college visit was one of the scariest moments of my high school career. I remember being so anxious that my hands were shaking and my lips felt glued shut. That anxiety led to me not hear a single...
5 Ways to Prepare for UIUC as an International Student
Making sure you’re ready for the college of your choice is always a challenge—especially when that college is in a different country! Today we’re giving you 5 things you can do right now to prepare for the University of...
The Hardest Goodbye
Four years ago, I was asked by Illinois Undergraduate Admissions to join a student blogging team. This blog, they said, would reach college seniors in their search for their collegiate home. Writing has always been...
Why I Chose the University of Illinois
My brothers and I are triplets, and we applied to college together. This morning, one of them sent me a screenshot of a letter—on this day two years ago, we were all rejected by one of our “reach”...
It’s Not Goodbye—It’s See You Later
Dear high school seniors, I wish I could give you back your ABC countdown, prom, and senior ditch day. I wish I could give you one last game under the stadium lights. You were cheated and robbed of some of the best high...
How to Still Enjoy Your Last Moments of Senior Year
Congratulations, high school seniors! You’ve made it through your high school journey successfully and should be very proud! As several high school seniors get ready to make their final decisions about their post...
Senior Year of High School Reflection
I’m looking back at my senior year. That year was filled with memories and specific stressful events that a senior usually goes through, such as finals, standardized tests, college searching, and so forth...
4 Unspoken Rules Every College Freshman Should Know
It’s fantastic that Illinois is on your radar! But before you enter the social scene on campus, there are some things you should know … 1. Don’t brag about your Act / SAT scores. Are you talking to your...
