High School Counselor Guide
This is what you need to know as you work with first-year applicants. Thank you for all you do for your students!
New for 2027 Applicants
- Applications: First-year applicants will continue to apply through the Common App. The Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR) will still be submitted separately through myIllini, and admitted students will use myIllini for their checklist.
- New Majors Available to First-Year Applicants:
- Agricultural and Applied Economics (ACES)
- Consumer Economics and Finance (ACES)
- Environmental and Resource Economics and Policy (ACES)
- Environmental Sustainability (LAS)
- Financial Planning (ACES)
- Food and Agribusiness Management (ACES)
- Hip Hop Culture and the Arts (FAA)
- Immersive & Interactive Theatre (FAA)
- Public Health (AHS)
- Public Policy and Law (ACES)
- Sports Media (Media)
- Application Workshops: Workshops for both first-year and transfer applicants can now be found on our new Application Workshops page.
- Counselor Navigation: Navigation to our Counselors page has been added to the feature menu in the top right corner of our website.
- IlliniFest: Our signature campus showcase event for prospective students and families, is scheduled for Saturday, September 26, 2026.
If students have questions as they apply, encourage them to check out our application help information.
Enrollment Reports
Explore 10th-Day enrollment numbers by college, demographic, location, and more.
First-Year (PDF) Transfer (PDF)Reports from previous years and terms are available on the Enrollment Management website.
Competitiveness
Because we admit by program, some programs are significantly more competitive. We publish our admit rates by college, as well as for our Computer Science-related programs.
We encourage students to apply for programs in which they plan to enroll if admitted. We will only consider students for programs to which they apply.
- The Division of Exploratory Studies is intended for students who are open to exploring more than one major, with preference given to students who are open to exploring programs with capacity on campus.
- Students who are only interested in intercollegiate transfer once on campus into The Grainger College of Engineering or Gies College of Business should be encouraged to enroll at another university.
- Students are only able to enter our Computer Science, Computer Science + Bioengineering, and Computer Science + Physics programs in The Grainger College of Engineering as new first-year or transfer students. They are not able to apply to change majors into these programs once on campus, although they can still pursue a Computer Science minor or apply to change majors into other Computer Science + X programs.
Majors Unavailable as a Second Choice
Following are the majors not available as a second choice for first-year students:
- Aerospace Engineering
- Agri-Accounting
- Astronomy + Data Science
- Business Undeclared
- Chemical Engineering + Data Science
- Computer Engineering
- Computer Science (including all Computer Science blended majors)
- Consumer Economics and Finance
- Electrical Engineering
- Engineering Undeclared
- Environmental Engineering
- Financial Planning
- Information Sciences + Data Science
- Interdisciplinary Health Sciences
- LAS Undeclared
- Materials Science and Engineering + Data Science
- Mechanical Engineering
- Molecular & Cellular Biology + Data Science
- all Music majors except Music BA (which doesn’t require an audition)
- Neuroscience
- Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering + Data Science
- Psychology