University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: acceptance rate by major

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign admits about 36.6% of applicants overall. That number is the one everybody quotes, and for most applicants it is the wrong one — you are not admitted by the university, you are admitted by a college or programme inside it, and those rates differ sharply.

The short version: Computer Science is the hardest route in at 7.2%, roughly 5.1× harder than the headline rate. Engineering admits 21%.

Published admit rates by major

Major	Admit rate	GPA (mid 50%)	SAT (mid 50%)
Computer Science	7.2%	3.75–4.00	1440–1550
Engineering	21%	3.70–4.00	1400–1520
Whole university	36.6%	3.70–4.00	1330–1530

What this means if you are applying from outside the US

Two things follow from the table above.

Your odds depend on what you write in the major box. At University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign the gap between the hardest and most accessible programme is 7.2% against 21% — a bigger difference than almost anything you can change about your profile this year.
International admit rates run below the published figure at most US universities. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign charges international students about $34,312 in tuition, and its aid policy for them is: Merit scholarships available.

Switching major purely for the admit rate is usually a mistake — a "why this major" essay written about a subject chosen for its odds reads exactly like one, and internal transfer after enrolment is capped and competitive at most schools. But if you were genuinely choosing between two subjects, the difference above is real and worth knowing.

Calculate your own odds at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign →

Other schools that publish by-major data

By-major rates Purdue University University of Washington Cornell University Carnegie Mellon University Georgia Tech

Source: UIUC published admit data 2025.

These are published institutional figures, not predictions. Admission decisions also rest on essays, recommendations and institutional priorities, which no calculator can see. Not affiliated with any university.