College Life in Americaby Teacher Wayne

How can a High School Student

gain admission to a college in the USA?

College-bound students take one or more standard tests during their junior year in H.S.

The ACT

Type Skill Areas Time LimitMain Multiple- English, Math, 3 hours

choice Reading, and (4 hours, includes

Science instructions & breaks)

Optional Essay Planning & 30 minutes

Writing an Essay

The SAT

Type Skill Areas Time LimitMain Multiple- Mathematics, 3 hours, 20

mins.

choice Critical Reading

(mostly) Writing

Optional Multiple- History, Sciences, Varies

choice Languages, etc.

One of the Optional Tests is Chinese,

with Listening Comprehension!

The TOEFL® Test

Test of English as a Foreign Language™

Type Skill Areas Time LimitMain Written, Reading, Writing 4 hours, 30

mins,

spoken Speaking, and plus 10 min break

Listening (Internet-based)

The cost is 1370 RMB !!!

Please note that standardized tests are

not the only determining factors

for being admitted to a university.

Several other factors are considered,

which we will take a look at later.

Application Filing Period

for High School Seniors

who want to attend the University of Illinois

Admission Notification

There are two admissions notification dates:

mid-December and mid-February

These are the dates when students find out

whether they have been accepted

to attend the university of their choice

for the following school year.

What happens if no school

will accept you?

OR

You could consider going to a

Community College.

Most public universities in America are affiliated with a state government.

However, Community Colleges are affiliated with local county1 governments.

Community Colleges are typically 2-year schools.

Students can receive an Associate’s Degree,

not a standard 4-year Bachelor’s Degree.

1A county is a government unit that consists of a group of cities.

Advantages of a Community College

1. The cost of attending is quite low. Community Colleges are heavily supported by the taxes of local

citizens.

2. Almost anyone can be admitted. If a student did poorly in High School, he / she can still attend.

3. The schools are very convenient.• Community Colleges are close to home.

• Students do not live on campus, saving a lot of money by living at home.

• Many classes are offered in the evenings and on weekends.

If a student has a job, it’s easy to arrange a class schedule around the job.

4. Transfer to a university after 2 years is possible. Do well at a Community College get accepted by a university.

Classes at the Community College count towards a Bachelor’s Degree.

Freshman Admission Requirements

at the University of Illinois at Urbana

Each year, over 20,000 high school seniors

apply for 7,000 available seats.

That means that only 35% of applicants are

accepted!

So it’s a good idea for a student to apply to

more than one school !!!

Evaluation Factors for Admission

High school coursework: strength and rigor of curriculum

High School Grade Point Average (GPA)

ACT or SAT tests (or TOEFL, with a score of at least 550)

Application Essays (300 words or less)

Essay 1  How do your personal or academic interests relate to your

intellectual or professional goals?

Essay 2 Choose one extracurricular activity, work experience,

or community service project and explain:

1. why you initially chose it

2. why you continued with it

3. and how you benefited from it.

Activities, service, and work experience

Academic Calendar

Let’s take a look at the calendar

for a typical

school year at the

University of Illinois.

Fall Semester

Classes Begin               Monday, August 25

Labor Day Holiday         Monday, September 1 (no classes)

Thanksgiving Vacation Begins Saturday, November 22

Classes Resume          Monday, December 1 

Classes End                  Wednesday, December 10

Reading Day                      Thursday, December 11

Final Examinations Begin     Friday, December 12

End        Friday, December 19

Spring Semester

Classes Begin               Tuesday, January 20

Spring Vacation Begins Saturday, March 21

Classes Resume          Monday, March 30 

Classes End                  Wednesday, May 6

Reading Day                      Thursday, May 7

Final Examinations Begin     Friday, May 8

End        Friday, May 15

Estimated Summary of Expenses for 2011 – 2012

Residents Non-residents

Tuition & fees $14,414 – 19,238 $28,556 – $33,380

Books & supplies $1,200 $1,200

Room & board

(20 meals/week) $10,080 $10,080

Other expenses1 $2,510 $2,510

TOTAL COST $28,204 – 33,028 $42,356 – 47,170

1Other expenses include allowances for transportation, clothing, recreation,

and other living / miscellaneous expenses.

Typical class size

Class sizes vary, depending on lecture vs. discussion format, and advanced vs. introductory level.

Lectures can have 200, 300, or even more students!

66.5% of Freshman-level classes

at the University of Illinois

have fewer than 30 students.

Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 16 to 1

Now let’s take a look at how much time students spend in class each week.

Class length and credit are measured in hours – although a 1-hour class lasts only 50 minutes.

The minimum full load is considered to be12 credit hours per semester.

However, most students take around 15 credit hours – sometimes more than that, sometimes less.

A student might take the minimum number of hours, for example, if he / she knows that one or more

classes will be especially difficult,requiring as much attention as possible.

Actual Credit Class

Hours Hours

CS 125 4 5 CS 173 3 4English 104 3 6Rhetoric 101 4 4

Total 14 19

University of Illinois

Campus Size

272 major buildings

on 1,458 acres (6 km2)

About 2,000 faculty-scholars teach at Illinois.

By the way . . .

on campus – within the boundaries of a school, hospital, or other institution

“Teacher Wayne lives on campus in the International Student Apartments.”

off campus – outside the boundaries of a school . . .

“I had dinner off campus last night with my friends.”

Don’t say: “I had dinner outside the school last night with my friends.”

Enrollment StatisticsAll values are approximate

Undergraduate 31,000

Graduate 11,000

Total Enrollment 42,000

Students come from all 50 states in America,

and more than 125 nations around the world.

Student Enrollment Demographics

How many students are enrolled at

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign?

  Men Women Total

White 13,961 12,549 26,510

Non-Resident Alien 3,146 2,136 5,282

Asian / Pacific Islander 2,544 2,020 4,564

Black 1,022 1,571 2,593

Hispanic 1,264 1,249 2,513

Native American Indian 67 56 123

Race Unknown 644 509 1,153

Totals 22,648 20,090 42,738

Asian Americans at the U. of I.

Illinois has one of the largest and most vibrant Asian American university communities in the Midwest.

The campus has 4500 Asian American students, representing 11% of the total student population, and over

650 Asian American faculty / staff.

Asian Americans have a strong presence on campus and a long history of student activism since the late 1980’s.

Over the past fifteen years, the U. of I. has developed many resources to address the needs and interests of Asian

Americans and those interested in Asian American issues.

http://studentaffairs.illinois.edu/diversity/aacc/index.html

Best Engineering Graduate Schools1

2011-2012 Tuition Total Graduate

Engineering Enrollment

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts

Full-time $38,940 per year 2677

2. Stanford University Stanford, California

Full-time $41,220 per year 3572

1As ranked in 2011, by U.S. News & World Report magazine

2011-2012 Tuition Total Graduate

Engineering Enrollment

3. University of California Berkeley, California

In-state, full-time $9402 per year 1759

Out-of-state, full-time $15,102 per year

4. Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, Georgia

In-state, full-time $8636 per year 4607

Out-of-state, full-time $26,204 per year

5. University of Illinois Urbana, Illinois

In-state, full-time $14,932 per year 2711

Out-of-state, full-time $28,198 per year

University of Illinois LibrarySecond only to Harvard and Yale

The largest public university collection in the world!

More than 22 million items, including:

• 10 million volumes

• more than 13 million print and non-print materials

• over 90,000 periodicals & journals in the main library

• more than 40 departmental libraries and divisions

For next week, please read:

Part 3 Culture

Chapters 2 – 4, pages 184 to 203

(Media, Sports, Science)