Your application, part II: Online or Paper?

Last year, when everything was said and done, UIC received about 15,000 applications for our freshman class. It was a record breaking year for us, in terms of the number of people vying for entry into Illinois' public urban research university. It was also a record breaking year for our online application. Nearly 80% of our applications came in online, no paper required.

This year, we're expecting more online applications than before, in part because we're printing less. Our Office of Sustainability, I would imagine is in support of this idea.

The paper application is still available, if you want it, in a couple different ways. One - you can print it yourself. To do so, simply find the PDF of the application under the Forms & Documents section of our website. Also, if you visit us at a College Fair - (For example, I'll be at the District 211 fair this Wednesday) - we can hand one you there. Your Guidance office is likely to have a few on file, or if you stop by our office, we can give you one as well.

Otherwise you can apply online. The online application is a good option for a number of reasons--

In addition to saving some trees, online applications also allow you to track the status of your application. Once you submit it, you'll be able to see where your application is in the decision making process. We can let you know if we're missing something, when it's complete, and when a decision is made.

It's also processed faster than a paper application. And it's processed more accurately - so we especially encourage those with less than perfect handwriting to go online.

Finally, the online application gives you the option to pay with a credit card, which is nice for some people.

I'm curious, which do you prefer?

Until next time!