On October 12th, an unfortunate situation befell the students, staff and faculty of Lake Land College (LLC). On that fateful day, between approximately 11:00 a.m. and 1 p.m., a representative of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) proceeded to inform students interested in engineering at UIUC of the recent changes made to the admissions process there.

The changes in question were introduced in August and adjustments were made such that certain required courses (namely Calculus III) must be completed before the application deadline in March of 2023 as opposed to a more traditional May where it has been for several years, resulting in a forced rush of the remaining required classes.

Alex Houser, one of the affected engineering students, spoke about how it challenged his plans to transfer to a larger university. “It definitely changed what my plans are for college [in the future], where I’m going, and certainly what I’m paying. Finding out about the situation this late into the game really left a bad impression, as it made me feel cheated and lacking a chance.” When asked about what options are being considered due to the changes, he mentioned several options such as “Michigan State University, Purdue University, Trine University, Notre Dame, basically anywhere established that actually cares somewhat unlike U of I.”

“Finding out about the situation this late into the game really left a bad impression, as it made me feel cheated and lacking a chance.” –Alex Houser

Word quickly spread to the other engineering students as well as to staff, faculty, academic counselors and many more at LLC. Many wished to contact UIUC to question whether the changes were real, and were surprised to hear a confirmation response. The Navigator News also reached out and was able to receive confirmation as well. The response we received was also able to dispel the myth that the Geis College of Business was experiencing similar changes to the Grainger College of Engineering.

Pandemonium ensued shortly after that day, as various LLC staff came together to attempt to create a solution despite the short notice. The solution ended up being Calculus III modified into a Mod II variant, intended to be taken from mid-October to the end of December. However, due to the short notice combined with the circumstances and brutality of the class, the class was later removed as none of the engineering students had signed up for it.

Several interesting questions were raised during post-discussion conversations. For example, if LLC had just found out about the situation, what is the likelihood of other community colleges and other two-year institutions finding out about the changes? Have all of them been informed of the changes and made adjustments accordingly, or are there still others who don’t yet know? Could UIUC make adjustments to other fields in the future, or are the adjustments to the admissions requirements for the Grainger College of Engineering too unpopular, and thus create a push for a rollback of the changes? Many questions remain about the future of admissions to the Grainger College of Engineering at UIUC, in addition to other potential fields, if they decide to implement any further adjustments.