Were you recently waitlisted to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign? Are you now wondering what your chances of admission off the waitlist are? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Here, you’ll find UIUC’s waitlist acceptance rates for the past 20 years and advice on how to turn your waitlist letter into an acceptance letter. 

UIUC Waitlist Acceptance Rates and Statistics

UIUC Class Year	Number of Students Waitlisted to UIUC	Number of Students Who Chose to Join UIUC Waitlist	Number of Students Accepted Off UIUC Waitlist	UIUC Waitlist Acceptance Rate
UIUC Class of 2029	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
UIUC Class of 2028	3,073	1,881	56	3%
UIUC Class of 2027	6,423	4,080	166	4%
UIUC Class of 2026	2,455	1,517	0	0%
UIUC Class of 2025	1,935	1,204	468	38.90%
UIUC Class of 2024	3,036	1,791	0	0%
UIUC Class of 2023	2178	1479	39	2.60%
UIUC Class of 2022	2274	1694	426	25%
UIUC Class of 2021	2846	2092	350	16.70%
UIUC Class of 2020	2074	1601	0	0%
UIUC Class of 2019	3008	1875	1015	54%
UIUC Class of 2018	1,535	1,066	0	0%
UIUC Class of 2017	2,138	1,296	437	33.70%
UIUC Class of 2016	1159	680	140	20.60%
UIUC Class of 2015	267	142	126	88.70%
UIUC Class of 2014	1040	691	691	100%
UIUC Class of 2013	489	315	199	63.20%
UIUC Class of 2012	1189	633	605	95.60%
UIUC Class of 2011	1,116	601	55	9.20%
UIUC Class of 2010	503	319	0	0%
UIUC Class of 2009	1009	596	162	27.20%
UIUC Class of 2008	981	313	0	0%

The numbers in the table are pulled directly from UIUC’s self-reporting to The Common Data Set. 

Your Chances of Admission to The University of Illinois After Being Waitlisted

For the past 20 years, the average waitlist acceptance rate for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has been 27.7%. 

As you probably noticed, these numbers are all over the place! In some years, the waitlist acceptance rate has been well over 50%. For the Class of 2014, it was 100%! — For other years, no students have made it off the waitlist. 

Your head might be spinning right now. How can the numbers range so much? The most significant determinant of any school’s waitlist acceptance rate is its yield, which is admissions jargon for the percentage of admitted students who accept their offer and enroll. The higher the yield, the fewer names will be picked from the admissions rate. 

This might make it sound like getting off the waitlist is entirely a game of luck. If you think it’s just a game of luck, then you fail to see how you can optimize your chances of getting off UIUC’s waitlist and onto its campus. While you can’t control this year’s yield, you can control how adeptly you approach UIUC and make your final case for admission.  

Your Chances of Admission to UIUC After Being Waitlisted with Ivy Coach’s Help

Over the past 30 years, around 40% of students who have turned to Ivy Coach after being placed on an elite university’s waitlist have gone on to receive admission. That’s compared to only around a 10% acceptance rate for the average waitlisted applicant. 

Our team of former elite admissions officers has developed a tried and true method for getting students out of the limbo caused by the waitlist. Here at Ivy Coach, we like to call that method the two-step: 

1. Complete Ivy Coach’s PostMortem application review. We need to see what a student did right and what they did wrong in their UIUC application. The narrative we help craft can’t come from left field. Instead, it should be consistent with the story conveyed in the UIUC application — just told in a way that’s actually going to convince and win over the admissions committee this time around. 
2. Submit a compelling Letter of Continued Interest. Most students know they must submit a letter after being waitlisted to ultimately receive admission. And most know they should do so quickly. But most students don’t know what to actually write in that letter — which is the most crucial part. Ivy Coach’s letters to UIUC contain no brags or updates. It’s a big reason why they’re so successful. We inspire admissions officers at UIUC to go to bat for our students! 

Getting Started with Ivy Coach on the U of I Waitlist

If you’re interested in optimizing your chance of admission off of UIUC’s waitlist to the Class of 2029, complete Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form and indicate that  UIUC has waitlisted you. We will then be in touch about our services. We understand the importance of submitting a letter as soon as possible.