University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's wording, checked October 26, 2026“What are your future career or academic goals? You may include courses you took in high school and how these impacted your goals.”
Illinois asks for about 150 words.
How to approach it
- 1Name a direction and the courses that pointed you there.
- 2Undeclared is a plan to explore. Show that the exploring has a shape.
- 3At 150 words, one or two courses with a sentence each is enough evidence.
A structure that works
One way to shape this answer. It describes moves, not sentences: the words have to be yours.
- 1A direction, even a broad one, stated honestly.
- 2The high school courses or experiences that point that way.
- 3What you still need to find out, and how exploring at Illinois would help.
Where the 150 words go
| Part | Words |
|---|---|
| Where the interest comes from | about 50 |
| How you think about the subject | about 50 |
| Your path at this college | about 50 |
Mistakes to avoid
- Saying you have no idea.
- Inventing a fixed career plan you do not have.
The checklist our grader uses for this question
When you check your Illinois answers, this answer is read against these 5 areas. Each comes back Met, Partly or Missing with a quote from your draft as evidence, and together with the 150 words limit they set its readiness verdict.
| Area | What a reader looks for |
|---|---|
| Answers the question | The opening sentences answer what was asked, plainly, before background or a hook; every part of a multi-part question is answered. |
| Where the interest comes from | A specific, preferably recent experience (a class, project, job, reading, problem) shows the interest is real, not a stated passion. |
| How you think about it | The reader sees the applicant's own thinking: a question they pursue, a connection they made, a view of the field. |
| Your path at this college | It names how this school's curriculum, structure or opportunities fit the plan, specifically enough that it would not fit another school unchanged. |
| Illinois's ask | It ties the academic interest to what Illinois offers, not to the field in general. |
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Questions
More on Illinois and this kind of question
- Princeton: Academic interests (A.B.) · 250 words
- Princeton: Why engineering at Princeton (B.S.E.) · 250 words
- Columbia: Your preferred areas of study · 150 words
- Penn: College of Arts and Sciences · 50-200 words
- Penn: The Wharton School · 50-200 words
- Penn: Penn Engineering · 50-200 words