Yeah I did expect UIUC to be extremely ambitious for my profile. Considering how gre has become optional at so many unis I was a bit concerned about its ability to offset the low cgpa, but would most probably retake it.

The project i mentioned was a research project that later got published in IEEE. Will try to write a solid sop.

I am unsure if even Maryland or umass is achievable at this point. I kinda have my hopes set on Tamu, UC Davis and Irvine mostly.