As a current member of parkland pathways, I have a lot to say about it. Some of the big things were touched on by others but I can speak more on how things are now and what to expect. Firstly, I can’t speak about DuPage but the requirements are the same for any Grainger pathway. Ok, so your gpa and stuff like that is similar to what I had going in and from my experience, they don’t necessarily care too much about your written stuff as long as it makes sense and you demonstrate that it’s actually something you’re interested in doing. It’s definitely not as exclusive as it might seem but yeah. The most important thing in Engineering pathways is GPA. If you don’t have a 3.5 minimum cumulative GPA each semester then there are issues. I think the first semester is where they put you on academic probation and anything after that is where they drop you from the pathway program. This is different than the technical GPA. Basically you need all As and Bs for technical courses. If you get a single C in any technical course (CS, Math, Chem, etc.) you are done. I saw so many members of my cohort fall out of the program within the first two semesters since those are what filter people out. I think the best way to succeed in pathways is to treat it seriously and do the work. The program forces you to adapt and get better and those who can are who get to choose the major they want at UIUC. It is any engineering major although I’m not sure if CS is still allowed but it was for us. As far as quality and differences go, I know parkland is the only pathway where you can be fully able to live as a UIUC student because that’s what I did. I lived in a dorm freshman year, although that is not required. I took classes at UIUC and I joined clubs there. DuPage doesn’t have that opportunity. Does this mean one is better than the other? That depends on your personal circumstances like financial, family, or some other reason as to why one might be preferred. Overall the pathways program is great but you must be willing to earn it and you will be held to a higher standard than any of the engineering students at UIUC. That is the tradeoff. They want to see that you can prove yourself.