Program Participation

With the equity-minded, test-free admission and holistic review processes implemented by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, the McKinley "Deacon" Davis CHANCE program has shifted to fully devote its staff and resources to support students through their NIU journey.

 Our pathway to the CHANCE program is clear, inclusive and student-centered.

• Recruitment. Students who could benefit from the CHANCE program will be recruited by admissions counselors to apply to NIU.
• Holistic admissions. A trained team will identify NIU applicants who could benefit from the CHANCE Program through our new holistic review process for admission, which no longer requires standardized test scores.
• Auto-select. Students admitted with a GPA of 2.0-2.499 as part of our holistic admission review process will be automatically selected to enroll in the CHANCE program.
• Selection post-survey. Following admission through our holistic admission review process, all students are asked to complete our Huskie First Survey. Students with a GPA of 2.5 and above who could benefit from CHANCE are identified based on their responses to that survey.
• Self-nomination. Students interested in the CHANCE program can nominate themselves by answering a series of questions on our self-nomination form.
• Counselor nomination. High school counselors can nominate students for the CHANCE program by answering a series of questions about the student on our nomination form.