So far, I've heard from every university unofficially before I received an official acceptance.
In the case of UCB, I received an email from the civil engineering department that they have recommended me for acceptance, but with the disclaimer that "The Dean of the Graduate Division performs the final review and extends the formal offer of admission; that office will send you the official offer letter shortly."
So in the unlikely event that the dean rejects me application, I suppose they have given me fair warning. But otherwise the message was very congratulatory.
I heard back from Cornell exactly a week ago, but it was an informal acceptance. I actually received the official acceptance today.
I am a domestic undergraduate student.
Also, in addition to UIUC, I know that UC Berkeley has sent out acceptances to M.S. as well, so I'm beginning to get a little worried about those two programs.
I suppose I'll contribute too.
GPA: 3.97/4.00
GRE: 164 V, 166 Q, 4.5 AW
Experiences:
1.5 years of research
Leadership role in engineering project team
No internship experience Applying to the following programs (All Structural Engineering):
M.Eng: MIT, Cornell, Michigan
MS: Stanford, UC Berkeley, UT, UIUC
So far I've heard good news from Cornell and UT. Hoping to hear more of the same from the remaining schools.