Good news is that I was accepted to UIUC, but was accepted into my 2nd choice - Chemistry. My first choice was MechE. I know it’s a long shot, but is there any chance I can change my major to MechE prior to the May 1st deadline? I have been accepted to other schools (Purdue, Clemson, and several others) for Mech E. UIUC was one of my top choices and wanted to have the option of either Purdue, Clemson or UIUC. If not then i will have to take UIUC out of the discussion.
My plan was to call admissions later in the week after the initial surge. Any thoughts or advice?
I highly doubt it. If they considered you competitive enough for it, you would’ve been accepted to it.
In my opinion anyways, letting you change to that first choice major by May 1 would be unfair to all other applicants who were denied their first choice.
You would need to sacrifice your acceptance to Chem, and then there is no guarantee that you wouldn’t be denied. Frankly, it highly unlikely that they will even allow a transfer before the Spring term. You’d be better off talking with your advisor and letting him/her know that you’d like to switch to MechE. The poster above is correct. Your best bet is to call admissions, and they can explain to you exactly what the process involves, and when you can do it.
It is insanely difficult to do but can be done. You need to aim for straight A’s and get a 3.8-4.0 GPA. This is why going to the school is most likely not a smart choice. Go to a school that you were directly accepted into engineering. This would save a lot of stress and potentially a lot of money.
My D switched to engineering and had to go to her LAS advisor then engineering. It was quite easy but she has a 4.0 and had a teacher rec. she also had to apply after first semester
I went to an open house and I was told it was heavily stressed that trying to transfer into another major[specifically engineering/business majors] was next to impossible. They try to fill as many seats in each major as possible and those kids that got into those majors aren’t going to give it up so easily.
At some schools, it’s easy to switch between majors. UIUC as a freshman trying to do MechE while in LAS is not one of those schools.
Call or e-mail the admissions office. Explain the situation. Say UIUC was your first choice, but is now out of the picture. If possible, do a visit day, talk some people up. Perhaps a few admits have already committed elsewhere, and they can squeeze you in. I doubt they’ll want to lose one to Purdue, but it happens.
At the same time, don’t count on it. Try to get the most you can out of those other schools. Purdue vs. Clemson is not a bad problem to have.
I spoke to Admissions and would have to change majors after my Freshman year. The process is fair and not impossible. UIUC is a great school, buy i have decided to focus on my other choices. Good luck to all those attending UIUC in the fall!!
As a transfer student, I also had ME as my first choice major but ended up getting accepted to EE. Think I might look else where as well because really want ME. Does anyone know the chances of being able switch majors in-house?