<p>My son is an "OK" student at a highly competitive high school (4.6 weighted GPA). He did well on his ACT (31). He really wants to be admitted to Illinois.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any idea whether his chances of admission are greater or less if he applies to the division of general studies (I believe that's what they call it -- it's essentially their program for undecided majors), versus applying to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences?</p>
<p>All informed opinions are welcome. we hope to submit his application this weekend.</p>
<p>Which major in LAS would he apply to? Business and Engineering are extremely competitive to get into while DGS and most LAS majors aren’t as difficult. If he wants to major in an LAS major, I would apply for that major, because if he isn’t accepted to it, he will be automatically considered to DGS.</p>
<p>If he is interested in applying for a particular college and major, he should do so. If he is actually undecided, he should apply for DGS. And in making that decison it is not necessary to consider whether it is easier to be admitted to DGS even though it is easier. What happens is that if he applies for another college and major and is rejected by that college, he will then be considered for DGS so making DGS your first choice does not really raise probability of admission. For example, the business college has the lowest admission rate (about 44% last year) but majority of those rejected by business are offered DGS admission.</p>
<p>Drusba is correct, but unless he really has no idea what he might want to major in, he should avoid applying directly to DGS, because then he 100% needs to transfer once he does decide. Transferring is a competitive process because of the limited seats available in majors. To avoid the transfer process, if he is admitted as a freshman directly to a major, he’s set as long as he maintains a minumum GPA. He can always attempt transfer to another major, if he changes his mind, and so is marginally better off than a DGS student who has no choice but to go through the transfer process in order to get a degree and graduate.</p>