Notice: To those accepted into "alternate majors" (specifically DGS)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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<p>First of all, to all those accepted, CONGRATULATIONS!! You're all gonna love it here if you choose to attend. </p>

<p>This post will basically detail exactly what being accepted to an alternate major entails. I will specifically be talking about DGS, but if you have questions about another major, feel free to PM me.</p>

<p>DGS. It's the biggest "college" within the University of Illinois, but I put college in quotations because they only let you be a part of DGS until the end of your sophomore year. We have the BEST counselors on campus who are, in essence, there to help people choose out their major.</p>

<p>That's not gonna be the case for most of y'all, since you had another major in mind. But this is OK! You will have plenty of chances to transfer (unless you're business, which I'll get to later). I'm gonna divide the rest of this post into specific colleges (but I'll only really highlight the College of Engineering and the College of Business because I suspect that those are the colleges most of y'all have questions about).</p>

<p>COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
I'll begin by being completely honest. Transferring into the College of Engineering from DGS is miles from easy. And in reality, all it winds down to is GPA. GPA in college does not compare to GPA in your average high school. You may have been able to pull a 4.0 in high school, but engineering classes here go 1.5-2x the speed of those in high school, and exams and assignments tend to be much more difficult. Unless you went to an extremely competitive high school with an amazing math program (i.e Bill Noeth), you will find the calculus classes here to be very difficult.
First off, you'll need a 3.0 GPA just to fill out a transfer application to engineering, but most individual majors will be OBSCENELY more competitive than that. For example, ECE and CS both have requirements in the upper 3.8 GPA range. And that tends to be the case for all engineering majors. The College of Engineering tends only to accept those with GPAs above 3.6-3.7. So what does this mean for you? Well if you want to transfer to engineering you have to understand that it is EXTREMELY difficult. The College of Engineering only accepts around 100-120 transfers a year, which means only 20ish to each major. In fact, it would be easier to attend another university where you have already received acceptance into engineering and then transfer to UIUC from there. If you do manage to keep a stellar GPA, then you will be able to apply into Engineering starting the end of freshman year, and you'll be able to apply latest by the end of sophomore year.</p>

<p>COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
I am a prospective engineer, so I don't know too much about the College of Business, but much of what is required to transfer is very similar to that of Engineering. It is potentially even more competitive than engineering, as in most majors require 3.9-4.0, and furthermore you only have ONE shot. You may only apply to the College of Business once, near the end of your freshman year. If you are accepted, hooray for you, otherwise you'll have to decide on another major and you will never be able to apply to Business again.</p>

<p>OTHER COLLEGES
Transferring from DGS to other colleges isn't as difficult as Business and Engineering are. For specific information regarding your prospective major, check out the transfer applications on the major website (or the website of the college itself). Normally you only need a 2.0 GPA (some majors 3.0), and for some majors it isn't really even a transfer application, it's just a declaration. If you wanna be in that major, you're in.</p>

<p>I hope I've sufficiently answered most of your questions regarding the alternate major choice. If you have more questions, feel free to PM me. Also I didn't mean for this to sound as harsh as it may have, but I'm only telling the truth. Good luck to y'all!</p>

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<p>nice
10char</p>

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<p>Does DGS contain LAS or ACES? Because, as I wrote in my other thread, I was given those three different colleges. </p>

<p>Compared to DGS, what better chances do you have by transferring from LAS etc.? </p>

<p>Also, how many people want to transfer to Computer Science each year and how many are turned down? </p>

<p>Does being in “Mathematics & Computer Science” major help at all? </p>

<p>As you said in your post, should I instead (if I really wanted to go to UIUC), go to a #2 college and try to transfer out of that? Not much risk, and you said, better chances?</p>

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<p>Math and CS will help, because you’ll be able to schedule in all CS classes without a complaint from the department (DGS sometimes have difficulty getting into classes when they fill up). If you want to transfer, I’d suggest taking the physics requirement and applying for a transfer as soon as possible (while your GPA is still high). </p>

<p>LAS is easier to transfer into from DGS, it’s where most people go actually (LAS is second biggest school after DGS). If you are really into CS, I would definitely suggest Math+CS or Stat+CS rather than DGS.</p>

<p>As far as going to another university altogether is concerned, that’s probably ideal for those who think they can’t get that 3.8 GPA.</p>

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<p>But how much better are the chances and how many people usually apply to transfer? </p>

<p>Weird how UIUC doesn’t give priority to its own students haha. Makes sense that they want the best of the best though… Thanks.</p>

<p>And you mean “While GPA is still high”, because first year courses will be a lot easier? Also, if I were not to be admitted after my freshman year… how screwed am I in getting to ENG? Probably would be better to have gone to another college in that situation, right?</p>

<p>Finally, what advantages does transferring from LAS to ENG have compared to transferring to ENG from a different college?</p>

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<p>I don’t really have those statistics, but they usually give them out at admitted students days (in the DGS meeting). </p>

<p>Yes, freshman courses will be easier (unless you are ahead for some reason such as AP exams), so it’ll be easier to maintain a 4.0 gpa. </p>

<p>If you weren’t admitted after freshman year, you may try again but it would be good to start looking at backup plans (and yes at that stage you may regret not going to another university), but it is still possible (Math & CS is an ideal backup choice)</p>

<p>Not so much LAS to ENG, more like Math & CS to plain CS. LAS to ENG is arguably harder than DGS to ENG (DGS normally get priority while declaring majors). Math & CS to ENG CS is probably easier than DGS to CS and definitely much easier than some other LAS to ENG. If you are a Math & CS major, you’ll be able to sign up for major restricted classes (Such as Math 415) that DGS cannot sign up for, so it’s beneficial to be in Math & CS.</p>

<p>The real question is what do you really want to do? Does getting into ENG CS mean enough to you for you to attend another university before transferring to UIUC or would you be willing to try out Math & CS or DGS and try to transfer?</p>

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<p>And transferring to CS is already SO competitive! Doesn’t seem like good odds… But I meant LAS as in Math & CS as it was in that college haha.</p>

<p>I mean, why would I go for the lower major that isn’t that “well-known” and stay with that, when someone could do something more? And if I could go to the more prestigious major of UIUC CS, why wouldn’t I take the road that has lower risks, better chances, AND same reward?</p>

<p>I mean, isn’t the margin of being accepted as a college transfer vs major transfer a pretty solid gap?</p>

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<p>How hard is it to transfer from DGS to chemical engineering which is in LAS</p>

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<p>Withcy, Don’t be fooled by Chemical Engineering being in LAS. It is in LAS because of a longstanding “tradition”, but it is by no means considered anything other than another Engineering major.</p>

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<p>What if I applied to CS and was offered “General Engineering” instead ?
Can I easily transfer to CS later ? Is it also a “general” first year before you choose a specific major ?
Can I appeal the decision ?</p>

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<p>I am not sure what to do now, i am applying for DGS and if i get in i want to go. But on the other hand i could stay at my CC for another year and apply for engineering. Dgs to engineering at u of i seems really hard</p>

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<p>What is DGS?</p>

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<p>hennebou: UIUC accepts students directly into their major. It is nearly as hard to transfer from General Engineering to Computer Science as it is to transfer from DGS.</p>

<p>I would seriously consider going to a different school and then transfer to UIUC after 2 or 3 semesters.</p>

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<p>I have been given the alternate choice of Math and Computer Science in LAS instead of Computer Science in ENG. My question is, how will the job opportunities be for the LAS vs ENG? In both majors, the same CS courses are taken for the most part. Obviously math plays a heavier role in the LAS major. How will companies look at this differently? Will they?</p>

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<p>They will look at things differently, but honestly it’s barely a difference. A friend of mine on the floor is in LAS Math & CS and he has 2 good internship offers, and he also had an internship last year.</p>

<p>Generally speaking, ANY type of Computer Science will get you good internships. A lot of non-CS engineering majors complain that all internship offers are only for CS!</p>

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<p>Do you think that if I’d ask them, they would tell me why I was offered an alternate major ?
I think it’s because they hadn’t enough academic info about me in the SRAR (my SRAR was only listing national exams results, as requested [in my case, 3 year old results in History, French ans Math… It’s the “end of middle school” exam]), but I’m not sure.
I want to send them my full school transcripts and to make an appeal, is that a good idea ?</p>

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<p>Hey SMG… On my other thread I found these posts by drusba: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-illinois-urbana-champaign/1414139-whats-difference-between-computer-science-eng-vs-las.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-illinois-urbana-champaign/1414139-whats-difference-between-computer-science-eng-vs-las.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>He said the ENG has the national prestige but UIUC’s LAS doesn’t have much. LAS has higher math, but none of ENG’s science courses.</p>

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<p>Thanks for this post. If I don’t get into Business my backup plan is Economics which I am also interested in.</p>