Hello, I was recently denied from the UIUC computer science program and was offered an “alternate program” called Pre-Engineering. Is it possible to ask UIUC for admission into another major such as Computer Engineering or Electrical Engineering? I received a 36 on my ACT and I am in the top 3% of my class. I have taken 6 AP tests (currently in 6 more AP classes) and received 5 “5’s” and 1 “4”. Do you think they will grant me admission into a less competitive major?
Thanks for responding
It doesn’t hurt to send the admissions office an email or give them a call to ask if you can be switched into another major. You seem to have great STATs! The worst they can say is no.
Once an admission decision has been made, the only way to change the major before starting freshman year at UIUC is to submit a change request form which results in your relinguiushing the admisison you already have and then being considered for the new major you are requesting. If rejected for the new major, you will not be attending UIUC. In other words, it is not wise to submit a change request form unless you would prefer not attending UIUC unless you are accepted to the new major.
You say you were admitted "pre-engineering."I am not sure what they are calling it now but I think you are saying you were admitted to engineering but as an undecided major. That is a first year program in the engineering college where you take all the same courses other freshman engineering students take and then seek admission to a major second year, when, if your grades are decent, your chances for admisison to electrical or computer engineering will likely be good but likely not for CS.
Be aware that changing into a CS or related major at UIUC can be very difficult if you enter in some other major or as undeclared.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19854939/#Comment_19854939
You could apply for CS+X and transfer into CS later on or you can apply for a different major in the school of engineering and then transfer later!
If sending admissions an email about a different major didn’t work, I do not recommend going to UIUC if you want to do CS. The transfer process is competitive, as you have top students like yourself who didn’t get in all trying to transfer, while CS is already overfilled. That and you have to fight for spots in the CS classes needed to get in also adds to the difficulty of transferring in.
On the other hand, if you still want to go for a different engineering major, Bioengineering and Mechanical are also hard to get into. The other majors are reasonable but you have to try hard, because anything less than a 3.0 GPA for the easier to get in majors (and 3.5 for the moderately hard to get in majors) means you have almost no chance.
Hi there, I saw the post about the alternative pre-Engineering alternative track. Were you able to find out more information? I could not find anything on UIUC’s website about a pre-engineering track. What did you decide to do? Really disappointing to hear that you got rejected even with a 36 ACT, but hopefully you were able to get into another CS program elsewhere. Thanks for any info you can share.
http://dgs.illinois.edu/pre-engineering
If you’re trying to transfer into BioE, CS, or MechE it’s not worth it. Especially since you need to get a 3.75 GPA (A- is not a 4.0, so you’ll need solid As in almost all your classes), and even then you’re not guaranteed admission like for other majors.