Hello. I am a rising senior in high school in Illinois and thinking of majoring in computer science. In UIUC’s admission website, it explains that preference when admitting a student for a given major is given to the student who lists that major as their first choice major rather than a student that lists it second. I would love to be admitted to computer science, but I don’t know if my stats are up to par. Therefore, I am thinking of putting Computer Engineering as first choice and transfer to CS later. If I put CE as my first choice, then I would put CS+math in LAS as a second choice, which would increase my chances of getting in the major I put down. I want to know if this method is safer than putting CS in CoE and then CE as my choices (Because if I get rejected from CS I have a lower chance at CE if I had it as my second major). Below are my stats:
Act: 35 (Eng: 35, math: 35, reading: 34, science: 36)
GPA unweighted: 3.61
GPA weighted: 4.06
AP classes so far:
Calculus BC (5)
Chemistry (5)
English Language and Composition (5)
AP classes planned in Senior year:
AP Comp Sci
Calculus III
AP physics C
AP psychology
Others:
4 years of marching band
4 years of jazz band
3 years of pep band
300+ hours of volunteering as a receptionist in a hospital and sorting food in a local pantry
Cross country summer camp for 2 years
Worked for a week at a summer workshop at a university
My main concern is that my unweighted GPA is below average for CS in CoE, which leads me to doubt that I will get in the program. I appreciate any help 