<p>I'm posting here in case any parents have experience with this. I'm not getting a response on the U Illinois thread.</p>
<p>My son applied to U Illinois Engineering with Computer Science as a major, but was accepted into his alternate major (Computer Engineering). This is an excellent program, but not one he really is interested in. I do wonder whether it would have been preferable for him to have left the alternate major choice blank (if that is possible).</p>
<p>Does anyone know how hard it is to transfer into CS later at U of Illinois? The website seems to indicate that both majors are under pressure and that there is no guarantee that a student will be able to transfer in-even if they meet minimum requirements. </p>
<p>This is the conundrum, emeraldkity. We are actually from Seattle. My son’s first choice is UW CS, but because we know how hard it is to gain admission, we encouraged him to apply to MANY other schools. He does have a few admissions so far that guarantee him a place in a CS program, but not at the level of U Illinois or UW. This is getting very frustrating! My first kid wanted to get out of Dodge. This one would REALLY prefer to stay near home, so UW would be ideal. But if he doesn’t get in, that means transferring, which I think would be very hard on him.</p>
<p>I am a little surprised that he got into the Computer Engineering major, as I would think that to be even more rigorous than CS. But I think it is not as popular.</p>
<p>More rigorous majors are not necessarily harder to get into. Indeed, they may be unpopular enough that it is easy to get into them (just like how at some schools, a regular course needs a 400-seat lecture hall, but the honors version has only 20 students).</p>
<p>I had looked at both those sites, ucbalumnus, but thank you. My son might actually consider the computer engineering major as he does have interest in digital electronics. I think it is just hard for a kid to know at this point what path he wants to pursue. Until he takes more advanced coursework, how can he know for sure?</p>
<p>It is sometimes hard for students to differentiate between CE and CS. Has he read through the degree requirements and course descriptions for both programs? That might help.</p>
<p>Well, the fact is that he got rejected from the CS major. I would not assume that he can transfer into it later.</p>
<p>When he gets his acceptances, make that multi-column list with pros and cons, and detail the sorts of courses he’d take as a CS major at school A vrs. the Computer Engineering major at UIUC. Take the time to look at course scheduling too - they may include a course in the catalog but rarely or never actually schedule it. Then decide based on what interests him the most.</p>
<p>I think that companies would recruit from both CS and Computer Engineering for many computer science type jobs. Or to state it differently, it doesn’t matter as much which major he chooses for recruitment purposes.</p>
<p>My kid is a CS major at a directional, the sort that the big prestigious companies don’t bother with. Even there she had to successfully complete a semester before being accepted into the CS major. It’s nerve wracking. I think a kid would be better off starting out in the major they want rather than worrying about transfers.</p>
<p>You can teach a CE major how to code but you can’t teach a CS major how to solder :)</p>
<p>There is a lot of overlap between the two and depending on what he’s interested in doing I don’t see it as an issue. A decade ago, sure, but these days not as much. The extra hardware knowledge comes in very handy.</p>
<p>This is something you might want to call the school directly about, to get the information straight from the source. If the program is not entirely filled, because they are leaving some slots for the next admission round, maybe your son could somehow persuade them. Although my guess is probably not,</p>
<p>So…</p>
<p>Make sure you ask not only the minimum requirements to be considered, but the actual grades/credits of those who are accepted via internal transfer. Also ask how many apply to transfer, and how many are permitted to do so. For example, the bulletin may state that students need a 3.2 to apply for the intra-university transfer, but in reality, the students granted the transfer might have an average of 3.85.</p>
<p>What I have heard is that once a program </p>
<p>is filled, that transfer students (including intra-school transfers) are admitted only as spaces in the program open up, for example, a space becoming available because a student admitted to CS decides to pursue a different major for whatever reason. So the spaces available tend to be very few. I understand that the students applying for transfer in to the program then are ranked in descending order, and only the number of students equal to the number of available slots are permitted to do the intra-university transfer.</p>
<p>So, for example, if the CS program admits 100 students/year, if it is full now, your student may not be able to transfer in at this point in time. If during the year, 10 students originally admitted to CS transfer out of the program, there will then be 10 slots available. If only 10 students who meet all the requirements want to transfer in? No problem. But if 50 students want to transfer in, the CS department will rank the 50 from 1 to 50, and offer transfer slots to only the top 10 as that is all the slots then available.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son! H and I are U of I alumni, and we have several nieces and nephews there now. All of them have had a great time and also have gotten great educations.</p>
<p>Here are some stats for you to peruse. Note that the number of Jr. and Sr.s exceeds the number of freshmen. Kids pile up towards the end. I assume that means that space is less available for upperclassmen.</p>
<p>Note that enrollment by class standing can be affected by transfers-in from other colleges (particularly community college to state university at the junior standing). It can also be affected by students coming in with AP credit (reducing the number of “freshmen” but increasing the number of “seniors” due to students being one standing higher with their AP credit). In the opposite direction, drop-outs and transfers-out can reduce enrollment at higher class standings.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your suggestions.<br>
“Well, the fact is that he got rejected from the CS major.” Ouch!! But i get your message, Treetopleaf.</p>
<p>boysx3, you hit it on the head with the distinction of minimum requirements to be considered vs actual scores of those who are successful in transferring in. This is the reason I worry. I know how different reality can be from what is presented on websites or even from counselors directly. Our state flagship quotes an overall acceptance rate into CS of around 40%. That statistic was almost valid 5 years ago. Last year, for kids trying to get into CS after completing the prereqs, the admit rate was 17%. So, i hope that if we call we can get real data regarding likelihood of internal transfers. </p>
<p>"You can teach a CE major how to code but you can’t teach a CS major how to solder " ha ha. Very good, turbo. Beantowngirl, I think we will try to sit down this weekend and go over the different major requirements. I think it is hard because, at this point, with just high school physics, how does a kid know how he will feel about Quantum Physics or Fields and Waves? </p>
<p>Both hubby and son are impressed with the prestige of the program to which DS was admitted. It is my job to refocus my son on being sure that the major to which he was accepted is one he will want to pursue for four (or more) years.</p>
<p>My S is at U of I in CompE. His view is that once he gets his 10,000 hours of coding a la Malcolm Gladwell, he can compete for the same jobs as a CS major. However, I don’t talk to him that much, he is THAT busy.</p>
<p>Also, UCB is right about the year Jr. and Sr. Most of the kids in S’s high school class were one or TWO years advanced in the Dean’s List spreadsheet they send out. Lots went straight to Sophomore Standing in their first year.</p>
<p>Regarding time to graduate. Well, this is anecdotal, but S is choosing to take more than 4 years so he can study abroad and do an internship abroad, and make the most of a very involved extra curricular. He could finish in 8 semesters, but the opportunities are so great that we feel that 9 semesters of In-State tuition are doable.</p>
<p>Thanks for the perspective, BerneseMtn (one of my favorite breeds, btw). How does your son find the workload and difficulty of the CompE program? Is he able to include a social life? I am only concerned about time to graduate because we will be full pay oos.</p>
<p>I’m speaking from experience as a pure CS / UX in the land of EE’s and CE’s. The typical CS person takes the fact that his/her PC will boot for granted. In embedded systems of iPhone complexity, which is what I work on, a little knowledge of hardware goes a long way. In large companies like ours it’s not really a problem, as we have an army of EE’s and CE’s, but in a small place knowing how to rig a scope to the board makes all the difference in the world.</p>
<p>Of course, it depends what the kid wants to do with CS. If he aspires to work for Facebook, algorithm development for Google, or code the next doomsday trading algorithm for Lehman Brothers and the like, well, meh, they don’t do much with hardware. If he wants to do things like Kindle, or portable electronics of any kind, hardware comes in very handy. Careful selection of electives should span the gap between CE and CS. </p>
<p>In my company (consumer electronics), with hundreds of software developers, the vast majority of software developers and nearly all management are EE’s and CE’s, and the pure CS people like me are far and few. Now, I’m not saying that a few classes in digital stuff will turn the kid into Gene Amdahl, but we CS types often take hardware for granted, which could be a problem when hardware has its own list of things to worry about.</p>
<p>Another area where CE’s are useful is networking and interoperability. The Bluetooth dude could be swearing on five Holy documents that he’s A2DP x.y and SPP a.b and so on but ultimately the whole thing (hardware and software) has to work together and that’s another area where CE’s are valuable (Systems Engineering). We’re doing final testing for this year’s CES in Las Vegas and it’s all about who can fix the box, not about what the degree says or what team we’re on.</p>
<p>Many of my classmates and colleagues who went into CS disliked their hardware classes. The same was true of hardware folk taking software classes. The two disciplines can require very different types of thinking and problem solving. Has S any experience with electrical engineering, computer innards, physics, solid state chemistry? Has he liked this exposure?</p>
<p>Mommeleh
He did have a social life this semester, but just on Saturday. Not able to party like others he knows. I think his friends are getting out in four years. They are doing the traditional school in the school year and summer internship after So. And Jun. yrs. They are on track, and on time.</p>
<p>S has to do his EC all Summer in a foreign country, so he misses an internship this coming summer. There are so many kinds of jobs that he wants to do two internships before he decides how to use his degree. </p>
<p>He has made some good friends in the major, and that helps, because he gets some social life even when in the lab. Birds of a feather, you know.</p>
<p>Sorry I was so harsh. My nephew was accepted at another big Midwestern U, but not into the Eng. school. He went anyway, assuming he could transfer in later. He could not, as the grade req was quite high. He got his intended degree at another school and got HIS dream job so alls well that ends well, but he would have been better off financially if he had gone to the right school in the first place.</p>
<p>I think a kid should either wholeheartedly embrace the school/major they are accepted into, or go somewhere else.</p>
<p>I also think that if having a social life is more important than getting a job at a tippy top company, then a kid who is less than absolutely brilliant should consider schools down a rung from the tippy top schools. I say this as a grad of the Eng. School we are talking about, who had a very limited social life due to the intense workload there, who ultimately worked side by side with grads of significantly lesser schools. I will be forever proud of the fact that my mere mortal friends and I made it through, but we did not have much time to have fun in the process. Figure out your priorities, your willingness to work hard and defer fun, and your preparation and aptitude, before deciding on the best programs. One can have a perfectly satisfying career having graduated from a slightly lesser program.</p>
or what team we’re on.</p>