<p>So i got into UIUC as DGS but I applied for engineering. I know it's very difficult to transfer into engineering from DGS so I'm also considering going to a community college and transferring to something like UCLA later on. I'm wondering if I should take the risk and go to UIUC or stay at a CC? If I go to UIUC, it'll cost a lot of money(out of state) and I might not even get into the engineering program I want. Advice?
Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I think you may have answered the question yourself. 
Like you said, engineering at UIUC is very competitive. Actually its RIDICULOUSLY competitive. The fact that you are an out of state student doesn’t help either. Financial aid is close to nonexistent at UIUC. I have a friend who was in the same predicament. He applied to engineering but got into DGS instead. He stayed for 2 years with the hope that he could transfer to engineering, but as it turned out, he didn’t get in. Take engineering at a CC or another college and after two years, try to apply to UIUC engineering from there. That way if you still don’t get in, you have something to fall back on.
If you need a first person experience, my friend deeply regrets going into UIUC DGS instead of the college that initally accepted him for his major.
Hope that helped!</p>
<p>Really sorry to hear that… I got sent to my second choice major at another college and SIR’ed a no in seconds.</p>
<p>The way I see if, if a school isn’t invested in you, you shouldn’t be invested in them. I have family members who went to college into alt majors and now regret it deeply.</p>
<p>I would take the transfer route. If you’re thinking of UCLA you must be a california resident like me huh… results come out tomorrow. Hopefully both of us won’t have a difficult decision to make.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input. I might just go to a CC, depending on the rest of my applications</p>