I was accepted to college of business. I thought I’d go on and study accounting without any doubts. Well, I have doubts now. I feel like I wouldn’t really enjoy having a job related to accounting for the rest of my life (I previously convinced myself to believe I would). As crazy as it sounds, I would like to transfer and study something related to engineering, such as bioengineering of material engineering. I feel like that would be a lot more… interesting? I know these two are completely different majors, but I have studied the subjects that are needed for both majors in high school. That’s not a problem. Should I apply for change now and risk being rejected by the college of engineering (also lose my current offer for the business school), or apply for change after I attend UIUC, or just give up on anything related to engineering altogether? I may sound absolutely crazy and silly to some but please, try not to be too harsh. I’m just really confused now! Any opinions would be very much appreciated.
In general, transferring in to the popular majors in the CoE range from “tough” to “near impossible”. However, material science doesn’t seem to be one of those majors.
@purpletitan — acceptance onto any transfer program depends on available space and strength of the transfer application. There is no guaranteed admission regardless of GPA.
For UIUC intra-college transfers, that’s simply not true for a lot of majors in LAS, and even in CS in Engineering, which is by far the major with the most enrollment pressure at UIUC, they’re taking everyone who meets their (high) requirements.
Where are you getting your information from, @momgrad76?
@PurpleTitan These stats are for people who are attending university already, right? Would it be a riskier/ easier path to apply for change in major now (before entering uni) by any chance? I think I’ll be choosing a less “popular” major if I were to apply for transfer. Weighing my chances now and I don’t think I have much chance according to the links you have provided, so I’m really debating whether or not to transfer now Thank you so much for the information!
In general, Engineering at UIUC is harder to get in to that Business, but maybe not for your particular majors? Not sure. Might be worth a try. What do you have to lose?
@hello4321 Sure- I’m afraid I might be a disappointment though, nothing stellar!
ACT: 32 (36 English, 32 Math, 33 Reading 32, Science 26) one sitting
SAT II: 780 Math 2, 720 Bio E
TOEFL: 112
Unweighted GPA: 3.59
IB predicts: HL Math (5), HL Chem (6), HL Bio (5), SL English (6), SL French (7), SL Business (6)
The only thing that sorta stands out for me is that I’m taking pretty much the most challenging course loads offered in my school.
I’m in the same situation. I got accepted to my alternate major- CS+Statistics (LAS) but I really want to get into CS ENG!!
How difficult is it to transfer once I’m in UIUC?? And will this decision affect my grades/schedule/time of graduation?
Thanks in advance!
I got accepted into the College of engineering for aerospace engineering. I want to switch to computer engineering. Does anyone know if this will be easier considering I’m already admitted into the college of engineering itself? Also how do I go about actually switching my major before school even starts or is that not even possible? Do I have to wait until school starts to switch my major?
@Univa9, why do you really want CS in Engineering?
@emshadez, high requirements to enter CS in Engineering (like now) is my guess. Most people won’t be able to meet them. It’s not like CS+X is the end of the world, though. This mad hankering for CS in Engineering is beyond all reason. Do people realize what the differences between the majors are?
My son applied for engineering CS but was accepted into an alternate major. Although he wanted UIUC for CS very badly, I don’t think it is in his best interest to take the risk. They have minimum qualifications for inter-college transfer on the website, but because it is so competitive, meeting those requirements is not always good enough to transfer. For example, instead of the 3.2 gpa listed as minimum for CS transfer on the CS web page, I read that last year the requirement was a gpa of 3.67. Students were only allowed transfer in the fall and they had to have certain credit hours and courses with nothing below a B. Considering how competitive CS is, those requirements may go up for next year. The requirement for the other engineering disciplines may be lower, but I believe all of the engineering disciplines are competitive and have tough transfer requirements. That seems like an enormous amount of pressure for a student trying to make all the other adjustments of Freshman year. I am encouraging him to go with his second choice school as he has already been accepted to the program he wants to study and it is a top rated program.
Making this decision will depend on how well you think you could manage that pressure and also, if it ends up that you can’t get into the program of your choice, how happy you would be studying your second choice? These are tough decisions. I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide.
@michan , you want to send them an email and ask whether you have at least a slight chance of getting accepted. Before making any decisions make sure you consulted with the school’s admissions officers. good luck!
@PurpleTitan Well I’m assuming that CS in engineering opens a world of opportunities for me, like more job placements. Also, UIUC is more reputed for its college of Engineering than for LAS, right? Correct me if I’m wrong.
Thank you so much for the information!
I might as well give it a try. Thank you so much once again!