@Univa9, why wouldn’t Stats&CS open a world of opportunity for you? In the US, people generally only care about your major, what courses you took, and more importantly, your own personal skills and attributes. Some universities have CS in Engineering. Some in LAS. Some in both. Some in a special School of Computing. Most folks can’t keep straight who has CS where or care.
@88jm19, BTW, my understanding is that there is no such thing as “CoE admissions”. The Admissions Office handles admissions in to UofI. Then within UofI, each department faculty sets the standards for transfer admissions to their major. So the CS faculty sets it for CS in Engineering as well as the various CS+X majors. Which is why CS in Engineering, Math&CS, and Stats&CS have the same transfer requirements now.
Thanks @PurpleTitan - that is interesting.
And @YZamyatin the Big Data link was interesting. Imagine it being applied to college admissions!! 
Will never happen, admissions departments are too territorial. Suggesting that the function can be replaced by algorithms around here is a good way to get yourself verbally mugged.
Making admissions decisions is as difficult a process as you choose to make it, and a whole lot of powerful people have a vested interest in making it as convoluted as possible.
A deeply complex and nuanced admissions process for them is a feature, not a bug!
Edit: changed ‘subjective’ to ‘nuanced’. You can build subjective qualities into an algorithm, you cannot build in the ‘gut feeling’ and ‘emotional status’ of a given application reader.
@purpletitan - the transfer requirements are different for CS in COE vs CS/Math. CS/Math currently 3.2 and you’re basically in. As far as CS in COE, last year minimum required GPA was something like 3.6+ and no B’s in specific CS courses. Of course those can change and based on demand probably will. COE doesn’t guarantee admission with those grades, but currently LAS does.
@srparent15, not for very long: https://wiki.cites.illinois.edu/wiki/display/undergradProg/Transferring+Into+Undergraduate+Computer+Science+Majors+from+Other+UIUC+Departments
How is this for opportunities @Univa9 ?
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@Univa9
Okay, this is my last one, I promise.
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@enot112 Will do. Thank you!
@YZamyatin 
Actually, thank you!! 
Those links were very encouraging!
@CSmajorQ - totally agree with you. My son was accepted into the CS program, but had he only been accepted into DGS I would have encouraged him to go to one of the other direct admit programs that he was already accepted to. Why put that kind of pressure on a student, especially when most of what they would have to take before they transfer to Engineering are the General Education courses and not what they really want to be in. If they went to Wisconsin, Ohio State or Purdue all excellent schools, then they could begin immediately in the CS track. Also, can also later try to transfer to Illinois from outside as opposed to not getting in from DGS ultimately and either having to leave the school or declare a major he would have absolute no interest in.
Well, UW-Madison doesn’t have a CS track that you can apply to straight out of HS, but so far, declaring for the CS major there is still extremely easy.
But you can begin in their School of Engineering and that’s a lot better than starting in DGS and banking on getting in. If they had more than 3,300 applications this year, can you imagine how many they will get next year, and then how many that wound up in DGS will want to transfer, all with no guarantee of getting admission? Of course, they can do what other schools have done and have their own School of Computer Science (Georgia Tech for instance), or have Computer Science housed in Liberal Arts (I don’t mean with a combined other degree like Stats) or in Engineering and students can then get a B.A. or B.S. Programs like this exist at Cornell and University of Texas.
The College of Computer Science has been suggested and considered for a while now. I can’t imagine the administrative hurdles and turf battles that would have to be overcome to make it a reality, but I think it will happen eventually.
@srparent15, CS at UW-Madison is actually in their Lib Arts college, not Engineering.
Oops purpletitan, that’s probably why my child didn’t apply there. Did not want to go via the Liberal Arts route. Which is why DGS would not have been an option for him.