<p>At UIUC, you have to apply for your major and they admit you into that college. If they deny your major, then they will consider you for the division of general studies. I was planning on majoring in chemical engineering, but I think my ACT is a little too low, which is a 28 (E:32 M:28 R:29 S:24), but my highest scores are E:32 M:28 R: 29 S:28. My W GPA is 4.54, UW is 3.85. I have taken the hardest classes my schools offers and I am in all honors and AP. I have done many ECs (XC, wrestling, track, gymnastics, cheerleading (I'm a guy), Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo, WYSE, pep club, NHS, SNHS, and I am in the top 10%. If I apply as a Chem E and I get denied, do you guys think my chances of getting into UIUC for general studies be decreased? Also, should I just apply for DGS because it would be easier for me to get into? Also, I will be applying for priority filing because this is my number 1 school. Thanks guys.</p>
<p>My daughter goes to UIUC. Yes, ACT is low. Kids were turned away with 34 ACT for engineering. This year was the most competitive to get in. My daughter got in LAS with a 30 ACT and a 3.5 GPA. SHe met students with perfect ACTs and also met students with ACTs of 26. Average this year is 29 ACT as stated on their website and recent article. Chemical Engineering is in LAS but needs approval from engineering department. You are a perfect LAS candidate. Your science score is pretty low and your English is high. If you are serious about UIUC put LAS or DGS. If you get into LAS you have a better shot of seeing if Chemical Engineering would work for you by taking some courses geared to that major.</p>
<p>ChemE, actually ChBE, is in LAS of UIUC, however, it is just as competitive as other engineering. You would expect the mid 50 of ACT at 31-34. You may apply for General Studies as freshmen, but entering any engineering program afterward would not be much easier.</p>
<p>So put ChemE as your first choice. Then list a second choice in LAS. UofI generally shunts kids in to their second choice major (if they have room and you meet the cutoff for the second major) rather than rejecting outright. I don’t think LAS is that hard to enter.</p>
<p>As for transferring in to Engineering, transferring in to CS seems basically impossible now, but I don’t believe the other engineering majors are as hard to transfer in to. Just get a high GPA in college.</p>
<p>Again, ChemE at UIUC is under LAS already. The difficulty for admission is depending on the major rather than the school.</p>
<p>@billcsho: I know that. However, LAS in general isn’t very difficult to enter, so if the OP puts “ChemE” down as his first choice then “LAS undeclared” or some other LAS major as his second choice, he’s likely to get admitted in to UIUC. He can then decide whether to go or not.</p>
<p>@billcsho: I know that. However, LAS in general isn’t very difficult to enter, so if the OP puts “ChemE” down as his first choice then “LAS undeclared” or some other LAS major as his second choice, he’s likely to get admitted in to UIUC. He can then decide whether to go or not.</p>
<p>For “undecided major” at UIUC, it is the DGS for all schools. There is an option for first year engineering (undeclared) though but they do not recommend to list it as a second choice. Are you suggesting OP to put another major in LAS as second choice? On the application, you only indicate the major selection, second choice major selection, and career goal. </p>
<p>It seems OP is already aware of this as indicated on the title. The mid 50 for DGS 2014 was 26-31 which is slightly lower than LAS overall.</p>
<p>I see. BTW, transferring in to ChemE after getting in to UIUC doesn’t seem that difficult: <a href=“Declaring or changing a curriculum or major | College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Illinois”>http://www.las.illinois.edu/students/programs/declaring/</a>
<a href=“http://www.dgs.illinois.edu/declaring-your-major”>http://www.dgs.illinois.edu/declaring-your-major</a></p>
<p>Yeah. It is possible. But I think the GPA requirement is the minimal for reference purpose. It will largely depends the number of available spots.</p>
<p>@billcscho: That second link I posted lists ChemE as a major with guarantee admission if you meet their criteria.</p>
<p>Interestingly, so is CS in LAS (where you are essentially double majoring in CS and stats/math/chemistry/anthropology/linguistics/astronomy) even though transferring in to CS in Engineering is pretty much impossible now at UIUC.</p>
<p>There is CS in engineering (which is very competitive), but there are other CS majors in LAS with different emphasis. I don’t think they are considered double major, at least Math&CS, and Stat&CS are stand alone programs.
ChemE is the only engineering not directly affiliated with the College of Engineering, but it is a kind of like joined program. You are right that the following line is only listed under the College of Engineering.
Nevertheless, this policy is based on the enrollment pressure and is subject to change. </p>
<p>@billcsho: yes, they may change the criteria (adjust the required GPA upward or something). Or they may simply take in fewer freshmen entrants.</p>
<p>And yes, stats&CS, etc. Are standalone programs, but that’s why I said “essentially” a double major, as you take about the same amount of CS classes as a CS major in Engineering and about the same number of stats classes as a stats major (maybe a little less of each).</p>
<p>Sometimes, I found it hard to understand the way they put certain programs in certain school. I know there are historical reasons but I thing it creates some confusions and administration problem. Just think about ChemE in LAS, Physics in ENG, and different CS programs.</p>
<p>@billcsho: Like anything else involving humans, history and politics. I think Cornell takes the cake for having tons of essential the same major split among different schools. BTW, Engineering has Engineering Physics, but LAS has Physics. Also, it makes sense, at least when ChemE started, to be in the same college as Chemistry rather than Engineering.</p>