32 ACT, 1400 SAT, 4.25 weighted, 3.65 unweighted,
4 yrs of golf, interact, Spanish Honors Society
Senior classes: Cal 3, AP computer science, AP Stats, AP physic, AP macro and micro. Completed 4 yrs of Spanish.
Which major? For the more selective majors those stats are probably not good enough, though the less selective engineering majors might be a decent shot.
Don’t know which major to apply yet. Do you suggest applying to general engineering? Is that the best shot?
Apply for undecided engineering, not general engineering. GE is its own major. I know every major sets aside some slots for undecided engineering transfers, but no idea on how competitive it is relative to other engineering majors.
Do not apply to Computer Science in the Engineering department or to Biomedical Engineering without a less selective secondary major choice. Even perfect test scores and grades are no guarantee of admission to those programs. I understand Mechanical Engineering is also more selective than most other engineering majors. I think with those stats, there is a reasonable chance of admission to various other engineering majors, especially for a URM or student with other hooks.
I’m sorry I’m not familiar with URM? What does that stand for?
Under Represented Minority. The definition differs by school and major. For example, in many engineering disciplines, a female applicant may be considered as URM, since women are a much smaller percentage of many engineering programs. On the flip side, having an origin from some regions in Asia might not be considered URM in certain engineering/CS majors. It all depends on the applicant pool each year and no one knows exactly how much priority they might give to URM for admissions and merit scholarships.
Just a heads up - don’t put engineering undeclared as your backup, they do look for who is actually undecided vs. Who’s just putting it there for another shot. Also, the undecided program is super competitive since it is smallest (only about 80 people).
CS is a no go, CompE is also very competitive since most CS people put it as their backup.
BioE… it is competitive bc it’s a small program, but they are expanding it… consider it iffy.
AeroE, ChemE, MatSci&E, IndE, are “less” competive, but still nothing is guaranteed.
MechE is up there with BioE and CS because so many people want it. Eng Mechanics is like CompE, a backup for many MechE applicants.
Illinois values passion a great deal. Keep that in mind when picking your choices and writing your essays.
Decided on Industrial Engineering. What do you think of my chances?
Also, any recommendation on 2nd major? Thinking of apply to physics as a second major in case I don’t get into Engineering.
He got into UIUC for Mechanical Engineering, early action!