DS applied to biomechanical engineering but did not get in. He was accepted to biochemistry. He wants to major in engineering though. Is he better attending another college where he knows he is in engineering ? What are his chances of transferring into engineering?
I’m the past I thought it was impossible to transfer into.
It is, obviously, always safer to take the bird in the hand if he has been admitted to his chosen major elsewhere. That said, as to chances of a change at UIUC, it is very hard to say because your question is unclear… There is no “biomechanical” engineering major at UIUC. For other possibilities, there is chemical and biomolecular engineering, bioengineering, and mechanical engineering. It would be helpful to know what major he actually put as his first choice and, if he applied to engineering, what he put for his second choice.
If his desired major was bioengineering and that was his first choice, then he has no chance of transfering into that major because, besides being the hardest major to get into at the engineering college, the bioengineering department accepts no transfers into the major. If his first choice was mechanical engineering, then he has a chance of transferring but should not currently consider it a high chance. It is currently an impacted engineering major at UIUC meaning it has more than the number of students than it should have based on the resources available and that has particularly impacted one’s ability to transfer into the major, making it more difficult than it would otherwise be. A high college GPA would be needed to even be considered and that is no guarantee of being able to transfer.
if his desired major was chemical and biomolecular engineering, then his chances are actually good as long as his college grades are good, at least a 3.2 GPA, he takes the required courses that the chemical and biomolecular engineering majors take, which is very possible to do as a biochemistry major. He may have to wait until junior year to change but the reality is that the biochemistry and chemical and biomolecular engineering major are both in the chemistry department in the Liberal Arts college, not the engineering college.It is a quirk of history and on the engineering major the Chemistry Department coordinates with the engineering college and follows its admission criteria and course requirements. But since changing from biochemistry to chemical and biomolecular engineering requires only a change of major in the same department rather than a change of college or even department, the switch is easier to do than it would be to transfer to the engineering college
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I personally think that it’s much safer for your son to go to a university where he was admitted into his top choice major. The choice really depends on how much your son loves UIUC, and how dead-set he is on doing Biomechanical Engineering.
@drusba has some great points concerning UIUC, and there is indeed no Biomechanical Engineering major. Bioengineering is probably the most similar major to Biomech. I believe that Bioengineering is the smallest, and possibly the most selective, engineering major at UIUC. It may be hard to transfer into.
I recently visited UIUC and attended an Admitted Student Day as a ChemE major. ChemE students can have a concentration in Biomolecular Engineering (I actually plan to do this if I attend UIUC). I was able to talk to one of the guidance counselors. She said that there is a steady amount of students who switch into and out of ChemE (I believe 30 a year? I may be remembering wrong because that number seems ridiculously high). It is important to note that ChemE students, despite being in LAS, are still required to maintain the standards of the other engineering majors.
@imthereal, 30 a year isn’t ridiculously high when you consider that ChemE at UIUC takes in over 100 freshmen a year (about 700 total in the major, which includes those who switch in to the major and transfers from CC, etc.).
Thank you for your response drusba. Yes, my mistake…bioengineering was his first choice with BioChemistry as his second. He did get into BioChemistry. I too thought he should attend a college where is he is “in”’ the major he wants.
Thank you also imthereal. Enjoy UIUC.