Thanks for the response. We had the impression about admissions selectivity being somewhat more difficult in engineering physics from our information session, though it was a general admissions advisor, not a Physics program advisor. We actually had the impression that the Physics department that controls all these majors is in the LAS college, but that’s just a technicality whichever way it is. In any case, I don’t expect admissions to be an issue, which is why I was mainly curious about the other possible differences apart from admissions to help decide which is 1st choice and which is 2nd. For example, if he goes on to want a MS in engineering, I presume the EP degree is advantageous, as it probably would be if he pursued a career with a BS. But what if he decides to go MS in Comp Sci or pHD in Physics, for example? The descriptions seem to indicate both are good choices for graduate study, not surprising since they are so similar.
In looking at the curricula, even most of those concentrations look nearly identical with a few minor changes in some options: http://physics.illinois.edu/academics/undergraduates/ep-options.html and http://physics.illinois.edu/academics/undergraduates/las-options.html . EP offers some extra choices like CompE that you mentioned, and also Nuclear and Solid State, but many like Computational are identical. The core classes are essentially the same, too, as far as I can tell: http://catalog.illinois.edu/undergraduate/las/physics/physics-concentration/ vs. http://catalog.illinois.edu/undergraduate/engineer/departments/engin-physics/ (same classes just arranged in a different way). EP requires 8 hours more credits total, though with AP and community college transfer credit, I don’t think that will be an issue. For many concentrations, the class work looks extremely similar overall which is why I’m thinking there must be some other good reasons to choose one over the other as first choice.
I advised my son pretty much what you said- you can always change later. And it’s generally easier to change OUT of engineering than INTO engineering, especially in later years if you don’t have the pre-reqs, but with LAS Physics it’s nearly all the same classes anyway. He might have a chance at a merit scholarship based on ACT and GPA, so unless we can find any other major difference, perhaps that’s another reason to go Engineering Physics. Plus he gets a few more concentration options. Thanks again!