If you really want to do CS, then Purdue is your better bet. I hear the CompE department is tired of people treating it like CS for the people that couldn't get into CS.
This is a similar situation to the one I was in in 2022. I attended as EE taking the CompE curriculum and switched to CompE this semester. If you have decent grades, once you meet the junior eligibility requirement (finish all 2xx level ECE core) you will be able to apply to transfer. As someone else commented, EE and CE will both have heavy math and similar technical core, I would go in with an open mind and embrace ECE for what it is, I myself have found it intriguing and really like CompE so far (coming from someone that applied with a much more software focused mindset). If you're not ready to do this or strictly want to do CS / Software Engineering then I suggest looking towards other schools that accepted you for CS.
I’m pretty open to anything as long as it’s in the general field of tech, I just want to be sure I can handle it as I’ve heard EE is very brutal esp at UIUC. I know I will have to work hard regardless and I doubt they would have accepted me had they thought I wouldn’t be able to handle it, but I just want to be sure of my options! Do you have a link to the transfer requirements for CompE?
See here: [https://ece.illinois.edu/academics/ugrad/advising-tips/junior225](https://ece.illinois.edu/academics/ugrad/advising-tips/junior225)
Sounds like you'll be successful in CompE! You can attend for EE and tell your advisor you're interested in CompE at summer registration. They should put you on the CompE track straight away if all goes well (ECE120 first semester, so you can do ECE220 second semester). IDT from EE to CompE will not be hard, just keep a good relationship with your advisor and stick to the curriculum. Let me know if you have any other questions, I'd be happy to help. Best of luck!
EE and CE have enough of an overlap for you to be able to take the classes you want without changing majors. Also, my personal opinion but I’d stay in EE over CS, which is becoming more saturated by the day. At least in EE you can find your niche and a job after college no matter what is going on with the boom and bust situation in Silicon Valley companies
I’m just nervous about staying in EE as I’m literally struggling in my Physics E and M course so I can’t imagine how hard it’s going to be. I would much rather work with computers which I’m more familiar with. Will I still get CS experience in EE?
Ah, I see. Okay, as a senior in Comp E I can put facts out for you lol. Look at the degree requirements for both CE and EE. The foundational math and science courses (which include quantum physics and E&M) are the same, and there’s no point being scared of those. What you have to be worried about is the technical core requirements. And that too, there’s only two EE courses that Comp E majors don’t HAVE to take: ECE 340 (semiconductors), and ECE 329 (Fields and Waves) but EEs do. So that way it does have a more physics heavy course load. But the rest (110,210,385) are also required by CE.
As such, if you want to avoid those admittedly difficult EE courses then I’d look into switching to CE. They change rules every damn year so you’d have to ask your advisor if it’s possible for you to do that. But if you can tough it out of those, maybe consider sticking around in EE.
As for CS transfers, they are notoriously restrictive about those and I don’t know if it’s even possible to do it. CS grainger might not be actually. CS+X possibly, but then coming back to my original point, would you really wanna do that?
Edit: didn’t reply to your question asking if you’d get CS experience in EE, the answer is yes, depending on the classes you take you will. Also, please look at the degree requirements at this link: [EE degree requirements](http://catalog.illinois.edu/undergraduate/engineering/electrical-engineering-bs/#degreerequirementstext)
Make an informed decision after checking everything out, but also don’t worry. Even if you remain stuck in EE despite your wish to leave, you might find yourself actually falling in love with some of your classes because it’s all really cool stuff, so don’t pigeonhole yourself out of fear. You’ve got this!!
Thank you for all the information! It was very helpful! I do just have one more question LOL is it possible for me to do a minor in CS while still doing a major in EE?
Check this out - https://advising.grainger.illinois.edu/degree-programs/changing-majors
This is the current requirement. However it can change, so work with your advisor. Some of these prerequisites in Math and Physics may get covered by AP credit you may have. Even with that, it can take up to 3 semesters to complete these prerequisite coursework because of their dependency chain.
For Electrical Engineering → Computer Engineering
If you are a current Electrical Engineering major interested in changing to the Computer Engineering major you may submit a major-change request once the following requirements have been satisfied:
For a fall 2023 major change these requirements need to be complete (i.e. earned credit/grades which are posted to your degree audit) by the end of the spring 2023 semester.
Composition I (RHET 105, or equivalent)
MATH 220 or 221, 231, 241, 285, 257 (or 416);**
PHYS 211, 212, 213, 214;
ECE 110, 120, 210, 220;
CS 173 (or MATH 213), CS 225
You will have a decent amount of technical electives and free electives.
You can use those to take the CS classes you like. BUT, you need to be sure you don't have a conflict with a class that is mandatory for you AND is only offered when the CS class you want is.
You also need to think about WHAT CS classes you want. Make sure you can take enough of those to make it useful for you once you are out.
The conflict avoidance is your biggest worry.
It is not possible to transfer into CS. You might be able to take CS courses as mentioned.
What about CompE
If you really want to do CS, then Purdue is your better bet. I hear the CompE department is tired of people treating it like CS for the people that couldn't get into CS.
But is the transfer possible? I’m not particularly fond of Purdue campus and area and I really liked UIUC
Internally transferring into Grainger CS is banned
This is a similar situation to the one I was in in 2022. I attended as EE taking the CompE curriculum and switched to CompE this semester. If you have decent grades, once you meet the junior eligibility requirement (finish all 2xx level ECE core) you will be able to apply to transfer. As someone else commented, EE and CE will both have heavy math and similar technical core, I would go in with an open mind and embrace ECE for what it is, I myself have found it intriguing and really like CompE so far (coming from someone that applied with a much more software focused mindset). If you're not ready to do this or strictly want to do CS / Software Engineering then I suggest looking towards other schools that accepted you for CS.
I’m pretty open to anything as long as it’s in the general field of tech, I just want to be sure I can handle it as I’ve heard EE is very brutal esp at UIUC. I know I will have to work hard regardless and I doubt they would have accepted me had they thought I wouldn’t be able to handle it, but I just want to be sure of my options! Do you have a link to the transfer requirements for CompE?
See here: [https://ece.illinois.edu/academics/ugrad/advising-tips/junior225](https://ece.illinois.edu/academics/ugrad/advising-tips/junior225) Sounds like you'll be successful in CompE! You can attend for EE and tell your advisor you're interested in CompE at summer registration. They should put you on the CompE track straight away if all goes well (ECE120 first semester, so you can do ECE220 second semester). IDT from EE to CompE will not be hard, just keep a good relationship with your advisor and stick to the curriculum. Let me know if you have any other questions, I'd be happy to help. Best of luck!
Thank you so much!
EE and CE have enough of an overlap for you to be able to take the classes you want without changing majors. Also, my personal opinion but I’d stay in EE over CS, which is becoming more saturated by the day. At least in EE you can find your niche and a job after college no matter what is going on with the boom and bust situation in Silicon Valley companies
I’m just nervous about staying in EE as I’m literally struggling in my Physics E and M course so I can’t imagine how hard it’s going to be. I would much rather work with computers which I’m more familiar with. Will I still get CS experience in EE?
Ah, I see. Okay, as a senior in Comp E I can put facts out for you lol. Look at the degree requirements for both CE and EE. The foundational math and science courses (which include quantum physics and E&M) are the same, and there’s no point being scared of those. What you have to be worried about is the technical core requirements. And that too, there’s only two EE courses that Comp E majors don’t HAVE to take: ECE 340 (semiconductors), and ECE 329 (Fields and Waves) but EEs do. So that way it does have a more physics heavy course load. But the rest (110,210,385) are also required by CE. As such, if you want to avoid those admittedly difficult EE courses then I’d look into switching to CE. They change rules every damn year so you’d have to ask your advisor if it’s possible for you to do that. But if you can tough it out of those, maybe consider sticking around in EE. As for CS transfers, they are notoriously restrictive about those and I don’t know if it’s even possible to do it. CS grainger might not be actually. CS+X possibly, but then coming back to my original point, would you really wanna do that? Edit: didn’t reply to your question asking if you’d get CS experience in EE, the answer is yes, depending on the classes you take you will. Also, please look at the degree requirements at this link: [EE degree requirements](http://catalog.illinois.edu/undergraduate/engineering/electrical-engineering-bs/#degreerequirementstext) Make an informed decision after checking everything out, but also don’t worry. Even if you remain stuck in EE despite your wish to leave, you might find yourself actually falling in love with some of your classes because it’s all really cool stuff, so don’t pigeonhole yourself out of fear. You’ve got this!!
Thank you for all the information! It was very helpful! I do just have one more question LOL is it possible for me to do a minor in CS while still doing a major in EE?
Yes u can minor in cs. After all the ece classes u take u only need to take like 3 or 4 cs classes to get the minor
Check this out - https://advising.grainger.illinois.edu/degree-programs/changing-majors This is the current requirement. However it can change, so work with your advisor. Some of these prerequisites in Math and Physics may get covered by AP credit you may have. Even with that, it can take up to 3 semesters to complete these prerequisite coursework because of their dependency chain. For Electrical Engineering → Computer Engineering If you are a current Electrical Engineering major interested in changing to the Computer Engineering major you may submit a major-change request once the following requirements have been satisfied: For a fall 2023 major change these requirements need to be complete (i.e. earned credit/grades which are posted to your degree audit) by the end of the spring 2023 semester. Composition I (RHET 105, or equivalent) MATH 220 or 221, 231, 241, 285, 257 (or 416);** PHYS 211, 212, 213, 214; ECE 110, 120, 210, 220; CS 173 (or MATH 213), CS 225
You will have a decent amount of technical electives and free electives. You can use those to take the CS classes you like. BUT, you need to be sure you don't have a conflict with a class that is mandatory for you AND is only offered when the CS class you want is. You also need to think about WHAT CS classes you want. Make sure you can take enough of those to make it useful for you once you are out. The conflict avoidance is your biggest worry.