[BHS etree] COLLEGE/CAREER: Information on Choosing a Major at Each UC Campus

[bhs at idiom.com]

CONTACT:  ILENE ABRAMS  iabrams at berkeley.k12.ca.us

Information on Choosing a Major at Each UC Campus

BERKELEY 
In the Colleges of Letters & Science, Natural Resources and Environmental
Design, major choice is not a factor in the freshman selection process.
However, an applicant’s choice of college can affect his or her chances
for admission as the colleges often vary significantly in their level of
selectivity.  The College of Engineering does select applicants by major
(and several are highly competitive), so an applicant should choose a
major in this College carefully.

DAVIS 
A freshman applicant’s intended major is not considered until after the
student is determined to be UC eligible and the comprehensive review read
is completed. The choice of major may affect the chances of a student
being admitted. Considerations include space limitations in the respective
field of study and whether the student meets certain minimum GPA and test
score criteria for highly selective majors, such as those in Engineering,
Computer Science (L&S) and Biological Sciences.  Choosing an “undeclared”
or “exploratory” program does not give a freshman applicant a specific
advantage or disadvantage over selecting a particular major.

IRVINE 
Applying either for a major or as undecided/undeclared does not influence
selection decisions since freshman applicants are not reviewed by major,
but rather by a comprehensive review process. A limited number of majors,
however, have specific requirements for admission. Freshmen applying in
the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and those applying for the joint
Computer Science and Engineering major must complete four years of
mathematics in high school, with one year beyond Algebra II. Applicants to
either Dance or Music must audition and be selected by faculty. Students
may be selected for primary or alternate majors as space allows.

LOS ANGELES 
For freshman applicants to the College of Letters and Science, intended
major does not affect the admissions review process or decision. However,
major choice does directly affect the review process for freshman
applicants to the School of Engineering, where some majors are more
selective than others. Applicants to the School of Arts and Architecture
and the School of Theater, Film and Television are often required to
submit supplementary application materials for consideration in their
intended majors. All majors in these schools are selective, so students
should consider their choices carefully.  In general, UCLA does not
consider applicants for alternate majors during the review process.

MERCED 
Freshman applicants for biological sciences, human biology, and computer
science and engineering majors may receive an extra review if demand
exceeds current expectations. If not selected, students may be considered
for a second-choice major and for undeclared.

RIVERSIDE 
For fall 2005, UC Riverside will begin admitting freshmen using
comprehensive review, which does not include choice of major as a
criteria.  Although a student’s choice of major will not affect whether he
or she is admitted, some majors accept only students who meet additional
requirements. UC-eligible applicants who do not meet criteria for the
selecting major will be admitted to their alternate major. If the
alternate major is also a selecting major, UC-eligible applicants will be
admitted, provided they meet the selection criteria for the alternate
major. UC-eligible freshman applicants who do not meet the selection
criteria for their first-choice and alternate majors will be admitted as
undeclared. 

SAN DIEGO 
All applicants are admitted first to UCSD then to the major of their
choice, provided it is not impacted. Choice of major does not affect an
applicant’s chance of being admitted to the campus. It also does not
affect a student’s choice of undergraduate college. Approximately 32
percent of new freshmen selected “undeclared” as a major for fall 2004.
Students applying to one of the impacted majors, such as computer science,
are required to list an alternate major on the UC application. If admitted
to the campus, the student will be assigned the alternate major, or
undeclared status if not admitted to the impacted major.

SANTA BARBARA 
Major is considered for applicants to the College of Engineering, the
College of Creative Studies and performance majors within the College of
Letters and Science. An audition is required for dance and music
performance. Applicants to the College of Engineering must have strong
mathematics preparation and, at the transfer level, have completed all
lower-division engineering coursework available at the community college.
The Computer Science major in the College of Letters and Science is
considered for admission along with engineering applicants. Applicants to
the College of Creative Studies must present a supplemental application
for faculty review. Freshman applicants not selected to their first-choice
major will be considered for admission to an alternate major.

SANTA CRUZ 
The major listed on the application is not considered in the admissions
process and therefore has no bearing on an applicant’s chances of
admission. Upper-division transfer applicants with an interest in the art
major or one of the School of Engineering majors are screened for
acceptance to those programs, but program acceptance status does not
affect the campus admission decision.