<p>Most of the veterans of this forum should recognize me. I was very active on these forums during the application process and the admissions decision process. One thing that I had a lot of questions about was changing majors. I was told over and over again that changing majors was impossible and difficult. However, I was also told that it is definitely possible to change majors if all I did was talk to advisers and complete an ICMA contract. I decided to risk the major change and enroll in cal poly. I am here in an effort to help all you freshman avoid the mistake that I made. It is indeed VERY difficult to change your major completely unless they are both somewhat related or are in the same college. Even then it can be true. I was told that Cal Poly’s notorious reputation for not letting people change their major was over exaggerated and that I should definitely go for it. I have now talked to 3 different departments which I am interested in changing into and they have all been very discouraging of the change. There are a number of obstacles that get in the way of changing your major including no more than 24 excess units, PREREQS, if the major is impacted, and it comes down to the advisers decision to let you change your major or not. I am now stuck paying thousands of dollars pursuing a degree in a major that I am no longer interested in and it sucks. I remember being an excited prospective student like most applicants and a lot of active people on this forum probably recognize me. As a student at cal poly and someone who has researched changing majors here for months, I am here to tell you that the notorious reputation is true. Apply to a major you know you will want to pursue a degree in. Don’t make the mistake I made.</p>
<p>Appleteam, yes, I do remember you.</p>
<p>Here’s the deal: I’m betting you’re trying to get into Construction Management, since that is something you posted awhile back. Construction Management is a multidisciplinary major in the School of Architecture… that’s right, REALLY hard to get into.</p>
<p>I’m also betting you got into Cal Poly in a major that isn’t in any of the three more selective Schools at Cal Poly – Architecture, Engineering, and Business. And now you are trying to change into a major within the School of Architecture. </p>
<p>So, a jaded person might suggest that you knew you couldn’t get into Construction Management based on your grades/SAT scores, so you applied into a less selective School/major, figuring you could sort of game the system by getting your foot in the door, then transferring into the more competitive School/major. That’s actually a creative strategy, but the School Deans and Academic Advisors (especially in the School of Architecture) weren’t born yesterday, and they know this is a strategy people will attempt… and they have constructed rubust barriers to thwart this very strategy.</p>
<p>But I’m not jaded, so let me just reply why I think your plan is presenting so many obstacles:</p>
<p>What you are attempting is very different from changing majors WITHIN a school – Electrical to Civil Engineering, or from Biology to Chemistry… or even from Engineering to Biology. To go from a more impacted, more selective, harder to get into major within the same School to a less impacted, less selective, easier to get into major within that School isn’t nearly what you are trying to do… you are doing the exact opposite. From an easier major in an easier to get into School, to a highly selective major within the hardest school to get into at Cal Poly.</p>
<p>I am not suggesting your strategy will not prevail in the end, and it was a risk you apparently were willing to take. Your advice to prospective applicants is not to do what you’re attempting to do, which I think is sound advice and a good public service message.</p>
<p>Your ability to change major also depends heavily on your current academic performance in Cal Poly (Cal Poly GPA), your current major, and your intended target major</p>
<p>If you are trying to switch from College of Ag into College of engineering or architecture, and you didn’t perform solidly while you are in Cal Poly, you will have an issue. If your grades are stellar, you can still make the change.</p>
<p>Don’t expect to change into a more challenging major/college if your current GPA is in the doldrum. Cal Poly discourages back-door admission into their most selective colleges.</p>
<p>Don’t accuse me of anything. I have met CM majors that had lower stats than me and are in lower level math classes. If I knew what I wanted to major in at the time, I would have selected CM on the application. And I apologize if this post seemed full of rage or discouraging to prospective students. And DunninLA, I said that a complete major change would be difficult unless the 2 majors are related or are in the same college. I am in my first quarter here, I am still learning so please don’t label me as someone who tried to cheat the system. I talked to the advising center of architecture and they told me I still have plenty of time to change but that was after this post.</p>
<p>Again, I apologize for the original post. I don’t want to discourage any prospective students. I was just stressed and now I feel better after talking to the advising center. </p>
<p>HOWEVER, what I said still stands and what DunninLA accused me of doing is something you guys should avoid. Pick a major you like and if you get into an easy major in an effort to change into engineering or business, it is going to be challenging.</p>