<p>Can a prospective freshman apply to Berkeley as an "undeclared engineering" major? Or, does one have to apply to a specific dept. in the School of Engineering? What if the student has no clue, yet, which branch of engineering he/she wants to study, or even whether or not he/she wants to major in engineering, physics, or chemistry? What is such a student to do if he wishes to apply to Berkeley? (or UCLA, for that matter). Thanks for any insight!</p>
<p>I am currently an engineering undeclared major (freshman). You don't apply to a specific department, but are generally grouped with the "general engineering sciences" for the purposes of orientations and the like. I have two years to decide which branch I would like to pursue or I can pursue another major. Supposedly its a wise decision even for people who "know" what they want to do since I have a little bit more freedom than them.</p>
<p>After admission to the engineering school, can you choose any engineering major? Can someone switch to engineering from another school?</p>
<p>if you're admitted to the engineering school as a specific major (i.e. mech E, EECS, etc) it's rather difficult to switch to another engineering major, or any other major. people refer to it as the "engineering trap." to switch to another major from an engineering major, you must maintain a certain gpa (usually 3.00+ but depends on department). so if you find out that you don't like engineering and you're struggling and don't have a 3.0+, you're stuck. as for switching to engineering, standards a little higher. i think EECS is the hardest to switch into because it's the most popular, and the minimum gpa is somewhere around 3.5.</p>
<p>For someone who wants to do engineering but doesn't know speficially which kind, do you suggest that he just applies to the engineering school and then decide on a major later? What is the difference in admission standards, if any, between undeclared engineering majors and non declared ones?</p>