<p>I am applying to UC Berkeley this fall, and planned transfer for fall 10'.</p>
<p>I have a specific question regarding admissions.
Currently I am on a track of English prereq fulfillment per assist.org</p>
<p>My issue is that after conversing with an admissions counselor I have found that I not only qualify for other majors, but English is a popular major thus limiting my chances for acceptance.
My question is which is the least popular major from this list.</p>
<p>English
Rhetoric (Heard some pre-law students take this so may be just as popular)
Philosophy
Comparative Lit
Chicano Studies
Film Studies</p>
<p>These are all in the Letters and Science so I could change majors once I arrive at Berkeley.
Otherwise I could stick it out seeing as Rhetoric is so similar and I am on the Speech and Debate team, same with comparative Lit and Film studies.</p>
<p>If anyone has any information it would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I dunno if it matters but currently I have</p>
<p>-3.5 GPA with 2 Honors classes (5 by the time I graduate and I will have Honors Scholar designation)</p>
<p>-Phi Theta Kappa member</p>
<p>-VP of finance Honors Club </p>
<p>-Competative Policy Debate team member</p>
<p>-Student assistant with the State of California dep Health Serv. Accounting Dep.
work 26 Hrs a week.</p>
<p>-Volunteer tutor at Inner city Sacramento Mentoring project</p>
<p>Apply to a wildy UNpopular major. Comp Lit sounds good. I did American Studies (*** is that, right?) Yea, do one that nobody applies to. The UCLA website has info on how many people applied to and were accepted to each individual major. UCB has similar information, but only listed by division of studies instead of by each major. Hope this helps. Good luck!</p>
<p>say hello to your future leaders of america, anything to get ahead and i hope the admissions people who check this site periodically take note of this</p>
<p>on a serious note, they could see all through this if you do this, because if you take all the english prereqs and apply to a major that has nothing to do with english, then it might look suspicious, and also english is not as heavily impacted as other majors and your gpa is strong, you can check the stats to see where you stand</p>
<p>While I completely understand that it may seem unethical to change a major because of admission chances I am sure admissions is aware of this. Plus I am willing to change to Rhetoric and Comp Lit. completely because their similarities ( Not just switch) . So it’s not like I am just taking advantage of the system.</p>
<p>I know several people here and they have been screwed over and the departments would not let them switch (requiring them to double major). We call it the back door approach. All of the info you receive will be for your major and you might be required to take classes in your declared major your first semester. You may need advisor codes to register for English classes.</p>
<p>American Studies is an easy one…mostly athletes. I was an English and AS student, but have since changed to English and History because I was tired of the people in the major</p>
<p>Thanks Hockeelover. I completely understand the risk and so will definately not pick one I will not be able to follow through with. What does American Studies entail?</p>
<p>I think what you’re thinking of doing is gimmicky and not something I would be personally proud of if I did. Your stats are fine and if your personal statement is written well I’m sure you’ll be accepted as is.</p>
<p>Wow, I had no idea I would recieve this type of negative reply from people. Like I stated previously it was simply a factor. Let us take this scenario into the workplace; would any of you who said this was unethical take an entry level position with a company that you did not like nor necissarily suitable for in order to work towards the position that you truly desired with said company? I mean really they are both similar situations to get your foot in the door.
Futhermore it is a moot point I actually did contact the admissions person from NorCal and stated a this inquiry so their would be no speculation …and here is her Reply </p>
<p>last year I gave one after the transfer day program. We gave several personal statement webinar’s last fall and they seemed to be quite well received…personally, I like the one-on-one contact.
My boss, who was a re-entry student here, and an English major, (as was I!) told me he didn’t know about Rhetoric and might have chosen it because he was flirting with law school. Whichever one you choose will make no impact on your admission because they both are in the Humanities Division in the College of Letters and Science and are reviewed together with all the other Humanities majors: Art, Languages, etc. We don’t admit applicants directly into the major for L&S, so you’ll formally declare your major once you’re here. Rhetoric really develops the art of presentation and argumentation, along with the writing ability it encourages.</p>
<p>It’s entirely possible for you to visit the departments…our Visitor Center can even arrange it for you. You can find the link on our website; or the number is 510-642-5215 or 5217.</p>
<p>Keep in touch!!</p>
<p>i really hope this helps any other transfers with their decision</p>