Hello,
My HS Senior is not quite sure of which field S wants to go to after graduating from college. At this point, S is interested in studying Business (or Business related major, such as Econ, Business Econ, Business Accounting etc if no Business major available at some UC campuses).
My question is that do you need to get direct-admitted into Business for UCI or do you first get into the school and declare Business later? How about at UCLA, UCSD, UCSB?
Thanks,
In general, you want a direct admit into the major of choice with the UC’s.
UCI admits by major and will consider an alternate major so he can apply as a Business admin major primary and select Business economics for an alternate. They do sometimes admit Undeclared.
UCLA’s Business Economics is found in the College of Letters and Sciences which does not admit by major. You are admitted as a Pre-major and must complete the course/GPA requirements to declare.
UCSB’s Econ majors are found in the College of Letters and Sciences which does not admit by major. Again you are admitted into a Pre-major and must complete the course/GPA requirements to declare.
UCSD admits by major and will consider an alternate major or Undeclared.
If he is looking into Business majors, he should consider UC Riverside Business school which admits by major.
UC Berkeley for this years Freshman is offering a direct admit into their HAAS School of Business so another school to consider. High School Students - Undergraduate Program - Berkeley Haas
Below are some admit rates for Business and Business related majors at the UC’s.
Business/Econ 2022 admit rates
| Campus | Business admin or Business Adj. major | Economics |
|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | 9.1% Intended Business Admin/2024 direct admit | 5.3% High Demand major |
| UC Davis | No admit by major but by College: 39.8% Managerial Econ | No admit by major but by College: 37.9% for Economics |
| UC Irvine | 8.8% Business Admin | Business Econ 10.8% |
| UCLA | No admit by major but by College: Business Economics 10% | No admit by major but by College: Economics 10% |
| UC Merced | Business Econ/Management 84% | 78% |
| UC Riverside | Pre Business Admin 67% | 62% |
| UC San Diego | No admit by major extrapolated <30% Business Econ | No admit by major extrapolated <25% Economics |
| UC Santa Barbara | No admit by major but by College: 27.9% Economics/Accounting | No admit by major but by College: 27.9% for Economics (pre) |
| UC Santa Cruz | 39.3% for Business Managment | 44.7% |
Thanks so much for all the info!
For UCSD, it says UCSD admits by major, but the table shows no admit by major. Can you clarify? Thanks!
For Berkeley, I understand Econ is one of high demand majors but it’s not a direct admit major. What does 5.3% mean? I thought I previously learned at CC that all majors under L&S have same acceptance rate for freshman admission?
UCSD admits by major but they are not transparent about their specific admit rates. Estimated numbers are based on the total enrollment within the major along with overall campus yield. Again this is an guess estimate.
For the HIGH DEMAND MAJORS, it is a direct admit per se since if admitted you are guaranteed the major to declare if you meet the declaration requirements. You have to select the High demand major as your first choice. If you are not admitted into a High demand major, you have to go through a holistic process to declare later.
The College of L&S does not admit by major for the non high demand majors. That said, Cal answers does breakout admit rates for L&S majors and the 5.3% was the admit rate for 2022. Only UCB students have access to Cal answers and someone posted the information on the UCB discussion thread.
https://ls.berkeley.edu/ls-high-demand-majors-first-year-students
I did not know the info - Thanks so much!
Let me clarify if my understanding is correct…so high demand majors at not only Cal but any UCs are considered as a direct admit as long as you meet the declaration requirements, correct?
High demand majors at UCB fit that explanation. UCB has separated out the High demand majors from the rest of the L&S majors so an applicant is Undeclared for non high demand majors and are free to declare any major within the college with the exception of the High demand majors which go through a different process.
It varies at other UC campuses.
If the school admits into the College of L&S like UCLA/ UCSB you are Undeclared although your application major will be listed on the acceptance and will have to meet declaration requirements for that major.
Capped/Impacted/Selective majors are different at each campus. For popular/impacted majors you can declare these majors however, getting into the courses needed to declare and can be an issue at times due to the popularity of the required courses.
My advice is to list the top choice major on the UC application regardless of how the campus admits.